Beards Brewery

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  This is a great brewery.  The vibe is cool, the decor is sharp, and most importantly, the beer is pretty good.  I love a brewery that allows you to bring food from outside into their place.  I feel like that usually translates into good beer because that's their focus.  A brewery that opens up and tries to serve a full menu all at once is destined to lack in some aspect.  They've got several styles of beer to choose from, my favorite being the double IPA, and a couple snacks as well.  The sampler is a little awkward.  It's a cool design but when I brought it to my table and began to set it down I almost spilled the glasses.

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  Posted on 03.02.13 Ashley H.

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  Beards Brewery is located in downtown Petoskey, in the gaslight district of a beautiful resort town that was in desperate need of a local craft brewery.  After walking through the glass front doors and down a short corridor lined with some artwork, you are met with an iron gate that leads into a beautiful solarium with an enormous skylight. I note this because it's a rather uncommon feature for a brewery, which are usually gray and cold, with a heavy stench of spoiled grains.  Beards was quite the opposite, opening into an airy atrium with natural light, greenery and earthy tones.  
  
  Upon entering the solarium, to your right there is an enormous painting of Aslan from C. S. Lewis' Chronicles of Narnia, a beautiful tasting room ahead and to your left, a glass wall with a front row seat at the brewery itself.  That's right, forget about the traditional "behind the scenes" brewery tour only at select hours on select days and with very limited spots available.  At Beards, you tour the brewery as you walk into the tasting room.  The brewing room, a brilliant white and well lit room with an amazing array of brewing equipment, lets you experience the brewing process as it happens without exposing you (or the beer) to contaminants or brewing byproducts.
  
  As we entered the tasting room, a friendly tender named Andy warmly welcomed us in.  Like the solarium, the tasting room was heavy with earth tones, the bar built from cut stone and the tabletops made from cross cut trunk wood.  The lighting was a series of old-fashioned filament light bulbs with a copper cage.  Very warm and inviting, a feature Andy assured me was inspired by several of the brewery owner's family businesses and constructed by the owners themselves.  However, one of the best features of the tasting room was what is didn't have: a television.  Andy told me that he and his partners wanted Beards to be a place where people come together to meet and interact around beer.  They are interested in building a community, and a TV is a distraction from conversation.  Instead, he suggested we play one of the many board games and playing cards they had in the solarium, most of which were left there by patrons.
  
  Ok, so enough about the brewery, let me tell you about the beer.  Between all three of us, we tried every beer on tap and they were all very good to exceptional beers.  Honestly, they were fresh, flavorful and most importantly, very drinkable.  We started off with a Luna wheat beer, which very light bodied sessionable beer.  Though it was a bit too light bodied for me, my mother-in-law loved it.  My wife decided on the Rye Byter, which had a nice spicy note to the rye.  The two IPAs, Monkey Business, which had notes of banana, and Somethin' Somethin' were both very balanced and easy drinking.  These beers did not assault the senses like most IPAs, but still offered the bitter hoppy flavor you look for.  The Deez Nutz Brown Ale was also very traditional brown with a smooth nutty flavor.  All of them very good offerings.
  
  Without a doubt though, the best beers on tap were Serendity Porter, a very smooth porter with a hint of sweet, chocolate maltiness and a light smoke in the end, and Brimley Stout, an oatmeal stout that smelled deceptively bold but went down so easily.  The taste reminded me of a fresh Guinness, but the scent was pure oatmeal stout.  It was a real treat, and something both my wife and I loved.  
  
  Just so you are aware, Beards is a tasting room and not a brewpub.  So, if you're one to eat while you drink, feel free to bring in a meal or order out.  Andy had several suggestions for local eateries, and he says its common for patrons to have food delivered to the tasting room.  Heck, he told me that a few weeks ago, a group of friends brought in crock pots full of food and turned the tasting room into a pot luck.  That is how patron friendly the owners at Beards are.  
  
  While my wife and mother-in-law played cards and drank their imperial pints (you gotta love a brewery that serves 20 ounce pints), I lucked out and one of the brewers named Ben walked me through the history of the brewery.  From its humble origins as a home brewing project to a fully functioning nano-brewery, Beards is a labor a love among a small group of friends who became business partners.  Beyond the partners themselves, both Ben and Andy spoke highly of the outpouring of support by the craft beer community in the northern Michigan.  A promising sign that the best is yet to come.
  
  I can't say enough how much of a treat it was to visit, tour and taste the fantastic brews Beards had to offer.  For a brewery that's just two months old, the beers were well developed, flavorful and most importantly, drinkable.  And if Beards keeps brewing beers like the ones I tasted, I'm sure they will be serving them up for years to come.  
  
  Cheers, lads!

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  Posted on 10.29.12 Omar S.

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  I wanted to like this place. Beard's Brewery gets a 3 out of 5 which is generous only because I still have faith this place will reach higher potential. First of all, being a brand new micro brewery in town, my first thought is, let me try everything! How about a flight of their brews? Oh wait, they didn't think to buy the tasting glasses!! That was a serious oversight. They informed us they were in the process of purchasing some. The place is pretty bland..there is nothing that makes the place stand out. I know they are in the process of decorating and such, but I just wouldn't open a business if the place wasn't perfect. When you are introducing your product for the first time, first impressions mean a lot. After standing for a while, a table opened up. It was a large table and we tried to offer another couple to have a seat because it was a little awkward. Later we went to sit at the bar and to no surprise it was well above standard bar height so the stools didn't reach high enough. I say 'no surprise' to this because everything else seemed half a$$ed too. I think they need some more seating options at least in the courtyard area. It could be a cool space if it was transformed into a beer garden of sorts. I was told it is supposed to be a standing room. Ummm ok. Why would anyone want to stand around instead of sit and relax? Also, the place has a lot of wood and stone in it, nothing to absorb the sound. So it was very loud! I could really only have a conversation with the person sitting directly next to me. :( There was just nothing there that would make me want to sit, stay, and buy. They had some board games and cards available, but there was no food or even a snack like popcorn. Some group had pizza delivered and the smell filled the room and made me want some. Making it ever more apparent that they offer nothing to munch on. Now let's talk about the beer. It was....OK. I tried first the Blonde. I didn't like it too well and wouldn't order it again. My boyfriend had the Muffin which was a very standard Brown Ale. Then he tried the Blueberry Muffin. We could NOT taste the difference. We didn't taste any blueberry's at all and he is sort of a beer snob and has a good palette for beers. The one owner/bartender was a little surprised by our comment about it. He thanked us for some honest feedback. He kept telling us it was supposed to be a SUBTLE difference. There was nothing subtle about it...it was non-existent. These people need to accept the fact that they missed the mark on this and there was no blueberry flavor in it. Seriously, why make 2 beers that are identical?? If you are going to make a Brown Ale with blueberry, then go all out with it!! It is a very interesting combination but they didn't even come close to meeting it's potential!! It was disappointing. I tried the IPA next, it was called TBA - IPA. So at first we were thinking, do they offer an IPA, or is it coming soon? And is the actual name TBA or are you still deciding? They have huge potential -- great location in downtown Petoskey, unique to the area, awesome logo! But they fail in so many areas it really is disappointing. I will be back though, I want to see there progress over the next few months. Good luck to them on this business adventure, I would love to see them succeed! I would also like to know what their strategy is to keep customers coming back? After Petoskey Brewing Co. opens, why return to Beard's mediocre beer when PBC offer's a cool historic building and food service. Don't mean to be harsh, but that's reality.

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  Posted on 09.04.12 Missy C.

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