Beer Hunting - NW Indiana & SW Michigan

I love the fact that in the past decade or two, microbreweries have popped up all over the country. Of course, the Midwest – especially Milwaukee and St. Louis, and to a lesser extent, Chicago, have always been brewing meccas for mega-brews. (Heileman was headquartered here for a while, and Pabst headquarters are now in Woodridge.) But we wanted to sample some of the relatively local brews, so we hit the road.

Our two-day beer trip took us to eight microbreweries in Northwest Indiana and Southwestern Michigan. It might be considered a quirky mix of brewery choices (talking with others at several bars, we realized we might have missed a few worthy candidates in the Grand Rapids area), but in general it was a nice mix of well-known and less-well-known destinations.

Overall, there were two big surprises. The Livery, in Benton Harbor, produces a wide range of fascinating beers - including a number of excellent barrel-aged ales. On the other hand, we expected Kalamazoo Brewing/Bell’s to be a highlight of the trip; it was fine, but the offerings really weren’t all that interesting in comparison to some of the other stops.

As at each stop, we shared a sampler, and had a bit of food too – after all, we were driving.

The first top was Three Floyds in Munster, IN.



We had to try the Scotch Eggs at Three Floyds, commented on here. They were excellent, nice crunch from the topping, good balance between the sausaginess and the egginess.


Three Floyds has a nice space, perfunctory service (we’ve heard that comment from others, too), and great beers – despite its reputation, not all were super-hoppy.

l to r, Alpha King (their signature beer), Robert the Bruce, Pride and Joy, and Dreadnaught.
Robert the Bruce was the maltier, Scotch ale, with a distinctive note of apricot in the finish. Alpha King, of course, is well known, but an excellent version of an American Pale Ale – think of it as Goose Island’s Honkers Ale on steroids. Pride and Joy was a nice session beer (a mild ale), with some flavor from the darker malts. But the real standout was the Dreadnaught – an IPA with an amazing 100 IBUs (a measure of hoppy bitterness from the hops - compare that to Budweiser, at 8.5 IBUs.[That’s the fake Budweiser, brewed by the St. Louis company, not the real Budweiser, from Budweis in the Czech Republic.]). We took home a large bottle of the Dreadnaught.

We also had a glass of Rabid Rabbit, a complex, Belgian-style Saison with an elusive flavor, which we later found out was chamomile.

Next stop was Mishawaka Brewing. Mishawaka brews their beers in Elkhart, and used to have a brewpub in downtown Mishawaka, but they closed that. The current “home bar” for Mishawaka brews is at The Pub, in Mishawaka’s outskirts.


The sampler here was somewhat broader than at Three Floyds. The Kölsch (think of Budweiser with hops – it seems as though all these brewpubs feel they need to have an option for Miller Lite drinkers) wasn’t bad, probably a little hoppier than a traditional Kölsch. They also served a mild raspberry ale (raspberry is probably the easiest fruit beer to brew), which was very good – we ended up taking a growler of this home. We also took home a growler of the IPA – it wasn’t revelatory, but it was good. And, it ended up being free. We had brought several empty growler bottles along from other breweries, and one of the other patrons collected growler bottles, so in exchange for an empty Minocqua Brewing bottle, he bought us a growler of IPA. Before researching the trip, I hadn’t heard of Mishawaka, but it’s definitely worth a stop.

l to r, top row: Kölsch, Raspberry Ale, Founders' Stout, Four Horsemen Irish Ale
bottom row: Wall St. Wheat (adequate, refreshing), Hophead IPA (more hops in the name than in the brew), Resolution Barleywine (mild flavor profile), India Pale Ale (nice malt/hop balance), and Lake Effect Pale Ale (interesting creaminess).

Our overnight stay was in Kalamazoo, home to Kalamazoo/Bell’s Brewing. Fortunately, our B&B was downtown – walking distance to Bell’s. But between the B&B and Bell’s was Olde Peninsula – named after the building’s original tenant – the Peninsula restaurant, from the late 1800s.

Olde Peninsula is apparently a very popular restaurant/brewpub, but it seems as though they focus more on the restaurant part of the operation than the brewery. We were able to find a spot at the crowded bar, and, of course, order a sampler.
Overall, all beers were decent, none outstanding, and none particularly clear. The IPA, which they claimed was dry hopped, had little-to-no hop aroma. They seemed particularly proud of their raspberry ale, as it was offered not only on its own, but mixed with stout (on the menu, called black raspberry) and Sunset red (red raspberry).

l to r: Sunset Red Ale (nice, roasty flavors), Stout (strangely sweet, without roasty notes), IPA, Raspberry Ale, [back row] Red Raspberry (blend of Sunset Red and Raspberry), Black Raspberry (blend of Stout and Raspberry), Downtown Brown (needed more malt flavor), and Batch 400 (Double IPA @ 9.75% ABV) which needed more hopping for that alcohol level.

