Tunnel Vision Brewery at Pond Hill Farm

 

 

This might be may new favorite up north spot. They are located on a working farm in Harbor Springs. The farm features farm to table food, grape to glass wine and some fantastic micro brews brewed with some ingredients from the farm. Much like Mothergoose03's review, I feel that it is hard to rate experimental beers. That being said the Beet DIPA was fantastic and the ginger beer was interesting. For those seeking a more standard beer the APA was crisp, fresh, delicious and brewed to style.

For those travelling with families this is a great spot. There is a winery, farm store, pig races, hay rides, squash rockets, hiking and all sorts of other things to keep the family occupied while one enjoys a fresh beer.

It is hard to describe the beautiful location that this brewery is in, this one needs to be experienced in person. I have been to many breweries all over the country and this is the most scenic and unique brewery that I have had the pleasure of visiting.

 

This was stop #11 on a 6-day pub crawl that would take my wife and me to the Brewers Guild UP Beer Fest and back. This brewery is located about 4 miles north of Harbor Springs on Route M-119, the road that is known as the 'Tunnel of Trees' , thus the brewery's name. It has been open for only a couple months, but they have their beer recipes well tweaked for being a new brewery. The brewery is part of a rural farm setting that also includes a winery and cafe, and there is a farm market to purchase fresh produce, canned jellies, jams, etc. A play area is available outside for kids, and I saw a sign to pick your own pumpkins, so this operation has many facets.

The cafe is located on the second floor and is all wood-trimmed and rustic in appearance. A small tasting room for beer and wine is off of the main dining area, and a very nice wooden deck is just off the other side. We chose to sit outdoors because it was a great day weather-wise, and the view was interesting.

We ordered a sampler flight of the 5 available beers (three are regulars and the other two taps rotate) to go along with lunch. The brewer here likes to be bold with his recipes, so we experienced a radish wit, a gingersnap cookie amber ale, and a porter with vanilla, chocolate and peanut butter. It's hard to score a beer to style when it is unique, but we liked all of them and assigned an overall grade of a B- to them. Our server told us that a cream ale is their flagship beer, but it was not currently available.

Our food was wonderful. 'Farm fresh' seems to be the thrust of the food selections, and we thoroughly enjoyed our sandwiches. This is a definite place that we'd like to return to when we are in the area again.