Michigan Road Trip Advice

If this is the case, then you should definitely hit Dark Horse. Their brewpub fits this description very well.

 

Dark Horse is a really quick tour (pretty small brewery), but you get a glass with it and you get to try a whole bunch of beers/whatever is on tap at the taproom upstairs off of the brewing area. And the staff are all really cool, so that was worth the $10 price of admission.

 

Take the tour at Bells in Kalamazoo, you might call for times. Ask if the self guided tour in Galesburg is open now.

Jolly Pumpkin in AA is the cafe. Not much to see there, but a small brewing set up is there. The main JP brewery that makes the barrel aged beers is in Dexter, and no tours that I know of.

In GR you should look into Brewery Vivant if you have time and liver capacity. Siciliananos is where we stop in GR to see what bottles they have and look for homebrew supplies.

Dark Horse is a fun place.

 

if your looking for off beaten path you NEED to hit greenbush in sawyer just off 94 out side of indiana. also its about an hour from darkhorse to ann arbor and if you go all the way to ann arbor you may as well drive another hour to kuhnhenn in warren. another smaller brewery in grand rapids is the hideout and white flame is up and coming. there are also a few small breweries in kzoo.

 

In grand rapids I would recommend a few...

Harmony Brewing Company (a new brewery that I have heard a lot about but have not got a chance to visit yet)
Brewery Vivant (definitely go here)
Founders Brewing Co.
Hopcats (get the crack fries)

There is also Hideout Brewing Company and Schmohz Brewing Co. but I have not been to either.

If you like scotch/whiskey stella's is a great place to go and right by hopcats.

 

If you go to Jolly Pumpkin, you should try to hit up Ashley's in AA for a beer. It's super close, and they usually have at least one cool thing on tap. It does attract some college bros, but if you're planning to do this in May (or later in the summer) sometime, classes should be over, and a lot of people will be gone for the summer.

 

If you're willing to make a detour east just for Jolly Pumpkin, I'd suggest going a bit further and hitting up Kuhnhenn in Warren. You will not be disappointed and chances are you can still pick up some BB4D to take home.

 

I knew I was forgetting something!

+1 on this! Kuhnhenn always has interesting beers. I particularly remember a chocolate chip cookie beer I thought would be gross that blew me away.

 

chocolate chip cookie wheat from summer solstice last year

 

If you have time, stop in Grand Haven at Odd Side Ales. They make excellent beer and are very reasonably priced.

 

You could also hit Odd Side Ales in Grand Haven. Harmony is small, but has great wood fired pizzas. Vivant is my second home, so I'm kind of biased there. (Get the duck confit nachos or the garlic parsley frites.) I second the recommendation for Dark Horse, my boyfriend has family in Marshall, so we stop there every time we are in town.
Hideout is off the beaten path, and a worthwhile stop. I would say Founders is essential, just keep in mind they will have live music Saturday nights so if you want somewhere more chill hit them in the afternoon.

Within walking distance of Bell's is kind of a fun bar, called the Kalamazoo Beer Exchange. Check their website for what's on tap beforehand to see if it would be worth your while. Because it bases pricing on real time sales, prices on awesome beers can get really low, especially if they have a market crash.

Other bars in GR that have good beer on tap: The Pyramid Scheme (always has ten taps devoted to Short's, within walking distance of HopCat), The Meanwhile Bar (Michigan beers), Graydon's Crossing, Logans Alley, I could probably go on... I guess it all just depends on what type of atmosphere you want/price point.

 

Check to see if JP is open in Dexter, if Ron is there you'll have to talk to him, it's a trip.

Founders is a must visit, but it is usually packed and finding a seat can be difficult. You could spend a day in GR drinking.

Hideout is a very cool place.

So is Motor City Brewing, they don't make out of the ordinary beers, but what they make is very good IMO. but it's about the only place downtown that I'm familiar with.

Liberty Brewing in Plymouth makes some good stuff and it's a laid back place, I enjoy stopping there when I'm in the area.

If you make it through East Lansing, hit up Crunchy's. Their tap list is always interesting, prices are good, and updated regularly on their site. If it's a Saturday, there might be a line...

 

Just another vote for Kuhnhenn in Warren. Especially with BA4D still available. Their Imperial Crème Brule Java Stout is worth the trip. I do love a good Michigan brewery road trip.

 

If you end up coming as far east as Kuhnhenn, might as well hit Witch's Hat on the way, then Big Rock and Dragonmead are each 5-10min in either direction from there.
And fyi, if you come up on a Sat, Arcadia does regular tours as well.

 

I had the Creme Brule today. Unbelievable. You NEED to go to Kuhnhenn.

 

Unless it's Art Fair weekend, in which case you should probably just avoid Ann Arbor entirely, because it's flooded with people, and stay somewhere north/northwest of Detroit and go to Kuhnhenn, Dragonmead, Big Rock (expensive to eat there) and/or Bastone. Kuhnhenn and Dragonmead most fit the bill the style of bar it sounds like you're looking for. Dragonmead typically has around 35 of their own beers on tap. Kuhnhenn brews a lot of what my friends refer to as "turbo beers" -- high ABV on a lot of their stuff, don't plan on having more than two beers and then driving anywhere immediately after. There's numerous hotels within a couple of miles of there though as the GM Tech Center is right there.

Ashley's has 70+ taps if you're staying in Ann Arbor though, and I do love the town in the summer. I thought it was typically more of a grad student crowd while the "bros" were at Rick's and the like, but UM is already done wiith their winter semester and graduation was this last weekend, so the town should already be in the laid-back summer mode.

 

Highly recommend Dark Horse. They've been known to tap BA Pt5 that you'll be able to sample at the end of the tour, you get 5 samples plus a pint glass for $7.

 

As I say on all of these "Michigan beer tour" threads...if you shoot just north of Battle Creek and Kalamazoo...stop in Hastings at The Walldorff...and I will by your crew a round of beers!

Just try to spread the good word!

Have a fun and safe trip!

 

if you don't do the tour at dark horse can you still get some good tap selections