The Mitten Brewing – Baseball, Pizza and Beer in Grand Rapids
One might wonder why it took us so long to visit The Mitten Brewing Co. in Grand Rapids, and it turns out we were missing out on some great beers, pizza and cheesecake. We headed out to Leonard St. a few weeks ago with a group of friends, and finally found out why this place has developed a pretty decent following in the area.
It is incredibly fitting that the flight presentation here comes on a wooden platter shaped like a Mitten, with six regular beers featured. We tried out the Country Strong IPA, Dock’s No-No DIPA, Triple Crown Brown, Peanuts and Crackerjack Porter, Mitten Milk Stout and the Big Fella Chocolate Imperial Porter. Other than the Triple Crown, all of these beers run on the stronger side and check in over 6% ABV. The Country Strong, Peanuts and Crackerjack, and the Milk Stout were the ones that stood out the most.
We also tried out the other two beers that were available – the Hose Wagon Imperial Stout on nitro and the Cherry Cider. These were both great additions to the lineup, and it was kind of nice to try 8 beers and have everything on tap. As we moved on to food, we found that beer isn’t the only thing that comes in flights here.
If you can’t make up your mind on just one kind of pizza here, there is an option to pick any six of the specialty pizzas and make a flight! Some of the favorites for our group included the Hawaiian (ham, pineapple, etc.), Westerdog (hot dogs, chili sauce, etc.), Da Meat Hook (pepperoni, ham, sausage, bacon, etc.) and the Thai Cobb (chicken, broccoli, peanut sauce, etc.). This pizza sampler can feed up to four and is a great way to try out some of these unique offerings.
Dessert is the third and final thing that is available in a flight – three kinds of cheesecake really helped top off the meal for us. The white chocolate raspberry was our favorite.
Overall, Mitten Brewing was a fun experience. The baseball theme is pretty evident in the decor and menu item names, and the beers we tried were all great. Our only negatives were with slow service, being told there wasn’t enough beer to fill a growler to take home, and the fact that no changes can be made to specialty pizzas. We’ll be back to check out this place again, and timing that visit with a Detroit Tigers game seems like a great plan.
The Mitten Brewing Co. contact information:
527 Leonard St NW, Grand Rapids, MI
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