But, as mentioned before, Bell’s was just a couple of blocks away.


The Eccentric Café, Bell’s brewpub (around the corner from the photo), is set up more for music performance than serious beer tasting. When we got there, we were charged a $6 cover each, for the country-rock band that was okay, but wasn’t the reason we were there. The sampler included five beers. Everyone in town we spoke to seemed excited about the release of Bell’s Oberon; while a good wheat beer, it seemed rather nondescript compared to what we’d had earlier in the day. Oarsman was like a slightly cloudy Miller Lite; the Spiced Pale Ale was fine, except there wasn’t much spice to it. Probably the best beer we sampled was their “experimental IPA,” dubbed 21-B, which had an apricot nose, then gently yielding to a hop aroma, which continued through the taste and the finish.


l to r - Oarsman Ale, Rye Barleywine (very dry), Scotch Ale (sweet, malty, 7.3& ABV), Spiced Pale Ale (very light on the spices), 21-B, Oberon

After a leisurely morning, our next stop was New Holland Brewing.

I’m not a fan of high-alcohol beers. I like a beer that I can sip, appreciate, and maybe have another. I don’t want a beer that hits me over the head as if I’m taking several shots of whiskey. Okay, maybe I’m a wimp. But I was driving.

New Holland Brewing has a fascinating list of brews. Their specialty is high-gravity beers – tasty, but not great to drink a lot when you’re driving from brewery to brewery. New Holland also distinguished itself by having the worst-designed sampler carrier of any of the breweries on the trip. It had no easy way to identify the beers, and you had to reach over the handle, or twist the carrier, to get to half of the beers.

But the beers – especially what they call their “mainstream” beers, were all exemplary. The Golden Cap – their version of a Belgian Saison – had an earthy flavor – maybe a result of a touch of Brett? Dragon’s Milk was strong ale, with a dark brown color, very smooth, and more malty than hoppy. The 9% ABV wasn’t as obvious as you might expect.

l to r, back row: Mad Hatter IPA (5.8% ABV, strong carbonation, good hoppiness on the back of the flavor), Brother Jacob Dubbel (Belgian Abbey style, 8% ABV, chocolate and alcohol notes), Existential Imperial IPA (11.1% ABV, low on hops for the style, alcohol very evident, creamy and a bit sweet)
front row: Golden Cap (7% ABV Saisan, earthy character), Smoking Jacket Porter (light smoke character, 5% ABV), Dragon's Milk (very smooth Strong Ale, dark brown, not very hoppy)

We weren't able to sample the rest of the 16 beers (plus one cider) on tap, but we did appreciate the $4 price on all the mainstay (i.e. < 6%) beers.

Saugatuck Brewing didn’t show up in our research prior to the trip, but we called a last-minute audible, and detoured slightly south of Holland to Douglas, Michigan. (Slightly strangely, Saugatuck Brewing isn’t in Saugatuck, but over in Douglas.)



Yeah, it's basically an industrial shed. But Saugatuck, open only since June 2008, is clearly a work in progress. They have big plans. Currently they’re brewing with a one-barrel system, but there’s a 10-barrel system in the back that’s almost ready to go. They also have a cavernous space in the back, which will feature a stage to host music and other events. It was disappointing, though, that so many of their beers seemed so similar in flavor – varied only by additions of slightly more roasted malts to differentiate the blond from the pale ale, from the porter to the brown ale. (Imperial Stout, at 11% ABV, was the exception).


In stark contrast to New Holland, Saugatuck clearly had the best sampler carrier, replete with dovetailed, contrasting wood legs and a copper handle, reminiscent of the copper kettles and piping in breweries long gone by.
l to r: Tübroes Pale Ale (nicely hoppy, named after Two Brothers who worked on the beer, soon to be renamed after they realized there's a similarly named brewery in Warrenville), Imperial Stout, Brown Porter (almost black), Brown Ale (slightly sweet), Main Street Wheat (nicely hoppy for an American wheat beer), and Oval Beach Blond (the necessary offering for Coors aficionados).

The true, unexpected highlight of the trip was The Livery in Benton Harbor.



