Lexington Brewing Company and Wine House

I don’t give one star ratings often, and I really wanted to like this place, but the service was so horrible. It took 30 minutes before a waiter came to ask if we had been helped. Then after we got beers and food, no one ever came to bring us a check. I tried to be understanding because it was Memorial Day weekend, but the place wasn’t even full to capacity, only half the tables had patrons. And beside just the bad service, the beer flights did not taste good.

A dozen employees all running around like chickens with their heads cutoff. It took 13 minutes to even be greeted despite being in the center of the bar. Beer this season was terrible to boot. This was the third strike. The ONLY reason they are popular is the location and lack of competition. Can’t wait for a real brewer to come to this area. Better wine just outside of town now too.

Over the Labor Day weekend, my wife and I visited three different breweries while traveling in the Thumb region of Michigan:
Thumbcoast Brewing Company: Port Huron MI
Lexington Brewing Company and Wine House: Lexington, MI
El Street Brewery: Sandusky, MI
I am willing to overlook slow service on a Labor Day Weekend. The weather was perfect for traveling and the customers were plentiful. However, it took nearly 20 minutes to return one beer.
A flight at Lexington only consists of 4 beers.
The vanilla porter was acceptable. However, most of the beers were dreadful with the worst offender being the Tropicana Ale.
The Tropicana Ale is described as a Belgian Tripel ale made in a shandy style with a strong lemon-​lime flavor. 17 IBU, 4.6% ABV
The lemon-​lime favor did not taste like a natural lemon or lime favor rather favor extracts. It was more of a soda than beer. It was nauseating candy sweet. Think Lemon-​lime Gatorade with beyond reasonable amounts of lemon/​lime favor added.
The combination of a winery/​brewery may negatively influence the palatability of the beer. It feels that more focus is placed on the wine. They could possibly benefit from brewing cask-​conditioned beer.
I do not give negative reviews lightly and my ratings tend to have an equal distribution between highly rated to bad. That being said, serious beer lovers skip Lexington Brewery and travel to the nearby breweries listed above.

This review is specifically the «brewery» portion of Lexington Brewing Company. I don’t know wine well enough to leave a review of the winery portion.
I really wanted to like this place. I do quite a bit of traveling to different breweries throughout Michigan. I was in Lexington and was pleasantly surprised that there was a brewery in Lexington. I didn’t remember seeing this when I was in this area last year (⁸⁄₂₀₁₄)
The brewery seemed me like a place for wine drinkers and not beer drinkers. Most of the beers I tried (Sunsetting, Cherry Wheat, Tropicana Ale, Black Forest Stout) were dry, highly carbonated, and fruity. Which caters more to the pallet of a wine drinker than a beer drinker. I was bummed that their Double IPA had just blown.
In all the beers that I mentioned above, the fruit flavor really overpowered the profile of the beer. In the Tropicana Ale, I couldn’t even tell that it was a Belgian, tasted more like a bad spin off of Sunny Delight.
I’m not ready to say the brewery was bad and that you shouldn’t try it because all they had available when I was there was overpowering fruit beers.
I’d be interested in trying some more traditional styles from this brewery. Like a smoked stout/​porter, a traditional Pale Ale (they didn’t have a single pale on draft when I was there) a traditional style Belgian, etc.
In conclusion I would definitely go back but I’d go back with hopes of them having less fruit beers. Fruit beers are great when they’re done right, Lexington Brewing Company didn’t do fruit beers very well in my opinion.

Beer flights were satisfactory. Food was fair but menu small and took forever. Quaint place but could be so much more.

I’m glad to see a microbrewery in the resort town of Lexington because I visit that area regularly. The beers were average for a microbrewery, not great, but not bad. The carbonation was proper and there were no diacetyl issues, which is good news. I wish they had the stout on tap when I went on July 4^th, but it was crowded and they were sold out.
I like the old building atmosphere. The building seems to be 100 years old and was renovated nicely. Since I live in Grand Rapids, I’m spoiled by top notch breweries, but this was decent enough that I would gladly return. Just don’t ask me if I think it holds a candle to most of the Michigan beer powerhouses west of Ann Arbor. Joe Short and Larry Bell can still sleep tonight without use of a sedative.

