Pure Michigan Pints

Broad Leaf Brewing & Spirits

Kentwood, Michigan

Word on the street brought this brewery to my attention. It has a connection to the very popular Brewery Vivant; the same owners own both. With that being said, the beers are drastically different—while Vivant boasts farmhouse styles, Broad Leaf branches into the sours, fruited beers, and some hazy IPAs. (I wouldn’t have been able to guess ownership was the same for both places if nobody had told me.)

Beer Selection—3/5

Broad Leaf appeared to have a decent selection of beers, boasting thirteen beers on draft. But, if I’m being honest with myself, in the realms of having a great beer selection they left a bit to be desired. I get they were going for more funner styles of beers with hazies, sours, etc. But even then … I think they could have offered a bit more and had a broader beer selection.

Vibe—4/5

This place feels modern and hip. Of course, you’re hearing this from someone in their mid 30’s (who’s well aware 40 is approaching too soon), so take that with a grain of salt. They have this weird combination of pickleball and a few arcade games. Since I’m not very athletic and extremely accident prone I don’t see me hitting the pickleball courts anytime soon. I’ll dabble in a little pinball or skee-ball from time to time but don’t go out of my way to play.

It gave me the feeling of a modern coffee shop but with some flare.

Service—2.5/5

Honestly, it is kind of tough to gage a place when it comes to “service” when you have to go up to the bar to order. I get it; sometimes this works better for certain situations and a place doesn’t have the personnel to man a full wait staff. Some of them did even come out and talk to my table upon delivering beers … they seemed friendly enough—but, again, this is a difficult area to judge when it’s that odd combination of self-serve and receiving service.

Beer Quality—3.5/5

The beer that stood out the most to me was Fruit Moon (5.3% abv), a blood orange and vanilla wheat ale. This one utilizes a yeast that produces banana flavor and aromas; it drinks similar to a smoothie beer, hitting all those fruit notes while creating an interesting mouth feel. The white sangria sour (4.8% abv) proved to be an interesting offering as well. The flagship Chromatic Shatter Juicy Pale Ale (5.5% abv) wasn’t noteworthy; I’ve had better (the same weekend I had this one). I did like the peanut butter porter as well, but it wasn’t exceptional as far as the style goes. (I’d recommend checking out The Mitten for this one.)

Food—4.5/5

This place’s menu is interesting. I sampled a bit of their hummus (delicious). My personal favorite: their wings. They were perfectly crunchy on the outside but juicy on the inside; really the perfect cook was achieved here. Frankly, these were the best wings I’ve had in a long time. I’d be interesting in exploring their food menu even further.

Overall—Recommend

I liked the place overall and think it’s a fun place worth checking out for their vibes and interesting beers. It’s even hard to compare this one to Vivant. I’d recommend both, but the OG location provides more uniqueness than its hipper younger brother.