Greenbush Brewing Company
Microbrewery
in
Sawyer,
Michigan,
United States 🇺🇸
Associated Venue: Greenbush Brewing Company
- Out of business
Established in 2011
Closed in 2026
Contact
Description
Good ideas often start over beer. Always looking to take a good thing too far, we sat down over a beer (or two) and decided that beer itself was a good idea. Of course, not just some easy-drinking, institutional prole beer, but stuff like the beers we’d had at great bars. In short, we wanted beer with flavor. Complexity. Character. Intensity. Not words found in the mass-market lexicon.
So with a banjo burner, a bunch of industrial-sized kitchen pots and as many buckets as we could find, we jumped in feet first. Once a week, every week. Now, several years later and with a 15 barrel version of said banjo burner and kitchen pots for a brewhouse, we’re befuddling the beer judges and converting the masses. One pint at a time.
Our original brewing system has a long and sordid history befitting our line of beers. It centers on the second-to-last kettle ever built by noted coppersmith Fred Zaft, a handcrafted, solid copper 7-barrel brew kettle originally housed in a nineteenth century bar in San Francisco’s old Italian neighborhood. At one point, the bar had been totally restored to its past glory, replete with a “self-flushing spittoon” under the bar (yes, it was actually a urinal). Unfortunately, we were not able to get the self-flushing spittoon.
If you think our beers tend to cross various lineages, you’ll love tidbits like the fact that in 1951, our current building endured a freight train derailing and plowing into the building. We hope our beer can make that sort of impact on you.
So with a banjo burner, a bunch of industrial-sized kitchen pots and as many buckets as we could find, we jumped in feet first. Once a week, every week. Now, several years later and with a 15 barrel version of said banjo burner and kitchen pots for a brewhouse, we’re befuddling the beer judges and converting the masses. One pint at a time.
Our original brewing system has a long and sordid history befitting our line of beers. It centers on the second-to-last kettle ever built by noted coppersmith Fred Zaft, a handcrafted, solid copper 7-barrel brew kettle originally housed in a nineteenth century bar in San Francisco’s old Italian neighborhood. At one point, the bar had been totally restored to its past glory, replete with a “self-flushing spittoon” under the bar (yes, it was actually a urinal). Unfortunately, we were not able to get the self-flushing spittoon.
If you think our beers tend to cross various lineages, you’ll love tidbits like the fact that in 1951, our current building endured a freight train derailing and plowing into the building. We hope our beer can make that sort of impact on you.
7.5/10
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Appearance 8
Aroma 7
Flavor 7
Texture 8
Overall 8
Ambar, anaranjada, turbia, de espuma muy cremosa y duradera. Lúpulo en el aroma, pomelo, resina. Buen cuerpo, estupenda de gas, punzante al final. Seca, pero con notas dulces malteadas en la base. Pero amarga, intensa. Herbal, con notas cítricas. Interesante IPA.
Tried
on 28 Nov 2017
at 15:24
6.9/10
—
Appearance 6
Aroma 6
Flavor 7
Texture 8
Overall 7.5
Botella, @El Columpio, Oviedo 25/11/2017
Color amarillo espuma blanca, aromas a cereal cítricos, sabor cítricos especiados, final amargo y seco.
Color amarillo espuma blanca, aromas a cereal cítricos, sabor cítricos especiados, final amargo y seco.
Tried
on 26 Nov 2017
at 09:02
6.2/10
—
Appearance 6
Aroma 6
Flavor 6
Texture 8
Overall 6
bottle, old rating late 2016 or early 2017 - Clear gold pour. Light, malty aroma. Flavor is sweet with cereal/grainy malt and a touch of bitterness. It's an okay beer just a little on the bland side.
Tried
from Bottle
on 25 Nov 2017
at 12:42
7.2/10
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Appearance 6
Aroma 7
Flavor 7
Texture 8
Overall 8
Botella 33 cl en el Kraken 18..11..2017. (r193). Lote y fcpref ilegibles en etiqueta. Color ámbar miel turbio con espuma blanca persistente. Sabores dulces intensos maltosos y cereales con suaves toques melosos y melaza. Suaves afrutados y poco amargo. Cuerpo medio a intenso con buena sensación alcohólica desde el principio. Denso y espumoso. Bastante buena para repetir sin duda.
