Odd Side Ales

Vonerichs

Illinois

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

The inside is set up like a bohemian cafe... very artsy with modern paintings, drawings, and photography on the wall. Sitting arrangements range from wood chairs and tables to leather upholstered comfy chairs with contemporary tables. When I was there, there was a two piece band playing a wide range of music from indie to top forty and they were decent.

I hade quite a few beers here, as did my wife, and found them all to be very good. I tried an amarillo IPA, black IPA, and a hazelnut coffee stout. My wife had the apple wit and rasperry wheat. All were very good.

The bartenders were extremely helpful and knowledgable about the beer. I even had a pretty long conversation with one about why they weren't bottling, local laws and hurdles, and plans for future expansion. She was insightful about the beer and more than happy to pour samples. The owner or brewmaster was out and about answering questions and engaging in beer banter with locals and out-of-towners. They seemed to truely enjoy every bit of their craft.

There were about 8 beers on tap of a wide array. It was a diverse selection of beers. Nothing aside from their own beer is served here.

No food but chips and seeds served here and I didn't try any.

Beer was very reasonably priced. Overall, I very much enjoyed this place and would go back. I'd be excited if they were ever to distribute.

08-18-2010 02:16:05 | More by Vonerichs

AlMarzo

Michigan

4.19/5  rDev -1.9%
vibe: 4.25 | quality: 4.5 | service: 4.25 | selection: 3.75 | $$

Odd Side Ales is an affordable stop in a typically expensive town. I stopped here with a friend during an impromptu brewery trip. The service was very quick, but the place was not very crowded. The beers were well done and had unique qualities to them; I got the "Showstopper Strong Belgian Amber, very rich in flavor with a unique hop character in the middle.
The atmosphere is very nice with class board games including "Guess Who" a 1980's edition, dart boards and couches were also in the room creating a nice casual coffee house / brewpub type feel. I recommend stopping in and seeing what Odd Side Ales has to offer

05-18-2013 07:03:34 | More by AlMarzo

HarmonMW

Michigan

4.54/5  rDev +6.3%
vibe: 4.75 | quality: 4.75 | service: 4.5 | selection: 4.25 | $$

Atmosphere: Not much to look at from the outside and somewhat difficult to find. Very easy to miss the "BREWERY" sign in the window. Inside, the place has a large bar on the left hand side, lots of tables on the right side with a couple couches in the right corner. My fiancee and I headed over to the couches and found they had old school games like Guess Who, Battleship, and Sorry. We had a blast playing games that neither one of us had seen since we were under 10 years old. Some other patrons were playing darts, and others were just enjoying the beer and company. Don't remember any TVs, so if they're there, they're not distracting.

Quality: Very good beers on tap. We had a flight of Fat Bottom IPA, Fussy IPA, Herbie Pepper Hop, Ooh Me So Hoppy to Wheat You, Peanut Butter Cup Stout, and Smokin' Hama Mama. Both me and my fiancee were very pleased with all of them. I was crushed that they were actually out of Citra Pale Ale on the draft list, but was redeemed - they were selling bottles at the bar. When we got home and tried the CPA a couple of days later, it was fan-freaking-tastic. Honestly, the CPA is probably my top-rated beer and if they offered nothing else, it'd still be worth driving the 2 hours back to Odd Side for another CPA.

Service: Only one bartender when we were there, but he was friendly and helpful despite being busy.

Selection: Lots of different styles on tap. Probably close to 20 or so total, and that was only because they were out of about 5 more that would have been available.

Food: non-existent. They have some pretzels (cash only) from a local bakery. It was delicious. But no other food available, it's all about the beer here.

Overall: I am leaving the state in two months, and this is the one place that I MUST visit again before leaving. If you go, do NOT miss out on the CPA!

04-30-2013 01:50:21 | More by HarmonMW

craft_shannie

Indiana

4.87/5  rDev +14.1%
vibe: 4.5 | quality: 5 | service: 4.75 | selection: 5 | $$

this place is simply awesome! thanks to BeerAdvocate advice and reviews, we made the 20-25 minute drive from our base in grand rapids during spring break. (yes, others hit the beach for spring break - we bought KBS and hit 9 western MI breweries instead). although i did expect to find some innovative small batch recipes based on what i have read/learned - i was simply blown away at the quality of their brews. the two that we chose to come home w. us: smokin hama mama (a CPA w. papaya and chipotle) and the dry irish stout. and that balance of selection is what is great about this place: innovative recipes & flavor rich quality brews. consistently.

location is a bit tricky to find: the brewery neon is behind a walkway corridor from the west. no food is served. space is comfortable - games & darts are available. staff is friendly. and the beer is simply awesome. one of my favorites.

04-01-2013 01:30:12 | More by craft_shannie

robhbest

Michigan

4.26/5  rDev -0.2%
vibe: 4.5 | quality: 4.5 | service: 4.75 | selection: 4.5 | food: 1.5 | $$

Dont expect to get any sort of fine dining here. You came to this place for one thing....Beer. That's what they do well. No food, just beer. You can however bring anything you want, homemade, or delivered. Try all the beers, they go well with everything.

