Pure Michigan Pints

Sawyers Brewing Company

Montague, Michigan

New year, new blog. These reviews are broken up into different criteria: beer selection, vibe, service, beer quality, and food. The three possible ratings are “Yay,” (meaning “yes”) “Nay” (meaning “no”), or “Ehhh,” (meaning “so-so”, or “okay”.)

This one’s a stone throw away from North Grove Brewers (also in Montague). Naturally, I made my way here. Google said they were 410 feet from each other. I personally love when breweries are in close proximity, and you can walk from one to the other while checking out the scenery of a place and getting a feel for the town.

I arrived and it was a quaint brick building. The place was established in 2021; no wonder I hadn’t been here before. But this is where the excitement is at: exploring new breweries.

Beer Selection—Nay

Fruity. Fruity. Fruity. This place focuses on cider and wine. I sampled two flights, but it happened to be mostly cider with the exception of about four beers—some of which they were out of.

Bottom line: As far as beer goes, there are not many options here.

Vibe—Yay

Sawyers Brewing Company has a certain aesthetic. It does give off more cidery/winery vibes than brewery vibes, but this isn’t a bad thing. I would say it classes the place up a bit. The chairs are picked out perfectly, and you feel like you’re sitting in somebody’s fancy living room or dining room. They have a variety of non-traditional seating—which I loved. I sat on a comfy chair near a barrel.

To add to this vibe, they had a singer on this Sunday afternoon performing an acoustic set. She performed well-known covers such as Chris Issak’s “Wicked Game,” and this added to the atmosphere—of course, I can’t promise you she’ll be there performing when you go or that there’ll be any music playing at all.

Service—Nay

The bar service felt rushed. They were under a bit of heat, but they weren’t very clear on if they would bring the flights out, or if we were supposed to stay by the bar area. This created nothing but confusion. I wouldn’t say this was horrible service, but simply: I’ve had better.

Beer Quality—Nay

I wish I could rank this place on cider quality. Cider—which I do love, and have fond memories of visiting Vandermill in the fall in Spring Lake before they closed because it felt like Michigan in autumn—quality was high here. But I felt like they didn’t fully make the transition to beer. This isn’t a unique problem to Sawyers Brewing Company—it’s something far too common throughout the winery/cider community.

A winery or cidery attempts to gain a bigger audience. They try their hand at craft beer. They suck at it. The quality is not the same as their other products. Since this is a brewery review of beer, I have to grade this accordingly. (I do recommend coming here for cider and wine. But if you’re seeking a good beer, you will be disappointed.)

Food—N/A

They do not currently have a kitchen at the time of this writing.

Overall—Nay (For Beer)

I’d recommend going here if you like cider or wine. If you’re strictly into beer, this is not the place to go. I’m not much of a connoisseur when it comes to wine, so that I don’t feel like I have the pallet to speak on their wine. They might want to consider changing their name. Having “brewing” in the title is misleading. Perhaps Sawyers Cider Company? Sawyers Winery?

This place might also be worth checking out for the live music if you can catch the right acoustic set.