Dragonmead Microbrewery

david131

Michigan

4.28/5  rDev +2.1%
vibe: 4 | quality: 4 | service: 4 | selection: 5 | $$

I made a road trip down to the Warren area with some friends and this was the first stop. On a Saturday afternoon the place was pretty calm and we had absolutely no trouble finding a table. The interior was pretty dark, but had plenty of windows and there were a lot of flags hanging off the wall inside. The tap line-up was amazing, I didn't really realize until I got there how many beers Dragonmead makes, considering the beers that are distributed. I was very happy with the Imperial Stout and even got a growler of it. The service was decent, pretty attentive and there were multiple waitresses/ bartenders taking care of us. I also loved that it was no smoking. I will be going back.

10-20-2008 03:43:06 | More by david131

Deuane

Pennsylvania

4.44/5  rDev +6%
vibe: 4 | quality: 4.5 | service: 4 | selection: 5 | $$

Stopped in with 3 other BA's on the way to Madison for Great Taste.

Not much to look at from the outside but once you walk through the doors...Bam! Beer Nirvana!

Passable job of decorating the interior with an English Middle Ages feel. Nice game area with darts and table seating to the left and a long bar to the right.

Ok, so what can you say about a place that offers 38 different home brewed micros on tap? Well, plenty if they were all crap but, they are far from that!

Thirty-eight freakin' taps...including a few cask selections....CRAZY! Plus, they make their own soda...in 6 different flavours!

The beers we ordered and shared were all good or better....a credit to the brewers for becoming successful at so many styles.

Nice to have brews offered in a lovely sampler platter, in half-pints or full pints....I took advantage of the half-pint offerings.

No food today....and they dont offer much....but enough to fill your stomach to keep you drinking!

Our server was pleasant and helpful. We never waited long between finishing one beer and starting the next.

Dragonmead is a beer stop in southeast Michigan that should not be missed. With Kuhnhenn being less than 10 minutes away these two locations make a fantastic one-two punch!

08-20-2008 21:09:22 | More by Deuane

scoobybrew

Iowa

4.6/5  rDev +9.8%
vibe: 4 | quality: 5 | service: 4 | selection: 5 | $$

My wife and I stopped here on a recent trip to Michigan. The place is fairly well lit with a nice long bar. Medieval style decor lines the walls along with breweries numerous awards. There is an incredible selection on draft, over 30 beers, including a cask variety. All selections we tried extremely well done. Our bartenders were friendly, talkative, and good at keeping up with the surprising number of people that were here after 10pm on a Wednesday. We did have a chance to chat a bit with one of the brewers for a while also.

Nothing I write in this review could ever be enough. This is perhaps one of the best places to get a beer in Michigan - and perhaps even for better than 250 miles (or more). You would not be disappointed to go out of your way to stop here on whatever would take you in Dragonmead's direction - and if you live in the Detroit area and haven't been here, you're missing out. We will definitely be back on return trips (and plan more time also).

06-21-2008 13:17:32 | More by scoobybrew

HopDerek

Pennsylvania

4.55/5  rDev +8.6%
vibe: 5 | quality: 4 | service: 5 | selection: 5 | food: 3.5 | $$

Visited 4/25/08
At first we decided to stop here to kill time between our visit to Kuhnhenn and another place that wouldn't be opened yet, but we're glad we did, and spent more time here than originally thought.

From the outside, Dragonmead looks like a typical late 1990s constructed mini-mall building parallel to the interstate. But once you get inside, you're really taken away by how all out they went with the theming. This place belongs at a Renaissance Fair with its huge assortment of medieval theming; knight armor, banners, coats of arms, stained glass with dragons on it, mosaics, and most impressive to a beer lover...50 taps for beer! Though they "only" had 37 things on tap at the time (all their own brews), combine that with all the medals and awards they proudly have displayed on the walls surrounding their large bar showing the brews are worthy of enjoyment and this place could easily be a beer drinkers resort, if only they allowed camping.

The bartender was really upbeat, happy to see us, prompt, and knowledgeable about the beers. Beers come in a variety of sizes and styles, most with Medieval themed names or something relative to Dragonmead, and are all descent, some like the Final Absolution are downright phenomenal. The only downside to the place is that they don't offer much food, and their fryer was down when we were there, so no mozzarella sticks or jalapeño poppers for us, thus limiting our selection even more. They did offer hamburgers and assorted cheeses and snacks, but this is clearly a place where drinking comes first. They'll gladly allow outside food to be brought in though.

