Greenbush Brewing Company

Microbrewery in Sawyer, Michigan, United States 🇺🇸
Associated Venue: Greenbush Brewing Company

Established in 2011

Contact
5885 Sawyer Rd, Sawyer, MI, 49125, United States
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.

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8

Nice dark malt. Not as complex as I would have expected

Tried on 03 Aug 2012 at 15:20


7.2
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 7

Draft at HopCat, Grand Rapids. Opaque chocolate-brown body, thin, dusty buff head. Slick cocoa nose. Complex body with cocoa, toasted sugars, and milk chocolate sweetness, finishing with woody roast and light acidity. Rich, soft body. Very good porter.

Tried from Draft on 02 Aug 2012 at 17:59


7.4
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 7.5

tap at Trion tavern - Pours a dark, rich walnut color with a small head and a big caramel aroma. It’s very sweet with the dominate flavor of caramelized sugar, enough hops to give it some good balance and a medium body. Very good.

Tried from Draft on 26 Jul 2012 at 17:09


7
Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 7

On tap at Small Bar Division. Pours a clear amber with a grayish tan head that dissipates to the edges. Aroma has sweet dark grains with a hint of sweet fruit and a hint of underlying alcohol. Flavor has sweet grains and some can died sugar back by a hint of light fruit.

Tried from Draft on 10 Jun 2012 at 11:19


8
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 8

On tap at Bangers & Lace. Pours black with a very light brown head that dissipates to the edges and laces nicely. Aroma has a nice earthy pine note with a bit of backing roast and dark grain. Flavor has some earthy dark grains up front with a nice musty pine note. Drinkable considering abv...

Tried from Draft on 25 May 2012 at 19:58


6.8
Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 7

On tap at Bangers & Lace. Pours black with an earthy brown head that dissipates to the edges and barely remains. Aroma has a smooth roasted malt note with a bit of backing earthy grain and barrel. Flavor begins with some roasted malts but has an interesting combination of rye, light fruits snd barrel. A bit muddled.

Tried from Draft on 24 May 2012 at 18:30


7.5
Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 8

On tap at Bangers & Lace. Pours black with an earthy brown head that dissipates slowly to the edges. Aroma has roasted malts up front with a strong backing eye note and just a hint of smoke. Flavor has a strong rye note that is backed by a good amount of roast and a hint of bitter coffee in the finish.

Tried from Draft on 24 May 2012 at 18:20


7
Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 7

On tsp at the Haymarket Greenbush event. Pours near black with a brown head that dissipates slowly to the edges and laces. Aroma has a decent amount of dank pine hops with some underlying roasted malts. Flavor has pine up front with some growing roasted malts and dark grains.

Tried on 18 May 2012 at 21:40


6.2
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 6 | Flavor - 6 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 6

On tap at the Haymarket Greenbush event. Pours a clear dark brown with a dark brown head that dissipates slowly to the edges and laces nicely. Aroma has a bunch of maple with a bit of earthy dark grains. Flavor has a good amount of dark grains with an earthy maple note. Didn’t really come together for me.

Tried from Draft on 18 May 2012 at 21:30


7.1
Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 7.5

On tap at the Haymarket Greenbush event. Pours blac with a dark brown head that dissipates nearly completely. Aroma has a good amount of roasted malts with a backing bitter chocolate note. Flavor is similar with bitter chocolate and dark grains up front with a strong roasted malt finish.

Tried from Draft on 18 May 2012 at 21:13