Mediocre beer at best. Some batches just tasted off/​bad. Super small tasting menu — the Brie sandwich was great. None of the beers are something to come back for. Wines are alright, not bad, but nothing mind blowing either. Were «out» of half of them too (bad grape season?). I love to «think globally and drink locally» like their slogan says but they are pretty disappointing. Bar staff was not very friendly either. Nice live jams on Saturdays. I guess it’s as much as you can hope for in small towns, but again won’t go out of my way to return.

Nice quaint little place. Brews are good it just needs a little more atmosphere.

I hate to do this, but I have to knock this place down to one star!
The past three growler fills that I’ve gotten have been sour! The first was a Belgain ale, and I figured Belgains can be sour and the special yeast strains do weird things to beers, so I gave them a pass, but a Double IPA and California Common are most certainly not supposed to be sour!
Note that my growler was clean and the sample that I had at the bar also exhibited a heavy sour note… shame on me for purchasing the growlers.
For those that don’t know, sourness is either purposefully introduced into the beer by adding a special yeast strain (although I’ve not seen one style on tap that is supposed to be purposefully soured) or it’s due to poor sanitation habits that lead to a lactic infection that turns the beer sour. Scrub those fermentation vessels and sanitize those kegs please!
I had high hopes for a quality brewery in the thumb, but until sanitation improves, their beer will be pretty bad for some time to come.

We stopped here on our way back from shopping in Port Huron. We got there around 4 in the afternoon. There was a sign posted outside showing that they’d have the Tigers game on at 7 and live music at 8. Pretty cool! We didn’t stay that long for that but they did have the Preakness horse race on while we were there.
My fiancé tried a flight sampler of wines and I had one for the beers. They give you a sheet with their beer and wine selections. it also tells you the IBU and alcohol levels in each along with a description. You can then mark up to 4 of the ones you’d like to try. There were 10 beers available on tap and I’d say about 15 – 20 wines available. They have something for everyone when it comes to the beer and wines. Service was great and friendly. It was also a clean environment.
They do have some meats, cheeses and crackers to pair with the beer and wine. If you’re looking for an actual meal though you’ll want to look elsewhere. Otherwise it was a great experience. If you’re a beer and or wine lover this place is a must stop.

Nice sandwiches and good sangria. The place really seems to be on the up and up. The owners were talking all about all the improvements to come, I hope to return in the near future to see it all!

I really want to like this place. The outside is spectacular, they really lucked out in terms of location and space. The interior layout didn’t seem to flow, I wish they would have played up the old world town hall feel in the interior decorating. Maybe it was because we came on a busy day, during the Lexington Art Fair, but the service was… strange, very nice but strange. We had to go up to the bar to order food and drinks, then wait for the food to come to the table. I would have preferred table service because it might have made it easier for the staff to know/​remember where certain plates were supposed to be. Although maybe they used a different service format today because they knew it was going to be a busy day. From my waitressing experience the busiest days are usually the most important, when everyone wants to up their game i.e. make sure the drinks, food, atmosphere, service, etc is at its best. The prices were nice but everyone in my party later said that they would have been willing to pay extra for better management and food.
We had to bring the wine to the table ourselves. All three of us had to share the same flights which also made the wine feel cheaper than it should have. We waited for the food, which felt more like snacks, for at least 15 – 20 minutes. At that point the rush period had ended and three or more tables had been cleared, so that felt like a long time to wait for the food. What was said to have been a «vegetable and dip platter» and a «cheese and meat basket» all came out on paper plates with paper napkins. For a place that uses the moto «think globally, act locally» paper plates and napkins are not very eco-​conscious. They did try to display the vegetables in a pleasant way, I will give them that. The cheese and meat paper plate had thick, messy slices of cheddar cheese and salami with ritz-​like crackers. All three of us agreed that 99% of the time, when at any place either a restaurant or a winery, cheese and meat anything implies an assortment of cheeses (usually 3). Cheddar to me, is kind of cheap. I appreciate that they offered food to compliment their beverages, and I think given the space’s potential, the winery’s patrons deserve to pair their wines and beers with an assortment of quality cheeses, crackers, and meats. On nice dishes. Why serve the wine in a cute way (cute but not sanitary) and the food on paper plates? Just because this establishment is in a smaller town does not mean its customers don’t expect a unique, cultured experience (see the movie «The Trip» for reference).

