Hereford & Hops Brewing Company

5/28/2008 7:03:31 PM, wednesday, may 28, 2008
Well, here I am half-drunk in this brewpub. It’s pretty typical, but pretty Yooper. The bartender and patrons prattle about predictable small-town chatter. The high school football player waiter and weathered slot jockey waitress serve me poorly. The pizza was weak. The beers were mixed. It looks fine, the brewpub showing through the plateglass windows. This IS Escanaba. What can I expect. Regardless, I’ve conquered the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. I’ve been to all the brewpubs and breweries this fractured sub-state holds. Some were good, some were bad. Not much was exceptional. People in the UP need to develop some more taste for beer. The landscape here is appropriate for beer. There’s land to be explored, lakes to be sailed, fish to be caught, sunsets to be seen. And this demands exciting craft brew. Generally, it just sneaks into a corner and satisfies the woodsy-folk that it was brewed for. Affordable at least. And it takes some time for brewing refinement and tastes take a little longer to develop in remote regions. And honestly, I’d rather have acceptable, clean, fresh beer and wilderness than suburbia and excellence. And for that, I’ll always be grateful for the craft brewers of the Upper Peninsula. Prost!

5/6/2008 6:53:12 AM, tuesday, may 06, 2008
The setting is quaint along the main drag in town. The bar itself is clean and spacious. Not very meany seats at the bar. There were some cool vintage wooden beer crates. A nice little place to visit if you are in the area.

4/22/2006 11:37:57 PM, saturday, april 22, 2006
Love this place. My grandparents are from Perronville and we stop by here each time we go visit them. Good food and good beer. You can only eat so many pasties and cudagees! Now, we need to rate the Perronville Pub and the La Branch Tavern.

6/30/2005 11:52:20 AM, thursday, june 30, 2005
Located on the one and only Escanaba main street in the National Historical Landmark Delta Hotel. Apparently this is a local Michigan favorite for dinner, so if you go at night (espcecially on Fridays during football season) it could get busy; when I was there at noon on a Wednesday, it was fairly empty. Dark wood appointments and a black marblish bar make this place feel very classy and old world. The brewing aparati are viewable through plexiglass behind the bar. The bartender was incredibly attentive, and the brewer(s) would come out every once in a while and chat. They have a bad habit of pouring into frosted glasses, but if you request a room temp glass, they’ll remember for the rest of the session. A couple of regulars to my left informed me that the original brewmaster was an ex-military guy who spent most of his overseas time in Germany, where he formed an appreciation for brewing. This was evident when I was there as three of the six beers on tap were German styles (Maibock, Schwarzbier and Hefe). As for the food, my bleu cheese burger with sauteed mushrooms was outstanding. A very welcome beer-lover’s oasis in the UP, eh?