Michigan Breweries, Bars, Eateries (2025)

Not sure what the norm is for MegaBev, but Hop Butcher beers rarely make it into Binny’s’ online system here in Chicagoland. Feel like these high turnover beers that have a new name every week just get put out on the shelves. Prob gets tedious for the store to have to enter new beers for the same brewery all the time…

 

http://www.hopbutcher.com/everywhere-else
https://pdubs.net/find-us
https://www.3floyds.com/finder/

Had actually looked up Hop Butcher & Pipeworks distro footprints yesterday (assumed 3F would be avail), but slipped my mind when making post today…

Appears Pipeworks does not distribute to Michigan, but they do distribute to Massachusetts LOL. In fact, all three of those “Chicago-area” suggestions make it to Mass, so maybe @mgp might be more interested in offerings he can’t get back home…

 

I really liked Brewery 4 Two 4 on the north side of Holland. Very laid back place with a good variety of good beers. No food but Sluggos Pizza next door is pretty good.

 

This reminded me of article our local (Chicago) beer writer put out about Southwest Michigan back in 2016 (‘updated’ 2019, prob minor edit/correction). Couldn’t believe it was already that long ago, but seems the list held up fairly well based on the rec’s people have mentioned…

https://www.chicagotribune.com/2016...to-southwest-michigans-booming-brewery-scene/
[if you toggle to ‘reader view’ fast enough, you can view full article for free, but included alternate link just in case that’s too complicated]
https://www.printfriendly.com/print...to-southwest-michigans-booming-brewery-scene/

breweries featured:
Greenbush
[Tapistry*] - closed ~winter 2023
Transient
Round Barn
[Cultivate] - closed May 2017
[Cravings] - closed ~beg 2019(?)
Silver Harbor
The Livery
North Pier
Arclight

*Tapistry was bought out by Lake Time Brewing & opened Aug 2024; they’re continuing a few Tapistry beers for distribution purposes (Reactor, Northern Trippin, etc); it’s located across street from Transient

Article mentions ‘forthcoming’ breweries (all still open):
Watermark
Beer Church
Haymarket

Watermark seems to be a recommended option; Beer Church looks to have decent ratings, and already mentioned Haymarket in my previous post.

Seedz (not in article) was getting hype on here a few years ago for their saisons / wild ales; really enjoyed their beers at Fobab (Nov 2022), esp the fruited one. Sounds like they make good lagers as well.

Seedz Fobab ‘22 beers:
Kriek Et Rhubarbe blended saison re-fermented w rhubarb, cherry, sea salt
Rise of the Haizon brett saison

fyi- Southwest Michigan is known for wineries, with Round Barn being one of the most popular ones (brewery is a separate location).

Redamak’s is the old-school burger joint to go to if you’re in the New Buffalo area.

 

Seedz is very much a lager house that also does some non lager stuff. Their board is almost all lagers with a random pale/ipa, stout/porter or saison on it. Go for the lagers & you won't be disappointed unless you are in a hurry because they do slow pours

 

We used to like Beer Church for their pizza and proximity to the lake, but were more than a little turned off by the owner being aggressively rude to anyone who had the audacity to post a negative review. Like name calling, throwing around insults, etc. As I recall, he was also vocally anti-Covid / anti-government during the pandemic. It was all kind of entertaining in a social media trainwreck sort of way, but I don't need to support that kind of behavior.

 

I welcome news that isn’t a brewery closing but actually expanding! Good stuff

 

Thanks for this (as well as all the other input, everyone). We're flying into Chicago, and driving over. So this article is really helpful.

I was looking at Transient the other day as a place to stop and grab some beers on my way in. I'm more of a pils/lager drinker in the hot weather (with some hops, here or there), so that seedz place sounds appealing, too.

You guys are a wealth of info! It's going to be pretty hilarious, when I coincidentally have a brewery in my back pocket for every single outing my in-laws plan. Cheers!