Tried
on 18 Nov 2017
at 17:23
8.3/10
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Appearance 8
Aroma 9
Flavor 8
Texture 8
Overall 8
Bottle received in trade. Black pour with a pale mocha head. Prominent whiskey in the nose. Roasted malts, coffee, vanilla & coconut. Sweet, bitter & malty taste. Light raisins. Round & tiny boozy mouthfeel. Nice balance, very tasty. --- Beer merged from original tick of Delusion (2014 Templeton Barrel-Aged) on 29 Apr 2017 at 16:51 - Score: 8. Original review text: Prominent whiskey in the nose. Roasted malts, coffee, vanilla & coconut. Sweet, bitter & malty taste. Light raisins. Round & tiny boozy.
Tried
from Bottle
on 23 Oct 2017
at 03:47
7.2/10
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Appearance 6
Aroma 7
Flavor 8
Texture 8
Overall 7
bottle - Pours a hazy copper color and smells of piney and fruity hops, maybe some tropical fruits... flavor is aggressively bitter with resin and citrus hop character and the malt in the background. Medium bodied. Quite nice.
Tried
from Bottle
on 15 Oct 2017
at 18:13
7.6/10
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Appearance 8
Aroma 7
Flavor 8
Texture 8
Overall 7.5
bottle - Pours amber and smells of caramel malt, resinous hops, and citrus. Flavor is similar with intense hops bitterness, resin, citrus, caramel, a big malt body adding a healthy dose of sweetness, and a lingering bitter finish. Solid IIPA.
Tried
from Bottle
on 14 Oct 2017
at 15:48
6.9/10
—
Appearance 6
Aroma 7
Flavor 7
Texture 8
Overall 6.5
bottle - Pours hazy gold and has a mild aroma of bready malt and citrus hops. The flavor is moderately bitter with citrus and some earthy character. Medium bodied. Good.
Tried
from Bottle
on 14 Oct 2017
at 15:44
7/10
—
Appearance 6
Aroma 7
Flavor 7
Texture 8
Overall 7
bottle - Amber pour, aroma of caramel malt and citrus hops. Similar flavor. Moderately bitter. Medium body. Quite good.
Tried
from Bottle
on 14 Oct 2017
at 15:41
8/10
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Appearance 8
Aroma 8
Flavor 8
Texture 8
Overall 8
12 ounce bottle into snifter, bottled on 8/25/2017. Pours opaque dark brown/black color with a 1-2 finger dense and fluffy khaki head with awesome retention, that reduces to a small cap that lasts. Nice dense soapy lacing clings around the glass, with a fair amount of streaming carbonation retaining the cap. Fantastic appearance. Aromas of big dark chocolate, cocoa, coffee, toasted dark bread, lightly tart/tangy blueberries, cream, and vanilla; with lighter notes of fruit skin, nuttiness, molasses, smoke, char, dark fruit, licorice, herbal, grass, and roast/toasted earthiness. Damn nice aromas with great balance and complexity of roast/bready malt, blueberries, lactose, and light earthy hop/fruity yeast notes; with great strength. Taste of big dark chocolate, cocoa, coffee, toasted dark bread, lightly tart/tangy blueberries, cream, and vanilla; with lighter notes of fruit skin, nuttiness, molasses, smoke, char, dark fruit, licorice, herbal, grass, and roast/toasted earthiness. Light roast/char and herbal/grassy hop bitterness on the finish. Lingering notes of dark chocolate, cocoa, coffee, toasted dark bread, blueberries, cream, vanilla, nuttiness, light smoke/char, herbal, grass, and roast/toasted earthiness on the finish for a while. Awesome complexity, robustness, and balance of roast/bready malt, blueberries, lactose, and light earthy hop/fruity yeast flavors; with a great roast/hop bitter/sweet balance; and zero acrid/astringent hop/roast flavors after the finish. Light-medium carbonation and full body; with a very smooth, creamy, silky, velvety, and rich mouthfeel that is awesome. Lightly sticky, chalky, tangy, and drying. Minimal warming alcohol for 11.2%. Overall this is an excellent fruited imperial cream stout. All around great complexity, robustness, and balance of roast/bready malt, blueberries, lactose, and light earthy hop/fruity yeast flavors; very smooth and dangerously easy to sip on for the ABV. Very rich and well rounded imperial stout malt complexity; with nice solid authentic blueberry fruit presence, and balancing earthy bitter hops. Not huge on fruit, but definitely adequate. Lets the stout be the main style showcase, instead of feeling like a fruit beer. A very enjoyable offering, and great style example.
Tried
from Bottle
on 04 Oct 2017
at 19:49