This will be our third visit here.  We were looking at our website this morning and could not believe we never did a write up for Royal Oak.  We must have had a major blonde moment on that one.  We grabbed 3 growlers (Lily’s, Bastone, and Royal Oak) and hit the road.

Royal Oak was established in 1995.  They also have an outdoor bier garden in the back that we never noticed before.  (click here to see pictures)  We sat at the bar and ordered a sampler so we could try everything.  Kim waited on us, she is friendly and knowledgeable on the beers.  The brewer Todd Parker was not in so we didn't get a chance to talk with him.

In our sampler we tasted:  Northern Light, 4^th St. Wheat (smooth, and not served with a lemon), Royal Oak Red (dark red in color, full bodied), Brewhouse ESB (mild bitter for an ESB), Pleszures IPA (hoppy, but not too overpowering), Pappy’s Porch Sippin Porter, and Dubbel Trubbel (spiced with Anise, very different, too much for us).

To eat Cheryl had the Blackened Catfish, very spicey and good hot flavor, will bring a sweat to your forehead.  This is very good, served with rice and beans.  Todd ordered the New England Clam Chowder and the Louisiana Jambalaya.  The clam chowder was good and so was the jambalaya.  The catfish was hotter than the jambalaya.

Kim was very busy and we finally got a chance to talk more with her and found out she is Kim Schnieder, the brewer who helped out Bastone.  We have been wanting to meet her, since not too many women get into this.  Kim is no longer brewing and is presently re-acquainting herself with bartending as her and her husband are planning on opening a pub in Yipsalanti this summer.  They hope to eventually have 40 different Michigan beers on tap.  We plan on being at the grand opening.  Good luck to Kim and her husband on their endeavor and we’ll announce when they open.

We had our growler re-filled with the Porter.

Ratings based on our personal preferences - yours may vary (click here for our preferences).

Lily's Seafood Restaurant & Brewery

(click picture for Lily's pic page)

We then stopped at Lily’s Seafood Restaurant and Brewery to get our growler re-filled. 

 We had to sample some beers that were not on tap the last time we were here.

We had our growler re-filled with the oatmeal stout. 

Ratings based on our personal preferences - yours may vary (click here for our preferences).

Bastone

(click picture for Bastone pic page)

Last stop we went over to Bastone for our free growler re-fill.  All 3 of these breweries are within 3 blocks of each other.  The last time we were here the wrong beer was put into the growler – we ended up with Pumpkin Ale instead of Porter.  But, a quick call and  they said next time we could get a free re-fill.

John waited on us and was very nice, he got his supervisor Allison and we explained to her what had happened.  Allison was very nice and understanding.  John said his favorite food here is the Hanger Steak.  We plan on coming back again and trying more of their great food.

We had to sample some beers that were not on tap the last time we were here.

In our growler we got the stout.  Now we have 2 stouts and 1 porter to drink.  It’s funny how we always end up with all dark beers in our growlers.

The website is www.michiganmenu.com

(ratings based on our personal preferences - yours may vary (click for our preferences)

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