In all, a really impressive place that shouldn't have to play second fiddle to other places in the area. We're definitely heading back, maybe next time spending a whole day just in Warren, MI, and we'll bringing our own food to better soak up all the amazing beers we'll have to try, maybe even breaking out the turkey legs to better suite the theme.

05-06-2008 22:32:54 | More by HopDerek

Kegatron

Pennsylvania

4.58/5  rDev +9.3%
vibe: 5 | quality: 4.5 | service: 4.5 | selection: 5 | food: 3.5 | $$

We had the pleasure of visiting this brewpub during a recent run through Warren, MI. Right off the bat as you pull up, you know that with its cool looking castle like brick façade (hey at least for a brewpub), this is going to be a pretty neat place. The interior has some of the coolest theming that I've seen in a brewpub in a while. Medieval is definitely the motif, with coat of arms banners and European flags hanging from the rafters, a suit of armor in the corner, and various dragon influenced artwork all over the walls. The coolest stuff in reserved for the bar area though with it's Knight & Dragon stain glass windows, shield tile mosaic (that houses just some of the dragon themed taps) and the classic wood wraparound bar. An all around great atmosphere that really sets the mood for the beers to come...

Ah, onto the beers. They offer at least 50 different styles of which they had 37 available. Yes, I said 37 different beers...from one brewpub! The styles ran the full gamut, from their Ring of Fire Chili beer, to the Crown Jewels IPA, to a Bourbon Imperial Stout, to their absolutely magnificent Final Absolution Belgian Triple. We tried a lot of stuff (and were glad that they offered ½ pints) and everything was top notch for the style. If you go back towards the bathrooms, they offer you a peek into the brewery and their awesome looking "tank farm" of small fermenters that shows just how they can keep so many beers on at a time. Pretty cool!

They offer a limited food menu (and encourage you to order in your own if you want) and although their fryer was down, we still made due with a tasty cheese and cracker plate. The service here was great. We were promptly greeted by our server April at the bar as we entered and were treated like we were the only ones in the place (OK, we actually were for our first 15 minutes here;) but still, she did an outstanding job the entire time we were there. Owner Larry Channell even came out to talk with us for awhile. We felt very welcomed here and wish that we could have stayed longer.

This really was a surprise of a visit for us as we didn't expect to like this place this much! A great themed atmosphere, awesome (and a massive selection of) beers, and a friendly staff make this a must hit if your in the area. We definitely can't wait to visit again.

04-30-2008 20:10:08 | More by Kegatron

Reneejane

Illinois

4.72/5  rDev +12.6%
vibe: 5 | quality: 5 | service: 4 | selection: 5 | $$

We stopped in on a Saturday night. The beer menu is downright impressive! We tried as many beers as we could reasonably try. The selection of American, English, and German beers was unparalleled. You'd be hard pressed to find a place that suited so many different places.

THEY ONLY SELL THEIR OWN BEER! And that is so cool.

The place was small, so I wondered a bit more about their brewing operation. They didn't have any of the brewing equipment in view.

There isn't really a food menu (it includes popcorn, burgers, cheese and crackers). But they're okay with you bringing in carry out food from restaurants. A number of people ordered pizzas while we were there. The cheese and crackers were tasty and went well with the beer. The sampler trays were generous and a nice way to attack their massive beer menu.

I particularly enjoyed the IPA and the ESB. The growlers are brown glass, and they have a more modern sealing mechanism and the beer transported well. The server insisted the growler kept in carbonation for a month. I didn't get a chance to try it; we drank it all when we got home.

There was live music when we were there; the guy was really quite good and added a lot to the atmosphere. When he wasn't there, they didn't have music playing. I'm sick of going to brewerys, etc. where they feel that loud music is a way to make up for lack of ambiance and customers.

I'd recommend this place to anyone. It's too bad it's 7 hours from home.

04-02-2008 03:32:57 | More by Reneejane

knight84

California

4.2/5  rDev +0.2%
vibe: 4.5 | quality: 4 | service: 4 | selection: 5 | food: 3 | $$

Visited twice in the last year. The atmosphere is fun and fairly unique, they have a medieval theme which they pull off pretty nicely. The barroom is long and narrow, they could do with some more seating. We went with a decently large group and there was a bit of a hassle and uncertainty if we would be seated before the servers were able to accommodate us.

