Right Brain Brewery

Try the Sway! It’s only $ 3 for a pint. Its saizon and cider. It tastes really good and is inexpensive!
I tried the sample. 6 beers for $ 15 but I didnt love any of the beers I sampled. They were really manly and robust. Cool place though. All the beers are their own creation you won’t find bud lights and coronas here.

I have to say I was not impressed on first driving up. However, the place was quickly redeemed. Fun inside casual hang out place for friends. Cute wait staff that were quick to offer advice on drink choices and food. Since I’m not a beer drinker, my choices were limited. The Mead was offered as a taste test and was perfect for this visit. The food was amazing despite first impressions.
I sampled the hummus which was slightly above average. Everything else was excellent. The homemade waffles with peanut butter and jelly. With avocado and chicken. With a burger and fluffer nutter and guac. My favorite being the avocado and chicken and the guac. Those were both worth a visit back. I don’t give five stars very often and tend to be particular about food… this was a surprising yummie.

We had such a good time! Great atmosphere and great beer! Only thing was it wasn’t cozy like a bar, they did have fun trivia though!

This is a nice brewery. The drinks were good and the atmosphere was kind of cute, hipster, but cute.

Right Brain is a great place to spend some time and try out their tasty beers. They’re a bit off the beaten path, but it is walkable from downtown (note– the sidewalk ends about 2 blocks from them, though). The building is huge but somehow has a cozy feel. The walls are covered in local art for purchase, there are a variety of different types of seating and there are plenty of games to play. I sat at the bar and the two bartenders were very friendly– made me feel super welcome. If you’re in town and you like craft beer, Right Brain is a must visit!

Perfect portions for lunch, amazing beers, great art to look at! What’s not to like?

Great beer selection something for everyone. The food is good just takes forever to get a food order so be prepared to wait for your food. I had the hummus it was great and a large portion. I love the art work that they have around the place.

Known for their «weird» experimental beers, Right Brain Brewery is also a very cool hangout place! I went there for the first time over the weekend while camping at the state park. I shouldn’t have been surprised at how funky and eclectic the place is, given some of their more interesting beers. (Thai Peanut spicy stout, Belgian saison aged over cucumber and basil, and a cherry amber ale brewed with 30 whole cherry pies, just to name a few!) The space is just a big open warehouse, basically. There is original art from local artists all over the walls and inside. They have a HUGE selection of games to play, which I was super excited about. I saw a bunch of games I have been wanting to play. (and at $ 40+, it’s nice to be able to try them out!) Unfortunately, with the massive amount of beer my friends and I ordered, there was no room for games! Next time. :) They also had a selection of free vending machine snacks that had recently expired. Bonus! They do have a menu and full kitchen, so next time, I’m definitely going to get a waffle sandwich!
As I mentioned, my friends and I all got flights… which was probably overkill! You get 6, 6-​oz pours! These are the biggest flights I’ve ever seen. Of course, premium beers are a buck or two extra. Totally worth it though. We had a great time tasting all the beers and hanging out in such a cool space. A couple of my friends commented on the lack of music, which I didn’t even notice. There is a jukebox, though.
This is one of the coolest breweries I’ve ever been to, and I’ve been to many! (I also live in Grand Rapids: Beer City, USA!) I can’t wait to go back.

PB and J on a waffle? Yes, please. This place is super cool. But, I immediately felt welcomed. You order at the bar area and take your goodies to the table. I am not a big beer drinker, so I was happy to see they had other local bevvies on the menu, such as a local mead. It was delish! There was a giant group for a crawl that came in and they were experts at getting them their beer so they could move on to the next stop. Met one of the owners and he was so nice. A definite must on your trip to TC. Just note, it’s off the beaten path if you plan on walking from downtown, it’s roughly 1.5 miles.

Been coming here for a couple years, kids love it for the arcade games, i like it for the beer. Awesome flights and always many beers on tap, never tried any food here, but definitely a great place for a good craft beer and relaxing environment.

10 stars for the beer, 4 for the food and atmosphere.
Kind of hard to find but anyone with a smartphone can manage.
I understand that breweries & taprooms are loud but this place is crazy loud. I had to yell just to get anyone to understand me.
Food tasted great, only wish portions were slightly larger considering the price. My wife and I both had a waffle sandwich. We were going to split one as we normally do at pubs but I’m glad we didn’t considering the size of them.

Very cool place. Definitely check it out if you’re in TC and looking for a good drink selection.
We stopped in on a pub crawl in the area and right brain tied for first for me out of all the spots (jolly pumpkin was also tied for first).
Pluses for right brain are selection, eclectic atmosphere, the staff, and the location relative to the jolly pumpkin.
I had the berry mead which was a great chance up after pint after pint. We went on a Monday during the day and it was still fairly busy. I’d love to see the crowd on a Friday or Saturday night. I’m sure the neighbors love them!
We tried the hummus that had mint and jalapeño which was actually really tasty. Also grabbed a white cheddar popcorn and I was surprised at how flavorful it was. I am not a popcorn lover and I couldn’t help but keep grabbing more to shove in.
The only downside was we tried to buy one of the take away gift packs for my bro that couldn’t make the trip. We were given two different menus to choose from and I would say 75% of what we chose was not available. At one point we joked and asked if these were menus of what they don’t have versus what they do have.
All in all though a great spot and I can’t wait to return. Definitely give it a look.

