Pure Michigan Pints

Harbor Light Brewing

South Haven, Michigan

I apologize for the lack of pictures. However, I have no desire to return to this brewery and would require monetary compensation to do so.

I visited this brewery a couple times within the last three years. After not being impressed the first time, I have no idea why I came back a second time. Sometimes I guess it’s good to gather more data. At least there’s one thing I can admire about Harbor Light Brewing:

They are consistent.

Consistently shitty.

Beer Selection—4/5

They do have a wide selection of beer they’ll confidently post on their website. They cover lighter, hoppy, darker, and have way too many ciders (I actually do like ciders). This leads to a false sense of hope of the possibilities; before I knew better, I was actually excited to see such a versatile tap list.

Do not get overly excited about their big draft list; it will only lead to disappointment.

Feel free to order a flight. Maybe two. Or three if warranted. Try to sift through their beers like I did and attempt to find a decent one. If you fail (which there’s a good chance you will), don’t say that I didn’t warn you.

Vibe—2/5

At first glance, the place doesn’t appear problematic. Don’t be fooled. Yes, they have a long bar and tables. Some nights music will ever be playing. But after only having been here a few times, I got a bit of a sick feeling entering this place. If I heard they demolished the whole building, I wouldn’t consider it a bad step for the town of South Haven.

Service—2/5

The servers appear as enthusiastic about the beer at this brewery as they should be—there’s literally no enthusiasm. Justifiably, there shouldn’t be any. If one place needs a Gordon Ramsay rescue, it is this place.

Beer Quality—1/5

What they’re doing with their beer is amazing. It’s amazing they can make so many beers and not even have a single one that tastes decent. I’m impressed at this level of incompetence. (I would give them a zero, but I have to be fair: I am rating them 1-5.)

The question here is always: What beer can I stomach? Never what beer do I like. These are beer problems, but not the kind I wish to ever have.

Food—N/A

Overall—DO NOT RECOMMEND

If you’re forced to enter this brewery at gun point, do it. It’s not worth taking a bullet over. However, if you have any choice in the matter, avoid this place at all costs. Save. Yourself. Seriously. If there was one brewery, I wished would have gone under due to COVID, it’s this one. (The injustice of it all.)

I wish I could find one positive thing to say about this brewery, but I can’t find it … I guess I like their light house emblem.

Total—9/20

Worse news: they’ve expanded. They’ve purchased Osgood Brewing’s old location and opened A NEW LOCATION on December 16, 2023. There’s absolutely no way they will be able to fill those shoes and step up and wear the Big Boy Pants. Of course, I’ll go. I’ll check it out. I’ll try to keep an open mind. I mean my expectations are as low as they could possibly be, but if they are like the South Haven location, it’ll be a one and done.

I suspect this new location will not only bad news for the town of Grandville, but for the Michigan craft brewery scene as a whole.