Distant Whistle Brewhouse

• 118 S. Main Street
• Vicksburg, MI 49097
• (269) 475-5447
• Website

Billboards, man.  I get sucked in by so many billboards.  In my non-professional opinion, billboards have to be the number one way for a restaurant to spend their ad budget because they get me every time.

We’ve been driving down to the Centreville area a lot more recently to see my in-laws who just moved to Southwest Michigan.  I knew that there was a brewery in downtown Vicksburg but I didn’t know much about it.  I knew they didn’t have food so it was never really an option to take the family too, but every time we passed the billboard on US-131 near Schoolcraft, I would start trying to figure out when I could get down there by myself.

It worked out that I needed to go do a job in Vicksburg a couple of Saturday’s ago.   I actually took the family down to J’s parents house then came back to Vicksburg for the job and just used my personal car instead of the company car.  We had plans to go to The Local for a really cool Bell’s event called Black Note Deconstructed for dinner.  I didn’t really need the company car for this quick job so I just stuck to my personal vehicle so we could do what we wanted to do afterwards.

My job in Vicksburg took a couple of hours and since I was by myself, I wanted to quickly hit up this brewery that I keep seeing signs for before heading to Centreville to meet everyone else for dinner.

The Distant Whistle Brewhouse is in downtown Vicksburg on South Main Street almost right across the street from Jaspare’s Pizza.   The brewery was opened in 2016 by a couple of friends who began experimenting in a garage.  The taproom is located in an old brick row building downtown.  The previous tenants include a flower shop and  Boundry Waters Cafe.

The space really is what you expect from these old downtown buildings.  Most of the light comes from the large windows out front but is supplemented by track lighting bouncing off brightly painted walls.  The floors are a gorgeous, weathered hardwood.  The walls are sparsely decorated with paintings and Christmas lights that helps set the mood.  There are several different seating options with both tables and booths spread through the space.

The bar is near the back of the space and since I was alone, I headed right there to join a couple of the regulars.  It’s not a very big bar having less than a dozen seats.  The mugs for the mug club members are hanging in neat little rows on the two of the walls behind the bar.  The beer list is written in chalk above the taps on the short wall.

All ordering is done at the corner of of the bar.  They don’t do table service so on busy nights it’s just forming a line between the two steal pipes underneath the sign.

I sat down and asked about a flight.  The bartender told me they do flights of four but I could get more if I wanted.  I stuck with the four since I knew I was heading to Centreville for dinner.   The flight board is a simple wooden paddle.  They use chalk to put numbers next to the glass.  That number coincides with the number on the menu board.

I started with The Creep. It’s their Session IPA.  It’s a little citrusy…a little hoppy..just like a good Session should be.  Very easy drinking and a great IPA if you’re going for more than just one drink.

My second beer was the Backpacker’s Blonde.  This is a coffee infused blonde ale made with Ron’s Bean’s Bali blend beans.  The coffee smell is definitely noticeable up front but doesn’t linger.  Very tasty beer.

The third beer in the line- up was the Paramount IPA.  This is a solid American IPA.  Nothing super special but pretty citrusy again and easily drinkable.

The final beer of my flight was the one the bartender was very excited about.  It’s the Milkshakes Mosaic and Mango.  This is Distant Whistle’s take on the New England IPA.  It’s a big juicy IPA made with Mosaic hops and mangoes.  If you follow this blog, you know I’m all in on this trend and Milkshakes did not disappoint.

Distant Whistle doesn’t do any food but they have popcorn available for free as well as cheese curds and ice cream available for purchase.  They do encourage bringing in food from nearby businesses and I saw a couple of people with pizza from Jaspare’s which is right across the street.  They also have a large supply of board games along one wall to encourage people to hang out and have a few beers.

I’m so glad I finally made time to hit up the Distant Whistle Brewhouse.   The lack of a kitchen is why we didn’t do it sooner, but even without the food, this place is a great neighborhood-like tap room.  It’s such a comfortable space with a great hometown atmosphere.  I really enjoyed all four beers I tried and look forward to going back to try a few more.