The BreweryTour Heads to the Lake (Spring Lake)

A Thursday night found the girls at Countryside Greenhouse to buy some $2 mums and then off to a new brewery destination in Spring Lake.

What a delight to find this Dutch-clean, just-opened (7-11-15) brewery, sandwiched between two automotive stores. There were flowers in the window boxes, and two bikes parked outside--which seemed only right.

Inside, a Welkom wall of Dutch wooden shoes--and some tasty beer! More details on the beer post.


We had a nice smoked white fish dip and crackers with our brews. We did not try the Street Scrubber, but sampled 5 of the new brewery's 10 offerings. Nothing too fancy here--just some good old world styles. The owner was friendly and gave us a mini-tutorial on the beer-making process!


Across the street is Vander Mill Cidery and we stopped in to check it out. Along with their many popular hard ciders, they actually brew one beer, but we did not try it.

We were hungry and planned to eat dinner at the second  brewery, Old Boys' Brewhouse, which is a total omage to a well-loved deceased dog. The menus are shaped like bones, they sell doggie treat bags and actually, the food tasted a bit like dog food!

We started out with an app of fried dill pickles and those were okay, thankfully.

This chip dip, although a unique presentation, tasted like it was all poured out of a can--like dogfood! The chips were homemade and were similar to Charley's chips but less salty. We also shared a small plate of fajitas which came with no sour cream or cheese and had a tiny portion of steak that must have been shared with the dog--and the bean dip might have been mixed up with the dog's food as well!

My insides rumbled in protest all night after this food, and so did O's. I didn't check with J.

We each tasted one sample pour of a dark brew here and they were all enjoyed. No flight boards here--a second fail for the year--just small sample pours. I had a coconut strong ale which actually had a nice coconut flavor. Once again, this brewery was out of their brown ale, which J and I usually favor.

We sat outdoors and it was almost dark (around 8:30) when we got the food. I had to edit the photos with light. Hops growing on the fence by our table was a nice touch!

Our recommendation: come for the beer if you are in the area, but don't venture too far beyond pickles and chips!

More detail about the beer:
Discovery Tour 2015
(September 3, 2015)