Pure Michigan Pints

Heronmark

Allegan, Michigan

Heronmark is a place that offers both wine and beer. And it wasn’t a place on my beer radar either. In fact, their website and social media offers little information, but upon reaching out, one of the owners responded within an hour and told me precisely what draft beer options they offered.

Beer Selection—2.5/5

When I went, there wasn’t a crazy amount of drafts on—only seven, six beers and one seltzer. A few sessions, a Rye IPA (points for having an interesting IPA on), a super saison (7.2% abv). Overall, the selection didn’t fulfill every asset as some places do; I get they’re small and trying to be unique, but there is still room for improvement in this area.

Vibe—3.5/5

I liked the small closeness of this place. It’s artsy and I appreciate art in many forms. Sitting at a booth proved to be cozy and the bar area looked exactly how you would want it. (I mean this in a good way.)

There’s nothing crazy going on, but it’s chill. And I like chill.

Service—4/5

The bartender (I’m assuming owner/brewer too) did a good job at providing service, going to our table, and seeing if more beers were needed. No complaints in this area. I also caught them at a good time where only two other patrons were in the establishment.

Beer Quality—3/5

Surprisingly, what stood out here to me were the two session beers—typically, these are one of my least favorite styles. I get the idea: to be able to drink more lower octane beers and not be done after two 9% ones. But generally—in my biased opinion—session beers lack flavor.

This was not the case at Heronmark.

The session Hefe proved to be a good lighter take at 4%. (A beer I am passionate about and generally frown on American imitations.) But this beer hit the mark for me. The session sour cherry beer also provided the right amount of carbonation, cherry flavor, and felt refreshing. Coming in at only 3%, it surprised me by its flavor and was exactly what I’d want out of a session beer.

Food—N/A

They don’t offer food but encourage people to bring in food from one of the local restaurants.

Overall—Recommend

I recommend going to this brewery/winery. Don’t expect to be blown away, but appreciate the chill vibe. And if you need to wind down this is a place to go with some of the best session beers I’ve ever had.