Downey Brewing Company Review
Downey Brewing was an accidental find by my brother, but he was very pressing we take a trip to check it out when we were up in Michigan. Turns out, we’re glad he did.
Location
Downey Brewing is located in the industrial/warehouse area, close to Ford Motor Company Rouge Complex, in East Dearborn, Michigan. Not your typical place for a brewery and tap room.
Key is to find the stand out red door with the brewery name.
The brewery ended up in the warehouse district because family owns/runs a business out of part of the building. You can read more about their back story HERE.
Tasters
We like to sit up at the bar when possible, so we walked back to the bar. I tried the Raspberry Radler, and the White Tail. White Tail was my favorite. Matt had the Yang White Stout, but also tasted my White Tail. Perfect, since part of the reason we were up in Michigan was for Matt to go deer hunting. My brother had us taste the Little Citra Ale he was drinking. It had interesting hints of dill and lemon.
Atmosphere
Loved the sitting area in the back corner with antique stable doors. The bartender called it the “kid friendly” area.
During the holidays, you can find their nostalgic Hudsons Department Store, Santa Bear display.
If you’ve ever lived in the Midwest or the Northeast, chances are you’ve hung out with friends and family in a garage or basement. And when I say basement, I’m not talking a fancy finished basement. I mean the unfinished, cement block, cement floor basement that comes with “Jack Frost nippin’ at your nose” during the cold winter months.
When we visited Downey Brewing Company during the cold of November, memories of hanging out in basements with family flooded back.
It also made me wonder if this was what “the guys” would do after work back in the day, when the auto industry was taking off. Hang out and drinks some beers after work.
Parts of the walls, and over the taps, the walls were covered with quite the collection of beer bottles.
The Warehouse Appeal
I don’t typically talk about bathrooms when visiting breweries, but this was a pretty cool bathroom, don’t you think? Love the old original industrial sink
and lockers heading into the women’s bathroom. Sorry guys, your bathroom was not as cool.
It was a great way to spend our last night in Michigan before heading home. A little celebration before the birthday boy turned 50 years old.
If you are headed to Detroit, or the surrounding area, check it out!! You can find them at 13121 PROSPECT ST, DEARBORN, MI, 48126
UPDATE:
Because we liked Downey Brewing so much, we headed back the following summer during our visit back in Michigan. Except this time, we had a big group of family, plus we even took the kids with us.
Since it was summer, they were able to have to large roll up doors open. Therefore we were able to enjoy sitting outside. It rained a little, however, we were then blessed with the beauty of this rainbow.
So, with kids there, we had some friendly Cornhole competition.
That is to say, it got a little loud and crazy, because Matt and our nephew were the winners!
It was certainly a good time, and my sister and I had fun being silly with some brew tasting, LOL! We both liked the “She’s a Peach” beer. To sum it up, Downey Brewing is a family friendly place to hang out, and make some memories.
In addition, we stopped back in when Matt and I went up to Michigan in October. So I got to try another new brew, the RazzmaTazz. I loved it!
Looking for more Michigan breweries? Check out:
Very cool! That kid friendly area is so cute!!
I thought so too. Reminds me of sitting around a campfire!
I love Downey Brewing! It is a happy place for sure!
Yay!! Love to hear from fellow brewery lovers!! We can’t wait to check it out during summertime!!
Awesome brewery. Very friendly and you’ll most likely get to meet the owners and have a great talk about “whatever”!!! This is such a comfortable atmosphere and by the time you leave, you’ll have made new friends. Can’t say enough good things about it!!!
Sadly we did not meet the owners when we were there, but hopefully next time. Some of our favorite things about brewery hopping is meeting owners and making new friends!
What a fun place to go hang out with family and friends while enjoying a beer or two.
Definitely!!
Looks like you guys had fun. Love the old industrial sink in the bathroom. What a great place to hang out!
I know, right? I couldn’t believe I was taking pictures of the bathroom, lol!!
I love visiting breweries!! I live near Asheville, NC, the craft brewery capital of the world! I find it fun to try other regional brews….the hops used are so different than here! If I’m ever up in Michigan, I’ll give this brewery a try. Thanks!
Asheville is on our bucket list for this year. Let us know your favorites, so we can check them out.
The locker room reminded me of Junior HS! What memories! Lookies like a really cool place!
Yes!! So much fun when it brings up memories while making new ones!
Fun! I love visiting breweries – the atmosphere is typically cool, food is good and who doesn’t love trying out new beers!
The atmospheres are exactly what we enjoy too!! Good for is a perk 🙂
I’m not a beer drinker, but this looks like a really fun atmosphere. And I love all the teddy bears.
They also had a cabinet full of games! Some were quite the throwbacks too.
This place looks so fun. I love local breweries, we have one close to us in Baltimore. It is so fun to go hang out and try new beers. So great it brought back so many memories for you.
We loved Baltimore a couple summers ago. Would like to go back and brewery hop!!
I love the red door! Not all the glitz and glam of most breweries today. I had one of those basements in the Northeast which held the washer and dryer, ping-pong table, and several tons of coal for our coal fireplace. It smelled very musty, but it was home.
We prefer personality over glitz and glam!!
Happy birthday! I liked the red door.
A simple signature sign you are in the right place, lol.
I would definitely try the Raspberry Radler! Raspberry is one of my favorite flavors
Can’t go wrong with raspberry!!
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