Salt Springs Brewery

 

 

Salt Springs Brewery is located in a former 19th century church just off the main street of Saline, Michigan. Although it is wonderful that the building could be repurposed, I always find this a bit sad. I stopped in on a Friday night and the place was very busy with the dinner crowd. The staff were very helpful and had us seated within 15' to 20.'

The space is open and large with room for perhaps two hundred. There is a very large square bar in the back under what was once the choir loft. Seating outside as weather permits: it was pretty cold and windy, but two brave souls were out there.

About a dozen beers were on tap; they range from Kölsch to ESB to Stout. I took the recommendations below and tried Old Miner, 3 Kids, and Brown Bunny, all of which were solid. A fourth beer seemed to have strong off aromas and flavors, so I neither drank nor rated it.

Wine and non-alcoholic beverages were available, as well. Those I tried were well made, if not stand out. The dessert menu was also very solid. Our waiter, I particular, made the experience very fun. Were I from the area, I could easily see myself coming back again and again.

I like this place. A neat old church that was converted into a brewery. The service and food are kind of inconsistent, I think they have had a lot of turnover in the kitchen and it has been hard for them to keep things running smoothly. But I have always enjoyed the beer, I particularly like Old Miner, 3 Kids in a Candy Store, and Big Brown Bunny.

 

Stopped by on a Sunday afternoon. I was out in the Irish Hills for a weekend and this place was right on the way back home, passing it just in time for lunch/brunch.

Located in beautiful downtown Saline, MI, just a block off of Michigan Ave in a 116 year-old church. Grey block body with a red brick belltower. Upon entering, the main room opens up where the pews would have been in the past. To the left is a open kitchen, while the main room ia dominated by dozens of tables of dark wood. Across the sea of diners is a blonde wood bar with some shining steel fermenters. The floor and walls wood of various greys, the ceiling is plaster-white, and hanging over it all is a giant faux-candle antler chandalier. Most of the light, however, comes streaming through three gorgeous stained-glass windows on the right wall of the room.

Since it was Sunday, we were given brunch/lunch menus. About 8 brunch specials, 2 salads, 2 sandwiches, 2 flatbreads, and a half dozen sides and kids meals each were available. I had the pumpkin soup and pork sammie, the kids had a cheese pizza and hamburger and fries. Food was excellent, with the pumpkin soup exceeding expectations particularly (it's creamy and just a touch spicy, which was surprising but welcome) and the kids enjoyed their meals with gusto.

To drink, I had the Dunkelweizen, which was to style and a bit above average. I ordered a crowler (they also do growler fills) of the tripel to go, but haven't opened it yet.

I don't know if I'll find myself back out that way anytime soon, but if I am I'll insist on stopping by based on this visit.

 

Beautiful restored church turned into a brewpub. I dug the vibe, but could come off a bit stuffy and pretentious to some. Spacious outdoor patio for good-weather drinking. Good beer, food
menu looks good, but didn't eat.

 

 

This was stop #2 on a pub crawl on this day. This is a new brewery and we wanted to try their beers so that we could write this review. The pub is located in a large, stone and red brick church building just a block off the main street of the downtown area of this community. A beer garden is located to one side of the building, but it was a chilly day, thus we didn't even take a peek at it. The place was not busy at mid-afternoon so we sat at the bar.

We chose 6 of the 13 available beers in sampler sized-snifters as our basis for evaluating the beers. For being open for less than a year, they do a very good job creating beers that are brewed to a style-plus quality. We gave an overall score of 3.75 for the beers, and felt that the dopplebock and the Belgian strong ale were the best of our choices. All of the beers scored a better-than-average grade.

They serve food here, but we didn't order anything since we just had lunch elsewhere. The menu selections are enticing, so a nice meal can be had here. The pub also has wine and ciders on tap in case beer is not your favorite beverage. Beer to go is available in crowlers, growlers, and quarter and half barrels. This was a nice experience, and we'd stop back again and have a meal if we're ever in the area again.

 

 

More of a restaurant than a brewery in terms of atmosphere. Very nice location in town, with ample amounts of outdoor space to hang out or eat/drink. Brew selection was quite decent and had all the major styles of brews, while also offering wine and cocktails.