Had a very nice lunch here on our trip around the Thumb. Used to be the town hall and a Masonic Temple. No one was in the place as it was midweek so we had the bartender to ourselves. Very pleasant service. Nice conversation about the area. Had a great pulled pork sandwich and German potato salad. The pork was from a local grocer. Wine was good as far as Michigan wines go. I will make this a stop next time we are in town. It is definitely a go to place in my book.

Live music on a Saturday afternoon. About 20 wines to sample — four 2 oz. Pours for $ 8.50. Didn’t like 3 of 4 wines that I tried. The 2011 Pinot Noir was okay. I’ll try the beer next time through.
Clean bathrooms was unexpected for a ‘bar’. As someone else noted, the smell of sauerkraut at the end of the bar subtracted from the experience.
Service was a bit ‘quirky’, but effective.

I really really want this place to be better than it is since Lexington food and drink options have dwindled to almost none. And it has gotten better over last two years. That said, their wines still need ALOT of work (largely too sweet). Giving it 3 stars in hopes of continuous improvement! The positives are the regular live entertainment on Fri and Sat eves. — pleasant, not too loud — and that a limited food menu is now available. Also they just added the microbrewery activity (haven’t tried so can’t review). Note to management re the food: MOVE THE SAUERKRAUT OUT OF BAR AREA. On last visit, noted a really off-​putting smell at bar and finally figured out it was the pot of sauerkraut steaming right at the bar. Really bad.

Great find in downtown Lexington. We went on a Spring weekend, so I’m sure it’s a bit different during the summer season, but it’s a great space with a fantastic bar and a surprisingly good wine selection. Not being from the area, I had never had Michigan wine before, and I have to say I was impressed by their selection — it’s grown from some prior reviews, they have both sweet and robust red wines, which I thought were of pretty good quality.
Also had some nice sandwiches which were made right there, as well as fruit and cheese platters as well — a nice lunch option for our group. Allowing you to choose your own tasting by just paying for each tasting rather than forcing you to taste wines you don’t like was a plus too.
Staff was attentive but not overbearing, and very knowledgable about the wines and growing area. Given the off-​season, the place was pretty empty — look forward to trying it in the «on season» sometime, and definitely would recommend it to visitors to Lexington.

My husband and I were there last weekend with another couple and every seat in the place was filled, we had a great time! Loved it! We look forward to visiting again and checking out the new brewery. The only reason you only get 4 stars is it would be nice to have a small small plates menu to go along with the wine.

We were visiting friends in Melvin and had a few hours to kill so we went exploring. Fortunately, we fell into the Old Town Hall Winery. Very pleasant experience. The staff was friendly and very helpful. The fella that waited on us knew a lot about all of the wines we were tasting. We liked them all and loved a couple. We ended up leaving with a case of assorted flavors. Very friendly atmosphere. I would recommend it to anyone looking for something to do in Downtown Lexington.

We have a cottage in the downtown Lexington area and visited this place 2 times. Both times we visited we had a strange encounter with a woman who either owns the place or works there. She claims to own the piano that is in there. She is responsible for us never to go back in there again. I will tell all my neighbors and never take any of my many guests there. Weird staff, high prices and bad vibe make this place a no go to. It’s to bad that this place has this bad vibe going on. I have told people about the place and they agreed or told me the same thing about the staff. Unprofessional and rude!

Nice place and location right adjacent to downtown Lexington. I thought the interior aesthetics blended well with the historic nature of the actual building.
The bar is very nice and well done. Staff were cool and knowledgeable. I guess the only real disappointing aspect was their wine. They only had one available at the time for taste testing and it was a super sugary (read: tasted like syrup) dessert wine.
They did have wines from the Blue Water Winery so if you can’t make it to the winery itself, stop here and have a flight. They even had some of the wines from last year like the House Red.
Overall great concept, just needs some time to develop & mature.