Northern Michigan Breweries and Activities

February 2021, Weekdays and Weekend

We try to go out on less busy days, so most of the following visits were on weekdays. Our Saturday visits were earlier in the day when places are usually less busy (with the exception of Walloon Lake at the bottom of this post).

Grayling, Michigan

We visited three breweries in Grayling: Paddle Hard Brewing, Rolling Oak Brewing Company, and Dead Bear Brewing. All of these locations are within walking distance of the Bed & Breakfast where we were staying, although I would not recommend walking to Dead Bear Brewing after dark in the snow. That location is on a busier stretch of road, whereas, the other two are in the downtown area.

Rolling Oak Brewing Co

This was our first visit to Rolling Oak Brewing Company, which also happened to be our favorite of these three locations. We learned about this brewery because they are in the Hop Passport. We liked all of their beers, and if we had known they were having discounted growler fills ($12), we probably would have stopped in the car to fill ours. They have inside and outside seating. We got the last table inside, we thought, until we went to the bathroom. The bathrooms are located down a couple of steps near the entrance. There is a fireplace and a couple of tables in this area before the restrooms. 

I got the flight sampler at Dead Bear Brewing, which is a great value with the BrewVine Passport. I liked most of their beers when I got this a few years ago; however, this time I did not like any of them. They were out of their IPA, which is probably the one I would have liked best. Their bar seating area is spacious and comfortable.

Keg urinals at Paddle Hard Brewing

Paddle Hard Brewing also has inside and outside seating. We were seated at the last table inside on a Thursday evening. We like their beers, and the service has always been great. The seating, however, was not very comfortable this visit. During previous visits, we sat at the bar or at a table with chairs. This time, our table had bench type seating with seat cushions. Good thing we were only stopping for one beer! Paddle Hard Brewing is in Reel Craft Pass, and Michigan BrewVine Passport (we did not use both booklets). We learned about this brewery a few years ago when we purchased our very first BrewVine Passport.

Gaylord and Burt Lake/Indian River

Two breweries in Gaylord are in both the Hop Passport and Reel Craft Pass: Big Buck Brewery, and Snowbelt Brewing Company. This was our second time trying to visit Snowbelt Brewing. Last fall when we were in this area, the location was closed for a wedding. This time, they were not open yet, so we went to Big Buck Brewery instead. I thought the IPA I had at Big Buck Brewery was extremely bitter. This was probably the only time I drank less than a third of my glass. With the pandemic, and not being seated at the bar, I am reluctant to ask the server for tastes before deciding. In hindsight, I wished I had. 

Beer tap list and pricing at Burt Lake Brewery

We learned about Burt Lake Brewery because they are in the Hop Passport. During our visit, we learned they started as a winery, and only recently started making beer. We both liked our beers (Signs Point North and Brown Trout Stout), and the cost was excellent; even without the passport discount. At 25% capacity, they can only have six guests inside, and there were four patrons there when we arrived. They also have outside seating.

Petoskey

Mackinaw Trail Winery and Brewing Company used to be one of our favorite places to visit in Petoskey. Sadly, they have priced themselves right out of our market. The last time we visited, they would not honor the wine discount in the BrewVine Passport as written (a $7 tasting for 50¢). Instead, I could get a wine flight for half price. This time, I got the beer flight, because she said I could not mix and match a wine/beer flight (even though they are the same price). My husband got a draft beer. The flight was $14 before discount, and the beer was $9! We had not asked the single beer price before ordering, and when we got the check, it was listed as misc. wine for $8. We inquired whether that cost was correct, and if the $1 discount had been applied. After she said yes, I said, "So that beer is usually $9 a glass?" She said yes. Wow, outrageous. In comparison, the same size beer flight at Dead Bear is only $10.75 before discount, and we have never visited a brewery that sells beer for $9 a glass. The beers we had here were merely okay. Also, you can see on the Burt Lake Brewery menu above that they let you mix beers and wines when ordering a sampler. It makes no sense to me why this location does not allow that when both flights are the same price.

Beards Brewery beer menu

Things were not going well in Petoskey for us, because we also had a bad experience at Beards Brewery. The pricing and beers were good; our bad experience here was with the service. We arrived at 3:30 PM and waited in the store by the "Please wait to be seated" sign at the host stand. We watched a couple of employees leave through the exit door, although no one looked our way. After almost five minutes, I walked into the hallway area where I could see the bar. An employee saw us, and then came to greet us. She took us to a table, and provided one beer menu. I took a picture of the menu to make it easier for us both to look at. If I had not taken the photo, we would not have realized the exact length of our wait after this. We were seated at 3:36 PM, and no one acknowledged us after this until my husband got someone's attention 15 minutes later! Several employees had walked by before this (three servers, at least one food runner, and one person stocking items). Not one person made eye contact or acknowledged us, even when assisting patrons at one of the three tables near us. After placing our order, the server we had flagged down, returned with another server, who she said would be taking over. Both of these servers had walked through the dining room more than once during the 15 minutes, and one of them had assisted patrons at tables near us. Apparently, there was a shift change at 4:00 PM; however, we had arrived half an hour before that. This was the worst service we have ever received, anywhere.     

When we stopped at Burnt Marshmallow Brewing, the man working came outside before we got to the door. His behavior stopped us from visiting there. First, he asked if we had a reservation, and we said no. Then, he told us the cost was $50 to sit at the [smoky wood] fire. Wow, $50, seriously?! I told him we just wanted to have one beer. I inquired about inside the facility and about the outside tables away from the fire pit. He said someone with a reservation was arriving for the inside in 15 minutes. He then said we could sit at a table outside, but that we could not go inside; we had to use the outside porta potty, if needed. We were the only customers at this location when we arrived. We would have stayed, if he had not been so off-putting. Seems like he could have allowed us to go inside to get our beers and pay, and maybe even use the restroom, before moving outside since no one else was there.  

All of the Petoskey locations above had inside and outside seating. 

Bear River Trail in Petoskey

Activities

We listened to the historical telephone tour while hiking Bear River Trail in Petoskey. The west side of the trail was easy to navigate even with all the snow. We also walked out to the lakeshore and downtown. A few ice sculptures were out downtown from the previous week's event, although they were all cloudy looking. 

We thought we would attend Wallon Lake Winterfest on Saturday afternoon; however, after arriving there, we did not stay. We expected things to be spread out to accommodate the many people, and it was not. All the booths were clumped together beside Barrel Back Restaurant. The area was very crowded (bumper people in some areas), and almost no one was wearing a mask. We did not see any ice carvings before we departed. We looked on the frozen lake and in the park across the street. Either that event was happening elsewhere, or it had not started before we left. 

Overall and misc.

Overall, this was a great getaway. We visited a few new places, found a few gems, and were able to support a few local businesses. I am disappointed that we had a few poor experiences, as I much prefer it when I can brag about a business. Both our lodging stays were fabulous, and you can read about those experiences by following these links: Grayling and Petoskey.

Let me know if you have any questions!