Bitter Old Fecker Rustic Ales, based in Chelsea, Michigan, is a small batch brewery started by Nathan Hukill, an entrepreneur with an ideal lineage for brewing craft beer. His great grandparents were bootleggers in Detroit, running booze from Canada, who also ran a blind pig speakeasy out of their basement. Detroit police (including the Chief) were their main clientele. His great grandmother also made beer in her kitchen for the guys at the brickyard where she worked.
Nathan's grandfather Cecil -- rail worker, 17-year Ford employee turned weird angry recluse -- left Detroit for Hillsdale, MI to start farming. Cecil started brewing in the early 80's, naming beers after the things that inspired the recipes and included ingredients he grew or foraged.
After some frustration with trying to break into brewing, Nathan started Bitter Old Fecker, working under Cecil as an apprentice. During the start up process, Nathan took a job as an assistant brewer at Grizzly Peak, leaving after 18 months to focus efforts on Bitter Old Fecker exclusively.
Nathan and Cecil produce high gravity, bold beers brewed in a "rustic" style. No automatic equipment. Kettles, mash tuns, etc., stirred by hand in a brewery that can literally produce beer without the use of electricity. All beers are barrel-aged and include non traditional, foraged and locally sourced ingredients. All malt and hops are 100% US grown. His first brew, introduced in the Summer of 2013, is called Strutter, named after a nasty old rooster on Cecil's farm. Darlin', Kaplan, and Jet are brews that are soon to follow.