Wednesday 15th of September 2010 10:00:57 PM

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The beer here is of the more mass market appeal, nothing too special, bold or different - but the quality was just fine.

It's clear that they're more about being a family restaurant and catering to events, as the bulk of the facility is dedicated to that line of business. The pub area is tiny, with a small horseshoe bar that looked like it could seat about a dozen people.

So overall: Solid, but not a brewpub lovers destination. The kind of place I'd stop in at when I'm in the area, but wouldn't make a special trip to get there.

Tuesday 27th of July 2010 12:34:46 PM

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We stopped for lunch at Wiltse's Brew Pub and Family Restaurant on a recent excursion along the shores of Lake Huron.

The atmosphere is best described as "up north". It's an amalgamation of log cabin, diner, and breweriana that's mixed with small town charm.

Service was solid. We were seated in a booth in the main dining room. The waitress was a professional diner type (and I don't mean that in a bad way). She knew 1/2 the patrons by name and what they wanted before they sat. She told us the specials, took our orders, and brought them to us quickly.

The food menu was actually quite large. They serve breakfast early, then sandwiches and dinners afterwords. Your standard pub fare was available along with steaks, pasta, and barbeque. I had the fish sandwich which was beer battered and served with fries. One of my friends had the pulled pork served with fries and slaw, sauce on the side. I believe it was real Q, not just roasted pork in sauce.

Wiltse's served five of their own brews along with a couple from Bell's and the usual suspects. I had the Blue Ox Oatmeal Stout and my pal had the Oscoda Rare IPA. The IPA is was a little hazy, but otherwise good. The stout was solid, enough that I had a second.

We enjoyed our lunch. I probably wouldn't make a special trip just to go, but if you're heading north along Lake Huron stop in.

Monday 19th of July 2010 07:57:09 PM

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Wiltse's is exactly what the name describes, an odd combination of brew pub and family restaurant. Perhaps this occurred as a result of the fairly rural location in a tourist town. When you first walk in, you enter a space that is typical of family restaurants. Take a left turn and get out of there as soon as possible. You will find yourself in a cozy little bar room with plenty of wood and the dank.

The bartender was friendly and since this was our first time we ordered the sampler to see what they had.

Wiltse's Premium Lager: not bad, but nothing special was expected from this style of beer.
Nut Brown Ale (seasonal): lightly nutty scent, mildly nutty flavor. Very tame.
Old AuSable Weizenbier: OK, but very mild.
Paul Bunyan Ale: fun and hoppy; the most flavorful of the set. The only one I ordered a full pint of.
Blue Ox Stout: very cloudy brown like chocolate milk (in looks, not taste). Smells really good, but a little bitter for a stout.

A special surprise was that the brewer was on site and he happened to be an old friend from high school. It was fun to see someone that I knew making beer for a living.

For food we tried the yellow lake perch and the pulled pork. Neither of them were anything special. The weird thing about the pork is that it did not appear to be "pulled", but rather more chopped up.

Before our food was served, the bartender offered us a "bar table". At first I thought she wanted us to leave the bar seats, but then I realized she was offering little customized tables that hang on the edge of the bar to bring your plate closer. I thought this was a pretty cool invention. I had never seen anything like it before.

Overall, I was not really impressed with Wiltse's Brew Pub. The beer was fair, but kind of boring compared to what I am used to. It is the only brew pub that I was able to locate for a very long distance, so I guess they don't have any competition. I probably won't be back, but it is really far from where I live, so that is not saying much.