Salty Mac Brewing Company
The first thing I had to do when I got to St. Ignace was get fudge. I did that by going to Original Murdick’s.
The second thing I had to do was get dinner.
I parked on State Street right in front of Murdick’s and I didn’t feel like going somewhere else for dinner. There was a spot on my short list of places I wanted to check out while in St. Ignace right down the street. I took my fudge back to the car then headed to a brewery not too far away.
Salty Mac Brewing Company is on State Street northwest of Truckey Street which I assume is “downtown” St Igance. The brewery is fairly new having been converted from a coffeehouse to a brewery a couple of years ago. The business officially opened in February of 2025 after doing some renovations to both the inside and the facade of the building.
I didn’t really know what to do when I walked in the door. There’s a really nice, large dining room with concrete floors, soft lighting provided by exposed bulbs hanging from light fixtures from the ceiling, and dark colors on the walls and the furniture giving the space kind of a relaxing atmosphere.
There was no bar which threw me for a minute. There’s no bar because Salty Mac is one of those pour yourself breweries. A waitress checked my ID, took a credit card then gave me a bracelet to wear which would allow me to pour up to 32 oz. of beer from the beer wall.
The beer wall is in the back of the restaurant. There are a lot of choices. I made the mistake of telling the waitress it was my first time in so she wanted to go over what everyone of the almost four taps that include a number of beers plus wines and ciders.
Once she was done, I headed to the shelves with the different glasses. I grabbed a pint glass because I knew where I was going to start.
I headed to the middle of the wall where the IPA’s are. There are a couple of options but I scanned my wristband on the Hazy IPA and started to pour. The unfortunate thing here was I poured bad which means I wasted a few ounces…and they charge by the ounce so I probably paid an extra buck for foam.
The beer I picked was the Compromised Standards Hazy IPA. It was a fine beer but my pour probably didn’t do it justice. I kind of sipped it slowly because I didn’t want to go back for another until I got my food.
Ordering food is kind of a do it yourself thing too. There is a QR code on the table that you can order from or you can flag down a waitress and they can add it to the tab you already opened for the beer. I didn’t see any of the waitresses around me so I just went with the QR code and had two separate tabs going for a bit.
The food is provided in partnership with BC Pizza which is across the street. *I think* they have their own kitchen because the food was coming down the stairs that leads to the back parking lot. I noticed the pizzas coming down were all in BC Pizza boxes but there is a lot more on the menu than just pizza.
I passed on pizza and ordered the Beer Cheese Steak sandwich. This is a really hearty sandwich with Philly steak and thick, gooey beer cheese served on a hoagie roll. The menu didn’t say anything about onions or peppers so I figured I was taking a chance but this sandwich showed up on my table just the way I wanted…steak…and cheese. The sandwich was way bigger than I expected and it was overflowing with steak and cheese. I wasn’t super hungry when I got to Salty Mac…I just really wanted to try this place. This sandwich was perfect. It was a tasty sandwich and the chips it came with were just enough to go with the tasty beers.
About halfway through the sandwich, I decided to go back for one more beer. Sure, I could have done some tasters and made a flight but I think I kind of grew out of that a while ago. Instead, I grabbed a snifter glass and poured the Vanilla Barleywine. I really like vanilla in beer but I don’t think I’ve ever had a barleywine with vanilla. The vanilla wasn’t overpowering but it did even out the maltiness of the beer. This was a good way to finish off the meal.
I had already paid my bill for the food (about $14) but I still had to go back to the register on the way out to cash out my beer tab and turn in the wristband. The cost for the two beers I had was right around $13.
Salty Mac Brewing Company is a cool place. It’s a different kind of brewery. It’s mostly self service so you can kind of go at your own pace and really take your time with picking out the right beer. You can get as little (just a taste) or as much (a full glass) as you want. You’re paying by the ounce.
SW Michigan Dining 