We tried a new brewery in the TC area and my wife was disappointed in the beers. Her best suggestion of the night: go to Right Brain.
We have visited this location nearly a dozen times on different trips to TC. Right brain has knowledgeable and pleasant staff and they always have a wide selection of top quality beers.
On this trip, I had a flight of all darker beers, but they also have excellent selections for hop lovers.
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I love: (all best directly from the source, still amazingly good from draft at a spot near you that knows their beers)
Barrel aged fat lad
Delicious dark robust smooth chocolate imperial stout. Took a growler with me.
Barrel aged looping owl
Smooth barrel aged oaky vanilla caramel flavor.
The Mangalitsa Pig Porter
Smokey and piggy porter. Thick and delicious.
CEO stout
Espresso chocolate coffee. Exceptional.
Also very good:
Smokey CEO stout (smokey to cover the coffee)
Firestarter chipotle porter (smokey liquid smoke smooth)
This brewery is on a higher level than most other breweries in Michigan (which are very good). I can easily find a half dozen beers at this brewery that are better than any beer at other breweries down the street.
The construction reconstruction vibe for the building is unique and comfortable the seat yourself vibe is relaxing and welcoming. Don’t be fooled if the place looks closed from the outside. Tucked neatly behind a trendy salon this brewery is my absolute favorite. Stop in and find out how many beers can find a spot on your favorite beers list.
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It’s a kind of cool environment but the beer is not great… It’s a unique environment and the service was great! You can get 6 samples for $ 15 and they are large samples!

This place was pretty awesome, it is definitely one of those «don’t judge a book by its cover» type of places. The outside of the brewery looks quite ghetto and dnaky but then u step inside and the environment is perfect in its own weird kind of way. They had alot of graphics on the wall, weird structures inside it was really nice to see this, then we had food there and I had the jalapeño burger and the cool thing about the burger is that they use waffles as the bun and it made the burger that much more delicious.
We then had a flight each and my flight wasn’t too bad, I had an Asparagus beer which was weird but actually tasted really well, then a Chipotle porter which had some spice to the beer and it was well worth the drink then there was a pig porter which wasn’t that harsh of a porter it was a smooth taste, very well, then the flying squirrel which was a dark amber ale was quite good but the hefe cubano was not a good hefe. All in all the flight was pretty good. It is definitely a worthy brewery to add to our brewery bucket list.

In Northern Michigan I have to say Right Brain is second in quality for Beer. Outstanding quality and Flavor. Spinal Tapper is in my top 5 favorites of all time beers. Every time we come to Traverse City we stop in for a pint and a growler to take home.
The Major problem I have with Right Brain is their Tap room, they still act like brewing beer is a hobby and not a business. I was hoping a few years back when they moved locations, they would expand their tap room area. Which they did but concrete walls with Crap scattered about shows they do not care about their customers who buy and drink their product.
Right Brain needs to watch what their customer base will move on.
New microbrews are opening Dailey in Michigan and could push these Guys out of business.

in the words of Mick Jagger, I can’t get no Satisfaction. They are out of it tonight. Still, I like all my selections. The Dead Kettle is a bit too much grapefruit after a couple of sips, but the Cubby Squirrel and Flying Squirrel make up for it, as does the CEO Stout and Northern Hawk Owl. Is there such a bird as a Northern Hawk Owl?
Hummus was good. They were out of burgers before 9, so get here early.

This brewery takes the cake when it comes to getting unique and one-​of-​a-​kind beers in Traverse City.
We biked here after reading the reviews on Unilocal,although it is 16 blocks off the main drag in more of a residential area, it was well worth it.
The place is super eclectic featuring all sorts of artwork on the walls, chairs and tables that vary in sizes, shapes, colors, and decades of production. They have an old school juke box too.
The only food they have related to waffles and variations off of that, which all looked really good yet we already ate.
Opting for the flights after we were told you get 6 six ounce flights (usually only 4 oz at other places) for $ 15. They do limited you on their limited production beers yet you can pay an extra dollar per extra limited release beer.
We ended up trying all different types of beer, getting some 4 packs, some bombers, and a growler from them on top of getting some shirts for friends and family back home.
The beers we sampled were very unique that I’ve never had anywhere else. One was a Thai Peanut beer, Basil and Cucumber Saison, Chery Pie beer, and then the variations of more crowd pleasing beers. The waitress was super helpful and when we told her we were touring around trying out different breweries she ended up bringing a few more samplers (not in the big glasses) for us to try out.
This is a must check out if you’re in TC — just know that is unique and truly an artistic and awesome place.

Have had this beer at the last few MI Brewers Guild Beerfest, and finally made it to their brewery today. We got the nickel tour (Tim Hoffman was great!) and their operation is impressive and poised for expansion. These are true beer lovers.
Their beer is not only great, but creative. Who puts a pig in their beer? A pig. Right Brain rivals is more well know competitors who better watch out.

Stopped for a beer because I had heard great things about it. Here’s my advice: are you a very well-​versed beer connoisseur? Then this place is for you. Not a beer aficionado? Don’t bother. The staff didn’t seem to want to help or guide those who are not well-​versed in beer.
I did try their sour beer and it was great but don’t think I would go back because of the lack of engagement with customers. Their cheese board was meh.