EagleMonk Pub and Brewery

WoodBrew

Illinois

4.38/5  rDev +14.1%
vibe: 3 | quality: 5 | service: 4 | selection: 4.5 | food: 4.5 | $$

My bro-n-law drove by this place...luckily...looked it up on line and then targeted it during my visit the weekend before Christmas. The atmosphere is interesting...its in an old gas station building which gives it a lot of character. Inside however, the main area is like a diner with simple tables and chairs and bland decor. The bar area is ok, thebathrooms are awesome and has a very neat gameroom area. My opinion there needs to be some investment in the main area which I expect will come because the beer there is great and it will attract business, which hopefully will be re-invested. The quality of the beer and food were out-standing. The service is fine...you order at the bar and then carry your own beer to your table. There were 8 of their own beers on tap....unfortunately they ran out of one. (Easy Blonde...so next time. The menu had several staple appetizers and main menu had pizzas, etc. I believe all the soft drinks and wine served there was made there, which was pretty cool as well. We tried the chips and salsa and it was very good...the salsa was definitely home made (outstanding). Overall I thought the value was reasonable....for $25 got a 7 taste sampler, a pint of cider, two home made rootbeers and chips and salsa.

12-25-2012 21:04:30 | More by WoodBrew

Mothergoose03

Michigan

2.85/5  rDev -25.8%
vibe: 3 | quality: 2.5 | service: 3 | selection: 3 | food: 3 | $$

This brewery just opened in 2012, which is a plus for the beer scene in Lansing. Like many new breweries I don't think they quite have their beers dialed in for what the taste should be for the defined style.

I stopped in with my wife and daughter and we shared a sampler to start, and ordered a couple of pizzas and a grilled cheese. There are only 6 beers available here - a Stout, a Pale Ale, a Hefeweizen, an IPA, a Scottish Ale, and an Irish Red. Only the Stout was close to the taste that I felt was where it should be, but it was pretty much an average stout. I'll grade it as a C+ but the rest are C or C- for their ratings.

The food menu had some nice choices but we felt that the pizzas that we ordered were just average at best, and the grilled cheese was blah. The pizzas weren't bad, but they just weren't up to what we thought they should be. Perhaps they were a little scant on the cheese and toppings, and that's why we were disappointed.

This place is kind of geographically removed from high-traffic areas in Lansing, so it has the be a destination business to go there. I hope the brewer gets some tweaking done of the recipes soon. I want to give any new brewery time to succeed so I'll go back again to find out if any tweaking is done.

11-19-2012 02:34:40 | More by Mothergoose03

lurpy1

Minnesota

4.08/5  rDev +6.3%
vibe: 3.5 | quality: 4 | service: 4.5 | selection: 4 | $$

This place will not knock your socks off, but it fills a huge void, and along with Crunchy's massively upgraded focus on good beer, Eagle Monk's opening is the best thing to happen to the beer scene in Lansing, which has largely been bypassed in Michigan's beer mania.

Eagle Monk is a converted party store, with all the telltale Sparty Green and White paint on the outside. The inside is, pardon the pun, also spartan, with somewhat raw floors and acoustics that are reminiscent of an old VFW hall. But it's a solid, middlebrow place. On the night I was there, it was crowded but still spacious, and overrun with guys from a some sort of beard growing society. Jacket and tie not necessary. Cool.

There are 6 self-brewed taps: Red; Scotch; Pale Ale; IPA; Stout; Rye. Not too daring, but a good starter list.They are available by pint, or, you can get a flight of all 6 for $9. The first 4 tasted OK, but were nothing remarkable. The Scotch Ale was certainly drinkable but seemed to miss the mark as a Scotch Ale with its lack of body. However, the Stout and the Rye were terrific examples of the style. The stout hit all the marks and had a subtle coffee note to it. The Rye is a real standout, not hoppy, but plenty of spicy, stubbly rye. I would rate it as the 2nd best Rye I've ever had behind Hop Rod Rye. A beer they can build around, and with time, hopefully the 4 lesser beers will improve.

Service was friendly, and the owner/brewer provided an upbeat presence. Did not get to try the food, looked OK and simple.

Welcome addition. Not enough killer beers to become a barfly here, but a good start, and I'll be back.

09-13-2012 22:36:23 | More by lurpy1

bigkingken

Virginia

4.03/5  rDev +4.9%
vibe: 3.5 | quality: 4 | service: 4.5 | selection: 4 | food: 3.5 | $

EagleMonk is the newest brewery to the greater Lansing area in central Michigan. The brainchild and retirement plan for a local home-brewer of more than 30 years, I had a soft spot for the place even before it opened, having met the owner who is a great guy. I was really hoping not to be let down going in.

The place used to be a party store with an attached apartment. Oh the stories those residents must have in their back pocket! But they’ve put in quite a bit of work to turn it into a brewpub. The main room isn’t anything fancy – a large open space with several tables, mugs hanging overhead and the bar/service counter at the far end. Local photos hang on the walls for purchase, if the mood strikes you. A second, smaller room hosts no tables that I saw, but a foosball table, fireplace and darts are available. In all, it’s your local neighborhood, no-frills joint where the community gathers to drink.

They do have a limited menu. There are a few paninis, salads and pizzas to choose from. The pizzas looked like thin crust, baked in a stone-lined professional-grade pizza oven. But I opted for a Panini. Large chunks of chicken, sweet baby rays, and what seemed like bacon bits were all smashed together. The bread seemed like some sort of 9-grain bread from Great Harvest. High quality, but maybe not the best for a Panini. It was tasty, but they could smear some butter or bacon fat on the outside of the bread to brown it and crisp it up, plus put some more pressure on the Panini lid and let it bake longer.

Not that I’m a Panini connoisseur own my own press or anything…

The beer was pretty decent, especially for having just opened. They had six varieties on tap: rye, stout, IPA, pale, scotch and Irish. The latter two were good – not overly sweet like so many American styles. The pale and stout were decent too, though lacking a bit in depth on both sides. But the IPA and rye were fantastic. The IPA is easy to drink with a slightly sweet finish that I highly enjoyed. And the rye might be the best rye I’ve ever had. It’s not necessarily an IPA – the hops seem more subdued than, say, Founders Reds Rye IPA – which let the rye shine through a bit more. It was extremely well-balanced and tasty.

08-24-2012 17:52:16 | More by bigkingken