Sea cucumbers, the camels of the ocean, have the fantastic ability to survive for up to half a year without water. Wet your own whistle with today’s Groupon: for $10, you get a beer-sampler selection (a $3.75 value for three 4 oz. samples), a souvenir pint glass (a $3 value), and $18 worth of mighty beers and toothsome brewery fare from Frankenmuth Brewery. Though only one Groupon can be used per person, each table is allowed unlimited Groupons, meaning the more you bring the more you can drink, and the more you drink the merrier the ensuing chandelier-swinging brawl.

At the 2010 World Expo of Beer, which the brewery also co-hosts, Frankenmuth Brewery won a silver medal for its Frankenmuth Pilsner, a bronze for its Oktoberfest, and a bronze for its Frankenmuth Hefeweizen. The industrial-chic brewery—enhanced by exposed brick, steel brewing vats, and high ceilings—emerges victoriously from almost anything; since the building was completed in 1862, it has suffered every kind of calamity, from fire to tornado, only to rise again and pour itself a drink. Admire the persistence of the place while sipping their flavorsplosional pints ($4.25 each); there's the famous pilsner, a fruity much-ado-about wheat Hefeweizen, the hoptacular English IPA, and rotating seasonal draughts including (at the moment) a mahogany and chocolaty winter bock and a potent (7.7% ABV) Baltic porter.

If you're looking to have some food with your beer, aim your fork no further than the char-grilled rib eye with white-cheddar mashed potatoes ($18.99) and point your finger no further than the lemon-tarter'd fish and chips ($9.99). Patrons can also rest their weary heads on a meatloaf sandwich thick as a pillow with barbecue au jus and fried onion strings ($8.99) or a vegetarian-safe portobello-mushroom sandwich with sundried-tomato mayonnaise ($7.99). Dessert? There's always the hand-tossed BLT pizza ($10.99 for a small). Feel free to request a complimentary brewery tour during your visit, and ponder the possibility of bringing home a hand-crafted souvenir growler ($40) with a complimentary first fill-up (normally $5+) as a delicious memento (the value of this Groupon cannot be applied toward the cost of a growler).

Not valid September 9–12 or during Oktoberfest (September 16–19).

Reviews

After being closed for three years, in July 2009 the Frankenmuth Brewery's suds began flowing again. The historic brewery's beers have won numerous awards in past years, including two bronze medals and a silver at the 2010 World Expo of Beer, which the brewery also co-hosts. MLive.com and ABC 12 News covered the brewery's 2009 reopening. Yelpers give Frankenmuth Brewery three stars. PubCrawlers rate the brewery as “good to great.”

• I recommend the sampler since you get a lot of beer that way for a reasonable price and you're bound to find a beer you like. – Chris F., Yelp
• The in-house brews were awesome... I tried the 3 beer sampler and I liked them all. – Pubcrawler from Troy, MI
• The Amber and Lager were very good. The Bartenders were very friendly. – Pubcrawler from Cincinnati, OH