Inside The Kitchen: MyNorth’s Red Hot Best Winner, Big Buck Brewery

When you hear Big Buck Brewery, you might picture plenty of pours.

But it’s their kitchen that just earned them the best restaurant award for the Kalkaska, Gaylord and Grayling region, in MyNorth’s Red Hot Best competition.

“There’s a lot of great restaurants on there, so to even be part of that category was just awesome,” said chef and general manager, Ben Hammack.

Big Buck Brewery is bringing fresh, fun flavors to Gaylord.

“So we’re going to start with our jambalaya, so we’re using alligator andouille, chicken, Cajun shrimp, our house Bloody Mary sauce,” he said.

Ben introduced the dish at the Taste of Gaylord, but it wasn’t on the restaurant menu at the time.

“And then people kept coming in here asking for it,” he said. “So it became a menu item.”

Another fun twist on a classic is their pizza, particularly the dough.

“We use our own beer in the dough so there’s no water,” he said. “It’s all beer.”

Right now they are using their Redbird Ale.

“So you’ll get a little bit of the characters of malts in the yeast through the dough,” Ben said.

Chef Ben graduated from Gaylord Community Schools.

“I wasn’t even 21, so I couldn’t even enjoy it when they first opened,” he laughed. “But, you know, it’s been an icon up here for so long and, you know, hearing stories from people from, you know, that either used to work here when it first opened or have come up here with their family ever since it opened,” he said.

Now back in his hometown, serving the community he loves, one dish, or draft, at a time.

“Oh, it’s awesome, I mean, it’s a small community with, you know, a big heart,” Ben said.

You can reach Big Buck Brewery at 989-448-7072, or find them at 550 S. Wisconsin Avenue in Gaylord.

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