 

Hilarious comment re: in-laws, LOL. Transient & Seedz are the two that I’d want to hit, and I’d be weighing the same options, for the same reasons! If I had to choose, I’d prob go Seedz this time of year. (If you need a place with food, Greenbush was a go-to of mine back in the day, known for bbq).

It appears Seedz only has one 6x12oz to-go can option for Zlato Reserve czech pale lager, and another unspecified to-go format (growler fill perhaps?) for Rye-n Hoppy red pale ale.
https://www.seedzbrewery.com/

Transient has ample to-go options if that’s more of a priority. Could always have on-premise beers at Seedz, & then place order w Transient for a quick pickup.
https://transientartisanales.com/

You might consider stocking up on beers in Chicago (for price & quality):
lagers- Dovetail, Goldfinger
haze- Hop Butcher, Phase Three
ba stouts- Revolution
fruited ba wild ales- Off Color

Hit Binny's flagship store in Lincoln Park (Marcey St) for largest selection. Alternatively, could stop by Revolution or Off Color, and cover most needs all at one place. Rev taproom has more of their ba variants avail than Binny’s, and Off Color’s fruited ba wild ales don’t seem to make it to Binny’s. Also, Off Color doesn’t offer ipa’s, but does have cream ale, lager, & other unique refreshing summer beer choices.

Maplewood has decent haze options & ‘thiccc’ ba pastry stouts. Old Irving Brewing has underrated beer (haze, ba stout, etc) & great wings if you need food or somewhere to wait out rush hour traffic.

Of course, there’s always Lou Malnati’s or Pequad’s deep dish pizza… Can order ahead for dine-in, or get it to-go for one of your brewery stops! Thin-crust is an option for shorter wait time. I rank Giordano’s over Lou’s for thin-crust, never had Pequod’s thin, but can’t go wrong w any of these options.

All mentioned places are on the way to Michigan from O’Hare. Personally, I’d go to Binny’s and load up on Dovetail Pils & Helles, plus Hop Butcher haze. Then throw in a Goldfinger Heller Bock, Off Color Beer for Ball Games cream ale, and top off w Rev Deth’s Tar ba stout for those nights by the fire. Might consider Rev & Off Color fruit beer options for the non-craft family members, you’ll enjoy them too of course!

www.binnys.com
https://revbrew.com/
https://www.offcolorbrewing.com/
https://maplewoodbrew.com/
https://oldirvingbrewing.com/

 

There's been a good amount of Seedz talk here recently so I thought I'd throw in my two cents... While I've had a few of their beers, my wife and I made our first visit last weekend and absolutely loved it. The draft list was more expansive than I expected and the outdoor area was fantastic, including a putting green which made me chuckle. We shared three different lager pours (Hooper's Hell, Zlato Reserve and The Cut) which all fell between very good to great for me. While two hours from me in GR, definitely will make more visits to Seedz this summer.

One quick note based on a comment below... The two go options listed on their website aren't at all accurate. There were 5-7 lager can options as well as a handful of different bottles available to purchase.

Cheers!

 

Haymarket has a really cool vibe, set back from the road. Beer is a standard menu but good. Last time I was in there the live music was ear splitting.

Last time I was at Watermark, also a cool setting, the service was terrible, bartender was sour and off-putting. Maybe a bad day, but it was ridiculous.

Seedz was a great place to hang for a beer, no big IPAs, just good old school beers.

If you're in Benton Harbor, The Livery is there, and used to be good, but I haven't been there in many years.

And the drive up the coast is one of the best drives in the US.

 

^^^^^^^^^^This ^^^^^^^^^^^
This is the first time that I've seen beer to go on their website, they are awful at keeping that up to date. There's a cooler next to the bar area so you can check in there to see what they have to go

 

Dang, they were good people.

 

Not sure if it's been mentioned but this place is pretty cool. It's set back a bit from the coast. Great setting, service was excellent the last time I was there and beer/food unique and tasty.

https://www.riversaintjoe.com/menu