03-10-2013 23:11:23 | More by robhbest

HeFed

3.89/5  rDev -8.9%
vibe: 4 | quality: 4.5 | service: 3 | selection: 4 | $$

Visited with the wife for the first time today. Took a little searching to find the door but inside it's cozy and relaxed. Took a couple stools at the bar. Bartender was a little too easy-going, maybe, but friendly enough. Spent about an hour sampling beers and chilling out. Trivia on Tuesday nights sounds fun, but they started a euchre tournament tonight. Sorry to have missed out on that! Will be back, hopefully soon. We hear the Peanut Butter Cup Stout goes fast and it's on again in a couple days. Really bummed I missed out on the Watermelon Wheat too, but still love the experimentation with other flavors/styles.

10-21-2012 22:57:04 | More by HeFed

Ed_Bollix

3.93/5  rDev -8%
vibe: 4.5 | quality: 4 | service: 3.5 | selection: 4 | $$

Coffee shop feel in this quirky little brewery/cafe. We found a table while others around us played board games in this non working class environment. This really works in this upscale sea side resort town. The outside temp was 102F when we arrived on the 4th of July.

There were only 8 or 10 beers available but this is a little place but the selection was great. There were unique refreshing brews as well as the standards available. My girlfriend selected a Berry Tea Wheat as her pint after the flight and I had a Berline Weisse that was a sour with some sort of syrup added. I typically don't go for this sort of thing but the brewer was there and made a suggestion and i couldn't have been happier.

I would consider this a must stop on your western Michigan tour even if just for a pint and some people watching. The location is a little odd in sort of a coop building sort of thing but your smart phone will get you there.

07-07-2012 17:15:19 | More by Ed_Bollix

Yetiman420

Ohio

4.34/5  rDev +1.6%
vibe: 4.5 | quality: 4 | service: 4.5 | selection: 4.5 | $

Stop #335 on my world brewery/brewpub tour.

Visited around noon on a Friday in early March.

Sat at the bar. It was me, the bar manager Eric, and the brewer/owner Chris (I think that was his name) who was busy doing all sorts of things.

I did get to chat up Chris. He has a one barrel hot side system and I think he ferments either 3 or 6 barrels for each batch. This makes for long brew day(s). Said running a small brewery like this is "a lot of work."

Really liked the building as it's sort of a co-op with a variety of shops occupying the other stalls/rooms. Odd Side has a generous-sized room with a small outdoor porch (which is the quickest way to enter). You can see the fermentation tanks. I couldn't get a "full brewery" tour as Chris said it was just too crowded and no room.

Lots of beers on tap and I did samplers of all

Porter with cherry chocolate coffee vanilla and something else
Tang Poon Porter slight sour porter (because walnuts went bad)
IPA
Nitro stout with slight fruitiness
Lemon Meringue (I think this was a hefe)
Chocolate Koffie stout
Nut Brown
Simcoe session IPA
Irish Red Ale
Citra Pale Ale (excellent!)
Mint stout

The IPA's were all great. The more complex beers (porter) were a bit muddy and maybe too much. Still drinkable but nothing remarkable.

I got a Giro from a small shop a block away and brought it in. Free wifi so I got to get some work done.

Well worth it if your in the area. Michigan is getting to the point where there's almost too many solid brewpubs to visit. Would like to come back in the summer when there's more going on.

03-09-2012 21:51:51 | More by Yetiman420

Thorpe429

Illinois

4.2/5  rDev -1.6%
vibe: 4.5 | quality: 4 | service: 4 | selection: 4.5 | $$

Stopped by this place for the third time over our time in Michigan over Christmas. My folks are quite lucky to have this as their local pub. The atmosphere is quite nice with large wooden tables, a variety of games for people to play, dartboards, and a nice collection of mug club mugs behind the bar.

Good beers on tap with a fantastic variety. Even though this was my third time there, there were 10+ beers on tap that I hadn't had before. This seems to be how they regularly operate. Bartenders are helpful with questions, though service can get a tad bit slow when the place is crowded.

Overall, great experience and a very fun place to hang out. Note that food isn't available, but they are fine with you ordering in or bringing your own.

01-03-2012 03:33:49 | More by Thorpe429

Roeters

Michigan

4.14/5  rDev -3%
vibe: 4 | quality: 4 | service: 4 | selection: 4.5 | $$

The taproom is inside of an old factory building, with a lot of large would beams. There are a mix of high and low top tables and a couple of couches in the corner along with a good sized bar, I would guess about 15 stools. All of the beer sampled where good, there were a few that were great, a hoppy wheat, a session
IPA and a few sours. Service was walk up at the bar, the employees knew about the beers and did a good job with the amount of people in the place. They had a good mix of beers on tap, 2 sours, a Belgian, and a few ales I think thee were about 10 beers on total. I only wish I would have made the trip earlier.

12-30-2011 23:54:29 | More by Roeters