Michigan’s Best Local Eats: Presidential Brewing beers include ‘Dill Clinton,’ ‘Oatbama’

PORTAGE, MI – When husband and wife Jake and Kayleigh Lohse opened Presidential Brewing Company, they wanted to create a place with great food and beer that provided entertainment for everyone.

The brewery, 8302 E. Portage Road in south Portage, has become a place where everyone could come, and where parents can bring their kids.

There's karaoke on Wednesdays, trivia on Thursdays, yoga on Saturday mornings and live music outside on Fridays and Saturdays.

A decade before Presidential moved in, the building had laser tag, an arcade and 18 holes of mini golf. They ended up keeping nine holes after friends talked about the nostalgia of the building, Kayleigh Lohse said.

"We’re heading into a season of just a lot of fun around here," Kayleigh Lohse said.

It was a popular decision, with people bundling up to play in the middle of winter and mini golf leagues going through the summer.

Presidential Brewing has 12 beers on tap inside and an additional 10 in the summer when the outside bar is open. Everything from burgers to pizza to macaroni and cheese fill the food menu.

They describe it as elevated pub food, Kayleigh Lohse said.

"People don't come here looking for steak and seafood," she said. "We want to be true to who we are. We’re comfort food, family friendly, easy, approachable."

Loaded tot skillets are a popular appetizer. Deep fried tater tots are topped with cheese curds and then customized with additional toppings. Jake's favorite is the Buffalo Tot, with chicken, green onion, Buffalo sauce and bleu cheese.

The dill pickle pizza is Kayleigh's favorite. The beer-infused pizza crust is topped with pickles, bacon and cheese. Other pizza choices include a traditional pepperoni and a barbecue pizza with chicken or pork.

The pickle pizza at Presidential Brewing Company in Portage Michigan. (Photo provided by Presidential Brewing Company)

The Blackberry Bam-a-Lam Burger topped with bacon, blackberry jam, goat cheese and caramelized onions is a must-try, Jake Lohse said.

In the mood for chicken? Presidential offers three – fried or grilled – chicken sandwiches. One option includes house-made honey butter, bleu cheese and Buffalo sauce.

Burgers and sandwiches are served with house-made chips.

Most of the menu can be made gluten free, vegetarian, vegan or dairy free. They wanted to offer people with dietary restrictions more than the few sad options found at other restaurants.

The idea of opening a brewery came to the couple after an attempt to try new beers every Friday with friends turned into Jake Lohse brewing his first beer – Oatbama.

"Your first beer should never taste good. This one tasted great," Jake Lohse said. "We thought this beer deserved to be made again."

Barack Obama was president at the time, so they named the oatmeal stout Oatbama and enjoyed the joke. They kept brewing more beers and coming up with more presidential puns.

The beer-tasting Fridays evolved into a monthly event with friends, family, coworkers and people from their church. Eventually, it involved into a business model.

The Lohses took a leap of faith – or made a stupid decision, Kayleigh joked – and opened Presidential Brewing Company in late March 2019.

All beers on tap feature a pun related to U.S. presidents. One of their most popular Sherbert Hoover, a kettle sour brewed with different types of fruit. Their original is a raspberry vanilla that went viral during the COVID-19 pandemic, because it was hot pink.

Now that the weather has turned hot, Sherbert Hoover is poured into a slushie machine and mixed with lemonade. The beer slushie is served in a color-changing hurricane souvenir cup ,and is a popular drink all summer long.

The Rutherford B. Haze, a New England IPA, is one the brewery is proud of because it holds up to the competition, Jake Lohse said.

Other popular beers include the Calvin Creamidge, an easy drinker made for people who may not love craft beer. It was created when Kayleigh asked for a beer similar to a PBR.

On April Fools Day one year, they added a dill pickle spear and some juice, calling it a Dill Clinton. It was so popular it's now a menu standard.

"We want to brew quality beer for the people who care about craft beer," Kayleigh Lohse said. "But we also recognize that there are a lot of people that want to come here and we need to brew something that they want to drink."

The nine hole mini golf course at Presidential Brewing Company in Portage, Michigan on Wednesday, May 31, 2023. (Joel Bissell | MLive.com)Joel Bissell | MLive.com

Founding Father's Day, a Father's Day special event June 18, features a dad joke competition, a dad outfit contest and a grill out food special.

The brewery will also release the Founding Father, a 10% double IPA that was created for Jake's dad, who loves the Bell's Two-Hearted beer.

A full event schedule of events can be found on their website. The brewery also posts about new events and other news on Facebook.

Presidential is open 3 to 10 p.m. Tuesdays through Thursdays, noon to 10 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays and noon to 8 p.m. Sundays.

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