Harmony Hall Brewpub

I took a trip downtown earlier this month to meet some friends for dinner and beers at Harmony Hall in Grand Rapids.

The downstairs bar area is fairly small, but as you can see it's got some interesting decorations. (I think there's more room upstairs, but I didn't check.) They have some interesting chairs, too - the back of the one I had was made from what looked like a fallen tree branch or maybe driftwood (nicely polished, of course). Nice little touch, and it wasn't any more uncomfortable than most bar chairs.

There were five beers on the menu on the day we went. I'm sure the list changes over time, as with most small brewpubs. I couldn't be bothered actually choosing one, so I got a sampler flight of everything.

All the beers. Left beer is the top of the list, moving down the list to the right, and the last one in the back.

I'm a dark beer person, so I expected to like the first and last one best, and that was mostly the case. The Brownson (front row, leftmost) had a coffee and chocolate taste which was good, but not something I wanted too much of, being a non-coffee person. The Albius (back row) was outstanding, though. The bourbon and vanilla flavors really came through. At 7% ABV, it's a sipping beer, which works well with the fairly strong flavors.

I wasn't a big fan of either the Fiddlestix or Grand-Daddy Rapids Lager, though IPA fans would probably like them just fine. I did enjoy the Grapefruit Moon more than I expected, as the grapefruit juice cut the flavor of the IPA just enough for my taste.

We got dinner, too, in the form of various types of sausages (in buns). Mine was a Polish sausage with sauerkraut, onions, and mustard. Good stuff, though it was huge. I managed the whole sausage, but some of the bun and the chips that came on the side had to be left in the basket.

Harmony Hall is definitely worth a visit if you're going to be near downtown GR. The parking lot is a bit small, but you can probably find space a bit down the street if necessary. Try the Albius and the sausage!