Mugs. Great service, fantastic beers, perfect end to my amazing trip through Michigan.

Let me preface my ranking here. I LOVE DH beers. I know two of the brewers. However, I have to be honest about my experiences here. Service is piss-poor. The staff come across like you are an inconvenience to their lives if you ask to be served. Beer tap selection is average for what they actually brew. I’ve found their general store to be more gratifying in landing their beers than my experiences in the bar. Overall, it’s a brewery that I regularly visit, but you have to know what you’re getting so you don’t walk out wanting to punch someone in the head.

Ambiance is awesome. Basically in a little barn with a small wooden bar, everything is wood and cajun looking, including the widdled mugs hanging from the ceiling. Service was excellent. I forgot my id at Bells, went back to Bells to get it, by the time we made it back, Dark Horse was closed, however the bartender kept it open just so we could have some beer and even hooked me up with a growler after the register had been cleared. Selection was good, with some one off, but I had hoped for a little more. Beers were very cheap for the quality. Overall a must stop in Michigan.

The feel of DH is unique with a bar, beer garden, skate park, store and skate shop all on the same property. Awesome vibe and sense of humor around the bar, (Tap Rumors board in the rest room was cool and try playing AC/DC on the juke box!). Plus the entire ceiling being mug club mugs was a cool sight to see. Service was good with a few staff answering my questions even while in passing. Great selection of brew in the store and decent selection on tap, (although I would have hoped for a couple more one offs available). Food looked outstanding though I didn't sample anything.

The mugs on the ceiling dominate the place, and probably make it seem much smaller than it really is. Lucky to get a table on a busy Friday night. Service was decent, but our server didn’t really seem to know much about beer, which is disappointing. There was an event going on outside, but we were finally able to go out back. Huge beer garden--probably a big hit all summer. Beer selection was just ok, as I was hoping for more than two(?) off-beers. Great place to people watch, and everybody was very friendly. Age range of patrons was probably 1-88! Good to see that

Ambiance: Always crowded and often hot. Could use updating (bathrooms, strange hodge-podge floorplan). Still has a hometown dove bar charm though. Service: spotty at best. Everyone I’ve had serve me is certainly honest and that’s appreciated. But, sometimes I’ve had to wait 15 minutes for water, with the waitress passing me by several times. The merchandise store is lacking in customer support and friendliness as well. Selection: beer selection is good. 75% of stuff available in bottles/on tap elsewhere with the rest being specialties and one-off experomentals. Food: whoa what a delight. Stopping here over the past 5 years or so I’ve watched the kitchen go from good to great. Menu consists of pizzas and sandwiches mostly but the ingenuity as well as quality that go into each selection is amazing and the results are awesome. Value: nothing to complain about here, everythig seems reasonably priced in my eyes. Overall: one of my favorite places to stop in southern mid-Michigan. Recommended for the food first (only slightly) and then the great beer.

(Visited 02/2012): Dark Horse is located on the south side of Marshall a few miles from I-69. They have a decent-sized private lot shared between the brewpub and store. The inside features a bar right by the entrance and table seating past that, all the way to an enclosed patio. The most immediately striking feature is the collection of mugs hanging overhead throughout the entire space, all of them uniquely identified. Dark Horse has around 8 of their beers available on draught and offers samples (in a plastic cup). On my visit they had several of the more common beers on tap plus a couple I don’t see as often, like Double Crooked Tree and What’s Up With The Monkey Blueberry Ale. All of the beers are solid. Service was decent on a slow weekday afternoon. The bartender was our server and was friendly enough. Food at Dark Horse consists mainly of pub grub. My colleague and I got sandwiches and they were decent. Overall this is a worthwhile stop to try some Dark Horse beers.

Good spot with GREAT beer. Menu is small, but the food is good! Staff is great. Just wish their selection of beers was a little more extensive. Still, a good brewpub for a great brewery!

I wish i could give this place a higher rating, met up with some friends from out of town on our way back to Lansing and our waitress was completely rude, she actually told me NO when i asked for another beer, not because I was drunk, but because she was too busy to do it, she ended up passing us off to another waitress so that saved the night a little bit, but there weren’t THAT many people there that she would be SOO busy that she had to REFUSE me from getting another drink.......but I will be back to try again, how else am I going to drink out of my mug huh?

This had pretty good atmosphere and good selection. My big issue was that they didn’t have a sampler, so that you could try everything they had. Instead, you had to buy pints or 1/2 pints. Other than that though, the service was awesome. This was our first stop on a Michigan beer tour, and the bartender was very helpful in giving recommendations about places to go.