Pure Michigan Pints

The Mitten Brewing Co.

Grand Rapids, Michigan (Locations also in Saugatuck and Northport)

This is my own subjective review. I’m highly opinionated. It’s out of 20 total (based on Beer Selection, Vibe, Service, and Beer Quality; I grade harshly and my 4 is probably most people’s 5. Also, I don’t count food against breweries in the total because not all breweries need food to be good and some are in a partnership with nearby restaurants.

This baseball themed brewery has not only been around for a while, but they opened up two other locations in Michigan. This is one of my all-time favorite breweries to go to for beer and pizza in Grand Rapids. (I’ll admit, I should explore this city more and have not been to enough breweries in “Beer City, USA.”)

The Mitten is an easy decision to come to universally in a group; everyone’s not only been there but likes their pizza and beer. As a result, I’ve been here around a half dozen times.

Beer Selection—5/5

A wide range of styles can be found on their beer menu—ranging from basic pilsners to fruity to IPAs to seasonal beers (such as their Octoberfest). They also have some of their classics such as Peanut and Crackerjacks (more on this beer later); enough beers accompany the menu to make a versatile flight for everyone.

My flight essentially covered all of the basics, and I almost wished I had ordered a second one, but, alas, I had to pace myself.

Vibe—3.5/5

There’s a surprising amount of seating for The Mitten not being that big of a place. There’s seating upstairs and outside. I’ve really only sat in the main section before. It’s got a cool baseball theme. (I’m not much into the All-American pastime—baseball, I mean, not exploiting oil from other countries by going to war.)

Service—3/5

The servers were friendly. Not over-eager to serve a table of five, but I don’t blame them. They seem to get quite a bit of traffic in the brewery, and I imagine it’s draining after a while.

Beer Quality—5/5

The beer is a homerun (sorry, I couldn’t help myself), and they knocked it out of the park—for the most part. Did all the beers hit? Not exactly, but more hit than didn’t and being around people trying the beer, I noticed people liked different beers.

Taste is subjective.

The mango was a high-quality fruit beer, and the triple brown took me by surprise with its nutty chocolatey richness.

One of my favorite brews from The Mitten—which has been one of my favorites for a while—is the Peanut and Crackerjacks (Porter). I would venture to not only say they nail this style of beer perfectly, but that it’s one of the best—if not the best—peanut butter porter in all of Michigan. (Maybe the United States for all I know. Maybe the entire world.)

Food—5/5

Two words: Pizza. Flights.

You can order a variety of six different pizzas to accompany one huge board. This means I got to choose two and two of my buddies got to choose two as well. Guess what? ALL OF THE PIZZAS were good! We cleared the whole board. Talk about quality pizza here: crisp crust, fresh ingredients, ingenuity, all without trying too hard. They seriously have the perfect pizza. By the time I started eating the pizza I’d already forgiven them for not having my former favorite spicy pizza on the menu.

Even if you’re by yourself, I still recommend ordering a pizza flight (unless you’re crazy familiar with the pizza, but I’m guessing you don’t need me to tell you that if you are).

Overall

This is a solid brewery in Grand Rapids worth checking out. I’ve been to the other two locations as well. While not bad outings, the original one in GR stands out as the best. I’d travel to GR for this brewery alone and the killer pizza.

Total—16.5/20