MAC had not been open for long when we stopped in. We arrive about an hour before close on a Saturday night and the place was empty – the brewer and a server poured us a couple pints and we took in the space. The gentleman that I believe was the brewer/owner and server didn’t really engage us, just poured the pints and went back to their corner to continue their own conversation. So we didn’t get much background or insight into their operation.

Unfortunately, the beers we sampled were not very impressive. If I wasn’t as well traveled, I would probably find little wrong with their beer, but it was just a little to thin bodied and lacked complexity. Considering Macatawa is in Holland, home of New Holland and in close proximity to a number of other fine breweries – I just expected more. To give them the benefit of the doubt, we decided this sampling was likely an example of some growing pains. Our thought is that in a few months, after they’ve had a chance to really develop their recipes and process, the beer could be better. I got the impression that the brewer was a former home brewer and didn’t quite scale the recipes to his new brew house capacity correctly. Given the proximity to family and friends, we could see ourselves stopping in again someday, but probably not anytime soon.