When the silver medal winner in the Belgian-Style Tripel category was announced this past March at the World Beer Cup in Nashville, Redwood Steakhouse & Brewery Brew Master Rockne Van Meter felt it was all over and he would be leaving the competition empty-handed. “Really, I went in hoping for a bronze or silver award. I didn’t think gold was in the cards for me in any category. Brewing the best beer in the world just doesn’t happen,” he says. Having entered five different beers in the competition, he was down to his last chance to receive an award. “I had four of the five make it to the medal rounds but no further.” He had pinned his best hopes on a Belgian-Style Saison that went down in an earlier medal round. The only beer left was his “Nectar of the Gods” – a Belgian-Style Tripel that he nearly didn’t submit. “My wife really liked it,” he remembers. “I wasn’t sure it was up to par. I thought it had no chance.” He was looking to leave the event before the gold medal winner was announced and wasn’t paying attention when his number was called. “I was speaking to my wife when people around me started clapping,” he recalls. The World Beer Cup judges had chosen his “Nectar of the Gods” as the gold medal winner in the Belgian-Style Tripel category. It was Van Meter’s only medal of the competition, one of only three medal-winners in the entire State of Michigan, and the only gold. “I couldn’t believe it,” he commented.

We wait so long for the time when we can enjoy a meal al fresco and in Greater Flint, the options abound! Here is a sampling of the many local eateries that offer outdoor seating to enhance your summer dining experience.