USA, MI: Presidential Brewing Co. launched in Portage by husband and wife team

Jake and Kayleigh Lohse are tossing their hats into the ring and looking for supporters as Kalamazoo County’s newest brewery, MLive.com reported on March 26.

The husband and wife are the President and First Lady of Presidential Brewing Co., 8302 Portage Road, Portage which opened on Tuesday, March 26, offering beer brewed on site, as well as a full food menu.

The brewery opened after years of business planning and preparations that followed years of brainstorming and dreaming of starting a business, Jake Lohse said.

He and other family members would get together to try new beers each week and the gatherings grew in popularity as friends joined in. When they decided the best beer to try would be a new one they brewed themselves, they created their first recipe for The Oatbama Stout, a beer that is on tap at the brewery now.

Lohse calls it the most happy accident of his life.

“We never intended to open a brewery but what we found is we really like bringing people together, and I like drinking beer and I like making beer," he said. "It turns out beer helps bring people together.”

On tap at the new brewery are:

Calvin Creamidge, a 5.6 percent (alcohol by volume) cream ale for $4.75
Fake Brews, a 6.5 percent coffee blonde for $6.25
Ryesenhower, a 6.5 percent rye IPA for $6.25
Teddy Brewsevelt, a 6 percent brown ale for $4.75
Oatbama, a 5.6 percent oatmeal stout, for $6.25
Write-in ballot: Hallertau Blanc, a six percent IPA for $4.75
Yes we Köln, a 5.7 percent kölsch made in collaboration with Territorial Brewing Company, for $4.75
The Big Lewinsky, a 9.4 percent Imperial Brunette, a collaboration with Tantrick Brewing Co., for $7.50
Barbara Bushels, a 7.3 percent Apfelwein cider for $6.25

The building, which previously housed a laser tag and mini golf business, has been transformed into the brewery and restaurant space, with a clean and open look, where 12-foot tables with bench seating filled the dining area.

“I’m hoping two groups end up at that table and just through proximity have good conversation with one another and maybe make some new friends out of it,” he said.

They hope people will pick up the decks of cards left on each table for an impromptu game of euchre.

A newly built bar features taps for their original brews. The menu offers chips, pretzels and dips appetizers, tater tots with custom toppings, soups, salads, burgers, paninis, sandwiches and items for kids. Besides beer and cider, the restaurant offers Brix brand sodas to drink.

The brewery has a “west wing” for kids, with a miniature seating area, toys and a chalkboard.

Brewing equipment is on-site and producing beer now, he said. Lohse said many others have helped the business prepare to open, from the people who built the bar and tables, to gear made by Michigan companies. Ron’s Beans, a coffee roasting company based in Kalamazoo County, provides the beans for the brewery’s coffee blonde beer, Lohse said.

“We’re all about the community, we’re trying to celebrate the community and show how cool everybody is here,” he said. Lohse hopes people from different circles will meet at Presidential.

“Beer is a great medium for that,” he said.

They are also planning and implementing a number of programs at the brewery, like one that allows customers to buy a beer for a veteran, and an election process where patrons can cast their vote for their favorite version of a beer and help select what goes on tap. They plan to open the on-site mini golf course in the future.

Presidential Brewing Co. is open Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursdays from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m., Fridays from 7 a.m. to 12 a.m., Saturdays 11 a.m. to 12 a.m., and Sundays 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. The brewery is closed Wednesday.

27 March, 2019