The beer selection was the best I've seen at a brewpub. They had over 30 beers listed and almost all of them were available. Not all the beers were memorable but a number of them were very good. The beer sampler is the best way to go, 5 6oz samples for under $10! Unfortunately I was the DD for the night so I had to limit myself to one sampler.

The appetizers were good, the venison sausage and cheese paired nicely with some of the beers. Beyond that you'll want to order your own food delivered or bring some with you (they allow both). This is a fun place to visit in the metro Detroit area and certainly does not disappoint when it comes to the beer!

03-24-2008 15:11:13 | More by knight84

sinstaineddemon

Connecticut

4.6/5  rDev +9.8%
vibe: 4.5 | quality: 4.5 | service: 5 | selection: 5 | food: 3 | $$

take this review with a grain of salt. i am into the whole medieval, dragons, Lord of the Rings thing, so i may be swayed by the theme. but even regardless of that, this place is awesome. the place is decorated with medival type stuff, banners, tapestries and the fonts are all reminiscient of camelot. most impressive was the amount of beers avaiable, the beer menu was 3 pages. all their own, broken into 11 styles, American, Scottish style ales, Barleywines, belgians, cask conditioned, czech lagers, english ales, german ales, RIS's, mead/wine, and Norwegian ales. i had the Excalibur Barleywine (11%) and their flagship beer Final Absolution (a 10% trippel). highly impressed, makes my trips to Mi. that much better. kuhnhenns one day, dragonmenad the next. and the prices are reasonable too. they dont serve much food, little finger foods, but they encourage ordering out and provide menus to do so. an incredible establishment, will be a staple of every michigan trip.

12-31-2007 17:07:31 | More by sinstaineddemon

alexgash

Connecticut

4.15/5  rDev -1%
vibe: 4 | quality: 4 | service: 4 | selection: 5 | food: 3 | $$

Stopped by with a bunch of beer-appreciating friends on a cold Saturday night. Smallish, narrow, but long barroom was busy but not crowded. The servers hooked us up by putting some tables together and even asking another small group to move! Very nice. The walls were adorned with medieval-ish paraphernalia and clever posters. Nice lighting, cozy atmosphere, 2 real dartboards, and lots of games scattered about. Not smoky at all (thankfully!). The beer menu is huge and almost unbelievable. They listed 36 beers and one mead and our server disappointedly informed us that they were out of 3 of the beers. Only 33! Prices were reasonable and they offered a 5 x 6 oz. sampler tray for $8.50. All the beers I sampled were well-made and good. A few were forgettable, but several were very good. I especially liked the Copper Shield and the Dead Monk. They have limited food options: pretty much just crackers, pretzels, and some fried snacks. The venison sausage with cheese and crackers was tasty and went well with the rauchbier. They also let you order food from nearby restaurants for delivery and you can even bring in your own! All in all a very pleasant experience and well worth a stop if you're in the Detroit metro area.

12-02-2007 15:46:08 | More by alexgash

letsgopens

Pennsylvania

4.13/5  rDev -1.4%
vibe: 4 | quality: 4.5 | service: 4 | selection: 4.5 | food: 2.5 | $$

Very low-key in the afternoon as expected. Nice English Pub-style atmosphere with short bar seating around the perimeter of the room as well as some tables. Lots to looks at. The medieval surroundings remind me of one of those crazy themed restaurants from The Cable Guy.

The highlight of this place is the awesome selection. Better than 30 brews on tap. Another positive attribute of Dragonmead is there painstaking attention to quality, balance, and especially consistency. No matter what you order, you know you'll be getting a top-of-the-line beer. The only downside to this is that, as a result, many of their selections are rather mild. Always well balanced, and rarely leaning too far toward any extremes in flavor. Nothings has too much of any one flavor quality, and sometime that may be what your looking for. Understandably those more polar attributes are sacrificed for consistency and style authenticity. This is Dragonmead's 'claim to fame' if you will.

Overall their brews are awesome. I would definitely suggest the Earl Spit Stout. A great place to visit. I wish there was a place like this somewhere is my area.

08-11-2007 17:24:04 | More by letsgopens