Like Bell’s, The Livery is both a brewery and a music venue. Unlike Bell’s, in addition to the upstairs music space, there’s a comfortably gritty downstairs bar for beer purists who prefer not to pay a cover. Not that the others aren’t, but The Livery is clearly serious about its beers – to the extent that it offers pages of detail about its beers for anyone interested, including details about hop strains used and ABV. The specialty is barrel-aged beers, which have a unique, leathery flavor (a good thing) based on the Brett and other beasties that linger in the aging barrels. And, The Livery has the chutzpah to make a beer named Laughing Dragon – an IPA which laughs at convention, and is bittered, finished and dry-hopped only with the often-despised Chinook hop (described by some as having a “cat-piss” aroma).

l to r: Special C Lager (clean, with a light roastiness), Laughing Dragon, Paris-Robbaix Pale Ale (slightly sharp, but very tasty), Malcolm's Best Bitter (a real ale, hand-pulled from the cask - The Livery was the only stop offering true cask-conditioned ales served through an authentic English-style beer engine), Liverator (a barrel-aged doppelbock, somewhat accurately described as "Oreo cookies in a glass,"), Red Canoe (a creamy lager using traditional British hops), Old Flynn Stout (rich coffee flavors, tight head due to nitrogen tap), and Kilt Tilter Scotch Ale (slightly sour, barrel aged, slightly smoky).

Last stop took us back to Indiana, to Shoreline in Michigan City.


Shoreline has a nice, large space, with separate kid-friendly and smoker-friendly spaces (it was a bit of an adjustment to see smokers in most of the bars in Michigan and Indiana). But their Foggy Leggy Lager (seemingly, a Miller Lite clone) was surprisingly cloudy. Overall, the beers were somewhat on the thin side, although we had a chance to talk with the assistant brewmaster, who seemed dedicated to what they were turning out.

l to r: Foggy Leggy, Don't Panic English Pale Ale (also cloudy, needed more body and more hops), Benny's American Pale Ale (light amber color, a bit more hops and body, but not a lot more), Region Rat Red Ale (dark red color), Beltaine Scottish Ale (smooth caramel flavor, not as sweet as some Scottish ales), and Smokestack Porter (black, with just a touch of smoke - won't be confused with a Rauchbier).

Not shown: Kolsch Syrah-Syrah (a light ale aged in a French Oak barrel that once contained Syrah. Interesting winey flavor, but a bit thin), and Queen Mum IPA (served on nitrogen for a tight head, the flavor mixes hops with a candy-like quality).

Next step is an Illinois/Wisconsin trip. We’re in a good region for beers.

Three Floyds Brewing
9750 Indiana Parkway
Munster IN 46321

Mishawaka Brewing
408 W. Cleveland Road
Mishawaka, IN 46530

Olde Peninsula Brew Pub
200 E Michigan Ave
Kalamazoo, MI 49007

Bell's Brewery
355 E. Kalamazoo Ave.
Kalamazoo, MI

New Holland Brewing
66 E. 8th Street
Holland, Michigan 49423

Saugatuck Brewing Company
6785 Enterprise Drive, Unit 6
Douglas, MI 49453

The Livery
190 5th Street
PO Box 576
Benton Harbor,
MI 49022

Shoreline Brewery
208 Wabash St.
Michigan City IN 46360

Great report, Tom. I'm thirsty!

I had my first Dreadnaught a couple of years ago at Kuma's, and it quickly vaulted near the top of my list of favorites. Which Bells beer did they/ you call "IPA" above? Was it the Two Hearted Ale? If so, it's hard for me to imagine you describing it the way you did. I've been going through a six pack of it this week, and it is very hoppy, with an intensely floral aroma.

Very nice! Thanks for sharing.

Nice report! I hope you weren't driving!

Great info. I'm no beer expert, but I have an idea what's good, and I spend a bunch of time in SW Michigan these days. Hard not to find good beer there. I'd guess that SW Michigan/NW Indiana is one of the great beer regions of the country these days.

Interesting that you found the Livery, which is a very quirky place. You know, just around the corner is a solid BBQ place run by a contest circuit guy, Charlie's Piggin & Grinnin. Those two businesses, plus a whole bunch of artists are trying to turn around a very depressed downtown Benton Harbor.

Also, for other readers' benefit as much as your own, I'd say your Bell's experience was not representative. I'd venture that going to Bell's on a music night is something like going to Kuma's on a Saturday at 8. Disappointing. Next time go during the day in warm weather to enjoy the huge beer garten with wild hops growing up the walls. And, in my experience during the day (no cover, no live music, fewer people), you have an absolutely huge range of obscure tap options at nominal prices. Really wild stuff that you won't see elsewhere. I'd guess Bells is more interested in visitors trying a bunch of stuff than turning a profit on the beer at the cafe. The food is fine and more normally priced. And the package store is a great place to pick up hard-to-find stuff (like the high ABV stuff you are supposed to put up).

Anyway, if you have the chance in warmer weather, give it another shot.

Other places to check out would be Founders (the breakfast stout guys) and Arcadia.

Kennyz wrote:Which Bells beer did they/ you call "IPA" above? Was it the Two Hearted Ale?

They described it as an experimental IPA - it wasn't Two-Hearted. But it's interesting ... when you're sampling a number of beers against each other, your (or at least my) standards are very different than simply drinking one beer in the evening. Almost all of the beers we sampled would be considered excellent on their own, but in the company of other beers with differing profiles, what might normally be very good can come off as "meh."

