Pure Michigan Pints

Schaendorf Brewing Company

Allegan, Michigan

I briefly graced this brewery with my presence—approximately two years ago on a busy Saturday—only to get a beer to go. This time I stopped and wanted the full Schaendorf Brewing Company experience.

Beer Selection

This is one area—one “room for improvement”—Schaendorf should strive to do better in. Out of the 8-10 beers on draft, many of these were boring beers. They had a light beer, an IPA, a hazy, and some German styles such as a Festbier (Munich Lager). No stouts or creative styles on tap (at least the day I visited).

Vibe

You get a restaurant vibe, but a classy/a bit fancy restaurant vibe, which proved to elevate the place. They had a nice wooden bar, tables, and some booths. While it felt fancier and I didn’t feel out of place, I would have felt uncomfortable visiting in sweatpants.

Service

This is a tale of two servers. The first waitress did very little to help me out. She expected me to make a decision on what beer to order based on the names without even seeing a description of the beers. Then to help she gave me a card with a QR code. While I get this is the direction many places are going in, the question is: How much work am I supposed to do? Next time will I have to pour my own beer? Maybe cook my own steak and assemble my own wrap? Sweep and mop the floor afterwards?

The second bartender who I had the remainder of the time (thank the drinking gods) was more than helpful. I overheard him talking to another couple, clearly spelling out the situation: “We have ten beers on draft. Here’s a QR code, but if you tell me beers you like, I can help you find the right beer for you.”

Perfect.

In fact, he’s the one who recommended their hazy IPA and told me it was his favorite beer they currently had on. (Not to mention he gave me more tastes of other beers.)

Beer Quality

I have to be honest: not all of their beers hit. The brown was below average (in my humble opinion), the Festbier was right at average, the Rye IPA was decent, Why Hobbits I could barely stomach, and they were out of the S’More stout. While the hazy didn’t make my flight feel complete (the bartender told me no other stouts or dark beers were on), it slapped and was exactly what I’d want out of a hazy.

Their light beer, Shaun Brau, proved to be very clean and was a good light sipper. (This surprised me). And this was my favorite beer for this visit. Honestly, this is almost never the case as I like my big bold daring flavors.

Food

The menu is clever and well-done. They correctly elevated stereotypical American cuisine to give it a different take. It felt fancier without being over the top. I honestly think they’d make Gordon Ramsay proud.

I got a flank wrap which came with roja salsa, greens, pickled red onions, cilantro, and smoked sour cream. The steak was cooked (as requested) to a perfect medium rare. The fries were served fancy in a separate container and the server even asked what dipping sauce I wanted with them; ketchup is one of the MOST over-rated condiments of all time. (You can feel free to disagree; just know you’re as basic as basic can be.) I ended up having their Russian dressing with it. It was a slightly more peppered take on this dressing, but it complemented the meal well.

Overall—Recommend

I’d give this brewery a try, especially if you’re in the area and going to Tantrick Brewing already—the two are in relatively close proximity of each other. I do wish I liked their beer more than I did, but the food was exceptional and alone worth coming back for.

Total—14/20