Beer in Holland, Michigan

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On Sunday Julie and I headed up to Holland, Michigan for the day to check out New Holland Brewing and to search for Short’s Brewing’s seasonal beer. We were looking for a town within three hours of Chicago that we could drive there and back in a day and still make it home for dinner. We were a little disappointed that most of the town of Holland was deserted on a Sunday afternoon but more than surprised that a second brewery was open on the same block as New Holland.

New Holland Brewing
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The New Holland Brewery had one of the larger selections of in-house made beers I’ve seen in quite some time.  I believe they had more than 15 taps going.  We each started with a sampler of six beers of which I liked the Paleooza and the Black Hatter the most.  We also tried their Blueberry and Apple ciders and got a growler of the Blueberry to go.  I was really impressed with the layout of the bar and the huge digital display for their beer list.  I don’t know how many breweries/craft beer bars that use chalkboards for their beer only lists.  This screen could be seen and read from anywhere in the bar.  Also, bonus points for the sliding library ladder to reach the mugs.

Our Brewing
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Our Brewing Company is located just a couple doors down the block from New Holland. They are just getting started, having opened in November 2012. When we stopped by, they were down to three beers on tap and by the time we left they were down to two. I had the Handlebar Hopstache which is their Double IPA and then tried their porter, As You Like It Porter. Both were quite strong for being down to just a couple beers on tap. I guess they had an event the night before or something that pretty much tapped them out. Our Brewing does all of their production onsite in the basement of their bar.

Side Notes:
* Michigan Breweries are really big on the Mug Clubs. I don’t think I’ve been to a brewery in the state that doesn’t have a wall of mugs that are assigned to individual customers.
** Skip the windmill in Holland. It’s all beat, somehow it’s on private land so they charge you $7.50/per adult to see it.