Dark Horse Brewing (Marshall, MI)

7/21/11

Entrance to Dark Horse

Mug club as decor

Not sure what I was expecting when I showed up at Dark Horse Brewing. On a road trip, stopped in Marshall specifically to try Dark Horse on site after years of sampling them at Great Taste and once at the Michigan Guild festival. Lines at the Michigan festival were always crazy long, so samples were limited. But, I'm been a pretty consistent fan of the Double Crooked Tree when I can get it. Finding that the brewery is a rustic looking building in a small mall named Dark Horse (including tattooing and groceries, if need be) wasn't what I pictured. 



Walking in, one thing is obvious: the mug club is extremely popular. Entire ceiling, walls, windows, all had handmade ceramic mugs hanging with numbers and sometimes names on the bottom. Very homey feeling. Clearly a pub that does well on the support of the locals. Full on a Thursday night for dinner, but thinned out a bit around 8 pm. DH reminds me of local joints near my small farm town in Iowa--not fancy and where everyone meets. I did like the glass washer on the bar used for every pint--mug or glass. They really seem to care about the beer and everything was well served. I had dinner--a veggie pizza made in the back and cooked in a mini oven. Fresh made, good, but nothing overly special. 

Overall, a nice place to have a well served pint. Since I've had the flagships of DH, I stayed away from the regulars and had lesser known (to me) Dark Corner and Thirsty Trout. Both strong, but not up the reputation I had in my head. Didn't have time to check if Crooked Tree is as good locally as when I had it in bottles. If in Marshall, I'd make the attempt to get back here, but would probably have pizza at Arcadia instead.  If I lived in Marshall, I would definitely have a mug.  

Reviewed on: 07-28-2011 18:09:39