Mhays wrote:I hope you weren't driving!

On average, the samples were 4 to 5 ounces each. So even the broadest samplers, with 8 or 9 different beers, split between two people, didn't add up to much more than a pint of beer each, total, at each stop. And there was food to soak up the booze. So, I don't think the expressways of Indiana and Michigan were in any way terrorized by our little trip.

Tom -

Great report! Amazingly, for a wine person, I've been to three of the places you write about. (I guess I do drink beer, too. ) I'm glad you made it out to New Holland -- try to come back in summer; Holland has a lively, adorable downtown and the farmer's market down the street is top-notch. There's an heirloom tomato stand that is relatively dirt cheap and worth the visit alone. I hear tell from my friends in the area that the old New Holland brewery was the real gem - it was really scaled-down and the tap room was essentially in the middle of the brewery -- no frills. The new incarnation is clearly meant to attract more tourists as well as rope in parents visiting the nearby college for the weekend.

I'm also glad that you pointed out that Saugatuck Brewing is so new -- they are clearly in the developmental stages and it will be interesting to see where it goes from here.

JeffB wrote:Also, for other readers' benefit as much as your own, I'd say your Bell's experience was not representative. I'd venture that going to Bell's on a music night is something like going to Kuma's on a Saturday at 8. Disappointing. Next time go during the day in warm weather to enjoy the huge beer garten with wild hops growing up the walls. And, in my experience during the day (no cover, no live music, fewer people), you have an absolutely huge range of obscure tap options at nominal prices. Really wild stuff that you won't see elsewhere. I'd guess Bells is more interested in visitors trying a bunch of stuff than turning a profit on the beer at the cafe. The food is fine and more normally priced. And the package store is a great place to pick up hard-to-find stuff (like the high ABV stuff you are supposed to put up).

Anyway, if you have the chance in warmer weather, give it another shot.

Totally agree with JeffB's assessment of Bell's. I've only been to Bell's in the afternoon and I LOVE the laid-back vibe. The staff is really cool and you can get stuff that you can't get elsewhere. (I always go for the Poolside when I'm there.) In very Larry Bell fashion, the food portion is decent but very minimal; more like catering. I think Larry Bell very much wants the experience to be focused on the beer because once you start providing a food menu with table service, the experience becomes more about the food, or service, than the beer.

A Note Of Caution: You have to turn over your license to reserve your Michigan sampler paddle. (Apparently, this is because people steal them.) Don't forget to retrieve your license at the end of your visit, like, ahem, my friend did. (They did mail it, but it took them about a week to do so.)

Here are some more pics of Bell's:


Lower Peninsula Sampler Paddle


Couple of Bell's brews


The backside of Bell's Eccentric Cafe (what you see when you drive and park there)


Sign at Bell's Eccentric Cafe


Ralph Waldo Emerson quote on nearby K'zoo factory

Another place you might want to try (a mere 20 minutes or so from New Holland Brewing Company) is Founder's. The breakfast stout is fantastic. It is very similar to Bell's in decor and service.


Founder's Breakfast Stout


Founder's Bourbon Barrel Aged Porter


Tap Room


Brew room


Founder's Brewing Company
235 Grandville Ave SW
Grand Rapids, MI 49503
T. 616.776.1195
F. 616.776.6846

Another gem was / is Kraftbrau:

http://www.westernherald.com/?p=593
http://www.myspace.com/kraftbraubrewery

They sadly closed up their fantastic railroad depot space last year but are hoping to reopen this summer. I preferred them to Bell's for in-person Kzoo experiences, though Bell's lends itself to larger batches and transportation far better. My experiences at Bell's have been more in line with Tom's. They've been stressed, annoyed, or way overpacked on several occasions recently, and their beers actually taste better to me from the bottle than the tap (at least the tap there).

My current favorite Midwestern brewery is Surly. Friendliest service and most patient staff award goes to Lakefront, though I don't think their very best stack up to the very best at Sprecher, New Glarus, or 3F.

Great report, Tom!

So little time ... maybe next time a trip to Founders ... maybe even throw in a trip to a winery, like Tabor Hill.

Wonderful post, Tom.
I'll be heading to Wisconsin in three weeks and definitely will keep on the lookout for some good local brew.

I love European cars and music, Asian technology and films, but the best beers are American, IMO, (sorry, Belgian fanboys), particularly Midwestern and Pacific Northwestern brewers. As a beer lover, I feel very fortunate to live in this particular time and place. Very nice report!

Paul SL wrote:Wonderful post, Tom.
I'll be heading to Wisconsin in three weeks and definitely will keep on the lookout for some good local brew.

Paul, if you get to the Madison area, don't miss New Glarus.