Remembering Bert *UPDATED*
June 17, 2026
Long time Michigan beer geeks probably know of Steve “Bert” Berthel. Bert was the brewer at the storied Kraftbrau brewpub in Kalamazoo, before co-founding The Livery in Benton Harbor. He did his bit as a board member and officer of the Michigan Brewers Guild. He was a vocal advocate for Michigan beer, Michigan ingredients, and Michigan culture. And, as you’ve guessed from my use of past tense, Bert died last month. It was the second time, as far as we know; in 2019 he suffered a massive coronary event while walking his dog Galena, and was clinically dead for about 10 minutes. He got over that (it took a minute) and went back to skiing, mountain biking, brewing, playing pedal steel, and stuff. Here’s a picture from when we did a collaboration brew at Batch Brewing Co, post-coronary. We called it “Re-Bert.”
Around the time we heard of Bert’s demise, I had a beer in process for release on our 1st birthday, coming up in July. It includes lots of our favorite non-traditional ingredients, black pepper, ginger, several forms of rye, etc. We called it All In. All the time it was dwelling there in the tank, I kept returning to the thought: “All In” describes Bert to a T. He was simply not one for half measures. And so my fellow brewers and I will be toasting Bert with glasses of All In, drawn from a firkin in the brewer’s hospitality area tomorrow morning before we open the gates to the public. And missing Bert.
Ps. a nice obituary for Bert can be found HERE
Great Lakes Brass Band will be conducting a second line to honor Bert around Eastern Market on Sunday, August 2nd, starting around noon here at Full Measure. Batch Brewing Co will be participating with us, and likely a number of the other usual suspects, as well. It should be a joyful celebration of a life well-lived.