Schmohz Brewing Company

Ed_Bollix

4.61/5  rDev +27.3%
vibe: 3 | quality: 5 | service: 4.5 | selection: 5 | $$

Schmohz was a delight. My girlfriend and I arrived at right after opening on July 5th. Chaz, one of the the brewers, was setting the place up and tending bar as the regular bartender had called in. It was ungodly hot outside and the temperature inside the pub felt great.

After a short delay during the initial setup we ordered our first of 2 flights. We selected from the experimental and non-ipa beers for this first flight. I have to say were delighted with ALL of the 6 choices purchasing six packs of 3 to bring home.

Chaze was all to happy to talk about the beer and the the regulars at the bar chimed right in with info and thoughts about their favorites. We finished our flight and ordered another including the signature IPA's as other strong flavor choices. The IPA's did not disappoint and I will say that these beers were the beers we compared all others to during the remainder of our southern Michigan beer tour.

Of the 10 breweries visited we both agree that the beers at Schmotz were the best for taste and variety/selection. No matter what you drink there is likely to be something at Schmohz for you.

We sampled most of the beers at Schmotz and chose Pickle Tink and Zingiberene for our desert beers before packing up the car and heading back into Grand Rapids proper to visit Brewery Vivant.

07-07-2012 16:47:01 | More by Ed_Bollix

BeerTravelerky

Kentucky

4.48/5  rDev +23.8%
vibe: 4.5 | quality: 4 | service: 5 | selection: 4.5 | $$

Great place for beer and to meet friends.

The staff works very hard to make sure you are served correctly and with a smile.

Owners are often in the tasting room providing service and good conversation.

The brewer is a one of a kind guy. GREAT knowledge and experience.

Because of the demand the beers rotate quickly so there is always something fresh on tap.

You can find bottles all over Michigan.

At certain time brewery tours are available and worth the price. Schmohz has one of the larger micro-brew systems in West Michigan.

11-05-2012 21:53:32 | More by BeerTravelerky

jimbotrost

Michigan

3.81/5  rDev +5.2%
vibe: 4 | quality: 3 | service: 4.5 | selection: 4 | $

This is a tasting room at a brewery. Located in a Butler style building in an industrial park type area. This is pretty straight forward, they had 7 beers on tap, and a rootbeer. There is a small bar, 10 stools or so, with 2 tap cabinets behind it. A window shows part of the brewery, but nothing was going on. The sampler platter, a rootbeer and free peanuts came to 3.95 $ that was cheap. The beer was not memorable either way but did leave some room for improvement. I overheard the brewer is leaving, should not be that great of a loss. They also list numerous beer mixes on a big chalkboard. Definitely a place to visit if you are near.

07-19-2005 23:45:57 | More by jimbotrost

willygreen

Michigan

3.81/5  rDev +5.2%
vibe: 4 | quality: 3 | service: 5 | selection: 3.5 | $$

Stopped in here on a Saturday afternoon before heading to Hopcat and Founders. Atmosphere was laid back and kind of industrial. No food was available except for popcorn and some pizza ($2 a slice) that looked like it had been there for days.

The girl working at the bar was really friendly and I ordered a hopknocker IPA. This beer was just average. No off flavors but nothing really impressed me. You can tell they are skimping on ingredients with this beer.

They had a big screen TV with Big Ten basketball, a pool table and a darts machine (I think that real bars should have steel tip darts).

Not a bad experience by any measure and the people were really nice, but I think a no frills place should have better beer.

03-17-2008 23:31:04 | More by willygreen

Bung

North Carolina

3.74/5  rDev +3.3%
vibe: 3 | quality: 4 | service: 3.5 | selection: 4 | $$

After reading some of the other reviews, this place has not changed much in the 5 or odd years it's been around. Very basic interior, games as others have mentioned. Enough seating, seating outside for smoking, with a grill and a horseshoe like game. Good variety of brews, looked like 10. Tried the Bonecrusher stout, which is a regular brew and the Schwarz, which looked like a special brew. Both quality examples. First time service was fine, 2nd time was ok. 2nd time I asked which the bartender prefered the porter or stout, he said it "depends what you're looking for". The more I think about it, I was a bit put of by this, mainly the way he said it. I know what the f a porter and a stout are, just tell me which one you prefer. Anyways, that wasn't that big of a deal I suppose, probably more a reflection of the atmosphere. I don't want to be too downer on this place. To sum it up, this is a place for local regulars. It's almost like someone created this place so they can have their friends over. A place for regulars who don't go out to normal night time entertainment establishments. Quite an odd medley of folks in here both times I've been.

08-15-2009 21:12:05 | More by Bung

beerguru15

Michigan

3.74/5  rDev +3.3%
vibe: 3 | quality: 4 | service: 3.5 | selection: 4 | $$

Was on my way back from the east side of the state and decided to stop at Schmohz to check out the place, being that I've tried quite a few of their brews before and found them to be enjoyable.

When walking into the place, you're presented with kind of a country bar/hole in the wall bar feel, as everything seems old and outdated.Let alone other things that I won't mention here. Though there was only one other person with me at the bar, the vibe really wasn't there and seemed kind of odd.

I ended up getting an Oktoberfest, which was pretty good. Each of the beers I've tried from there from bottles and at expos have been quite well too, they do seem to know how to make their beers.

the overall service wasn't bad. there was only one person working and she was friendly as I walked in...though she seemed to get distracted when there was others walking in. I ended up only staying for a round so really didn't experience it much

They had about 11 beers on tap at the time including: Valley City Cream Ale, Treasure Chest ESB, Amber Tease Ale, Pail Ale, India Pale Ale, Hopknocker Imperial IPA, Bone Crusher Stout, Pinkle Tink Ale, Mad Tom's Robust Porter and the Oktoberfest. A pretty good selection and a little bit of something for everyone.

