WW resumes in-person operations

WW, formerly known as Weight Watchers, has reopened its WW Studio in Alpena. Beginning July 6, in-person workshops will resume at 5:30 p.m. on Mondays. Drop-in hours will be held from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Fridays. The WW Studio is located at 2205 US 23 S Suite, 112, Alpena.

Visitors are welcome to learn more about the program and membership. Health and safety are a top priority. All members must wear masks and practice social distancing guidelines. To learn more about the WW in-person workshops, drop-in hours, and virtual workshops, call 1-888-3-FLORINE or visit www.8883florine.com.

No July meeting for Longbeards

The Alpena Longbeards will not have a monthly meeting for July.

Tentative plans for a kids’ outing are in the works for those involved.

If you have any questions call Edith at 989-354-4964 or Tim at 989-464-2199.

Return library books by July 10

Any patrons who have library books and materials checked out from the Alpena County Library are being asked to return those by July 10. Staff will not have access to the building for a while during construction.

Austin Bros. releases new ale for CRTC

The brew team at Austin Brothers Beer Company, led by Brant Austin, has just released a beer brewed in collaboration with Shane Ison, head brewer at Alcona Brew Haus and Master Sergeant in the Air National Guard, who is stationed at the Alpena Combat Readiness Training Center (CRTC). The beer, Mrs. Aldaflak, will be sold all summer in 16 oz. cans and on draft at the CTRC, and draft will be available at the Austin Brothers Beer Company Taproom.

This is the fourth year that the CRTC will have a beer made especially for them. For the first three years, the beer was brewed by Ison with a local homebrew group, the 45th ParaAlers Homebrew Club. This year, Ison reached out to Austin Brothers to scale up the batch on their main brew system, and also worked with Brant Austin to develop the recipe. The result was an American style pale ale, featuring hops grown locally at 45th Parallel Hops in Hawks.

“Mrs. Aldaflak” was the nickname chose for a B-17 Flying Fortress by its crew in the 615th Bomber Squadron, 401st Bomb Group. It flew 65 missions between May 1944 and April 1945. It was ironically force landed in Belgium after being hit by flak on Nov. 21, 1944, but was repaired and returned to service. The can art features the nose art from the bomber, which also found its way onto many bomber jackets.

Austin Brothers Beer Company is a family-owned and operated business. The owners, originally from Southern California, came across Alpena on a cross country road trip. With no ties to the area, they decided to pack up their families to follow their dream of starting a microbrewery. Austin Bros. is approaching its five-year anniversary.