Midland Brewing Company

 

Friends know that I like to visit local breweries.  Midland Brewing Company is in my hometown of Midland, Michigan and has been in operation since 2010.  When it first opened, it was little more than a taproom that served nothing more than beer, some of which were pretty good.  As it grew, they started canning beers for distribution and needed to employ a contract brewer to maintain demand.  They have undergone an expansion in the last couple of years, temporarily closing their brewpub/taproom, so they could expand brewing capacity and to install a kitchen so they could serve food.  They reopened the brewpub last year and it has been upgraded a lot.  The place has the look of a lodge with wooden furniture, wooden floors, and a wooden bar, referencing Midland's logging past.  There are also many logging tools hung on the walls as decoration and to further emphasize Midland's logging past.  

Having been here a few times, I have tried many of their beers and have developed a few favorites.  When I go in, I will order a flight so I can try something new as well as get back to my favorites.  Their serving tray for flights is pretty cool.  It has a chalk board on the front of the tray so it's easy to keep track of which beer is which.  For my flight, I went with favorites Lime Rock 2.0 IPA, Copper Harbor Ale, Margarita Gose, and a new and weird one I had not tried yet, the Peanut Butter Porter (whose actual name was Lumberjack Brawl Oatmeal Porter even though it also contained Peanut Butter).  All of the beers that I tried were pretty good.  The Lime Rock IPA was crisp with a citrus flavor that moderates the bitter.  The Copper Harbor is malty and has a flavor somewhere between a Red and a Golden Ale.  The Margarita Gose is light and tart with a salty finish, and the Lumberjack Brawl was rich and dark with a nice peanut butter finish.  Of the beers that I tried, my favorite fell between the Lime Rock 2.0 IPA and the Margarita Gose.

While I had been here a few times before, I had never actually eaten here.  I did look at the menu, saw the food coming out of the kitchen, and smelled the smells, and things really looked good, so I decided to stop for lunch one day when I was up there.  It does have the standard bar food: burgers, chicken sandwiches, fries, and chicken wings, but it also has fish and chips, flatbreads, barbecue, a meat and cheese board, and tacos, among other good stuff.  I decided to start things off with some Fried Pickles that were served in a basket with some Spicy Aioli on the side.  The pickles had a nice crispy breading, but still retained their juicy pickleness.  The Aioli was creamy and had a nice burn to it.  It did provide a nice complement to the pickle flavor, though the pickles were also good on their own.   The basket contained a nice number of slices and even though I did share them, there was plenty for all.

There were many good things on the menu that I considered, though I decided to go light and ordered Fish Tacos.  They were done with Ancho-Rubbed Cod, Shredded Lettuce, Pineapple Pico de Gallo, and Chipotle Cream Sauce, on Flame Grilled Flour Tortillas.  Ancho Chiles are spicy, but they are one of the milder spicy chiles, so while they did add some spice to the fish, it wasn't overwhelming and added a nice burn.  The Chipotle Cream Sauce, made from smoked jalapenos added a warm and smoky spice to it.  The pineapple in the pico de gallo moderated the spice and added a nice citrus finush that went well with the cod.  There were three tacos served, which provided a nice and hearty meal.

I like the beer here at Midland Brewing Company, so I will return just for that to see what's new.  the great food just makes it easier to come here.  I will definitely have to return for the barbecue, the charcuterie, and the flatbreads.