I didn't have anything to eat, and I'm not sure if they sold food there or if it was though elsewhere as I didn't really see a menu for anything.

the value was reasonable, a pint of beer was about 3.75 for the reg, and premiums were a little bit more.

Overall, I hate to say it but probably would stick to just drinking the bottles and beers of Schmohz at expos as the place just didn't really seem appealing to make me want to stop in again. Though if you're looking for a good beer, that alone would be the reason to stop back...

10-20-2010 04:25:38 | More by beerguru15

granger10

Wisconsin

3.71/5  rDev +2.5%
vibe: 3 | quality: 3.5 | service: 4.5 | selection: 3.5

Mike (tiki) and I visited this place last night to see what it was all about. The place was really lacking tables and there was a lot of open room, it looked like they hadn't finished furnishing it yet. Two tvs, a bar, and like 4 tables didnt really fill the decently sized bar up. There were no games of any kind, a pool table, foosball table, dartboard, or something like that would have been nice. The bartender said they're hoping to add a South Park pinball game soon which would definitely help.

The service was really good, she was interested in my take on the beers and really friendly but there were only like 10 people there so that probably helped.

There were four beers on tap with the IPA coming out sometime next week. Me and mike got the chance to sample all the beers for free which was really nice. The styles were very interesting and unique for a startup brewery. They had a bock, steam, cream ale, and robust porter (very unusual lineup). All these beers had a euro accent on them which I applaud the brewer for doing since there's enough high alpha acid, huge malt bomb, intensely bitter beers in West Mich as is. These beers are definitely unique. The bock was decent, the cream ale was really good for its style, the steam didn't do it for me, and the porter was for sure the best.

They had pop and chips and some other bar food but nothing else, you can order pizza to be delivered there.

I'm really excited about seeing this place take off. It's close to my home and will definitely be a nice place to stop for a drink or two after class. I hope they're still planning on expanding with tables and some sort of entertainment.

12-31-2004 16:24:52 | More by granger10

jkrich

Indiana

3.64/5  rDev +0.6%
vibe: 3.5 | quality: 3.5 | service: 3.5 | selection: 4 | $$

Now this brewery is in a strange location - an industrial park. The girl serving us ale stated they moved into this location because another brewery had been located there and they would not have to convert as much in the building to a brewery. The inside had the ramshackle appearance of not being completed. There is a pool table when you enter and a pinball machine in the corner. Also, on this particular day, the inside was entirely too hot. However, the ales were consistantly good, from the hoppy Pail ale to the malt accented ESB. The refreshing and flavorful cream ale is well worth seeking. No food served, but the brewery will have an occasional pig roast. The brewery offers its beers in growlers and six-packs. Also, my niece tells me the brewery has a very sweet pet pig named CeCe.

07-04-2011 20:49:30 | More by jkrich

drxandy

Michigan

3.59/5  rDev -0.8%
vibe: 2 | quality: 3.5 | service: 4 | selection: 4 | $$

Schmohz is located right off of a main road in GR and quite easy to find. The warehouse facade made me think twice if it was actually the place I had been looking for, but luckily their signage is quite visable.

Entering the taproom I got the feeling like I was out of place, as there were a handful of middle aged regulars seated around, and I being 21 and young looking possibly made them suspicious of my goals for the evening.

As for entertainment they had, 2 electronic dartboards, a tommy pinball machine, a pool table. I really liked the fact that they offer games of pool for free and the other machines are likely 25c at most.

I went up to the bar and inquired to try a sampler and was promptly helped by their owner/brewer Jim Schwerin (from what the pictures on their website tell me, as i didnt get too indepth with conversation, feeling slightly akward from the vibe), He seemed nice. Another brewer, Chas Thompson was behind the bar as well discussing the brews with a few middleaged folks and was offering tastings to them to better explain himself.

They had 10 different taps running, and since I dont make it over to Grand Rapids often, their 5oz (i think?) samplers were a godsend. After trying all of them, I found their variety to be a nice change of pace and there were possibly at most 2 that i honestly didnt care too much for but unfortunately I don't remember their names as the website doesnt seem to be updated too often.

At $3.75 for a sampler (which is apparently the price of a pint as well) i found them to be quite reasonably priced. The beer overall was good, not the best brewpub in the state but loads better than picking up swill beer from a gas station or the like. If you're concidering a brewpub crawl, i liked the fact at how close the grand rapids brewing company is located to here.

I could easily see myself visiting the place often if I lived closer to grand rapids, most likely getting a growler filled once a month or so.

My only complaint is that their taproom is smoke free, I do like to enjoy a fine smoke so i most likely wouldnt stick around - but this could be a selling point for nonsmokers or those allergic to smoke.

02-17-2007 15:58:45 | More by drxandy

trumick

Michigan

3.48/5  rDev -3.9%
vibe: 3.5 | quality: 3 | service: 4 | selection: 3.5 | $

Schmohz is a welcome addition to the quality breweries already established in the area.

The atmosphere is freindly fun loving and dare I say family oriented. There are video games for the kids (although I don't know why you would bring little ones to a brew pub there were a few running the floor) the staff is out going and will answer pretty much any question a customer might have.
The service is freindly and attentive with a flair for beer knowledge.
Selection is a bit limited and the quality seems to suffer from the lack of attention to detail.
Food consisted of brats and burgers on the day I was there. I am pretty sure that there is little or no food on any other day.
The location is horrible. It is stuck at the end of an industrial complex with no available out front advertising. The brewery that was here prior failed. If this one fails the location will be it's demise.
If you go try the porter, it is by far the best on their list. It rivals Great Lakes Porter..

07-22-2005 05:08:07 | More by trumick