Hop Lot Brewing

What Hop Lot Brewing does

Hop Lot Brewing Company is a privately held, family-owned craft brewery and restaurant founded in 2015 by Steve, Sarah, and Drew Lutke, operating from a single location at 658 S W Bay Shore Drive in Suttons Bay, Michigan on the M22 scenic byway. The business combines on-site brewing of a diverse craft beer portfolio — including hazy IPAs, amber ales, blonde ales, German-style pilsners, stouts, and scotch ales — with a full food menu (shareable plates, sandwiches, burrito bowls, salads), house-made ciders, sparkling wines, a full cocktail program, and non-alcoholic beer options. Its core differentiator is a multi-acre, year-round outdoor beer garden featuring campfires, picnic tables, outdoor games, a 70'x70' family sandbox, and seasonal winter igloos, with direct access to the TART Trail from Traverse City and proximity to Sleeping Bear Dunes.

The company monetizes primarily through on-site consumption at the Suttons Bay taproom and beer garden, supplemented by online take-out ordering and a merchandise e-commerce store built on Square / Heartland POS. Its go-to-market is event-driven and location-led, leveraging live music programming, social media presence on Facebook and Instagram, and email newsletter outreach to drive visitation from three primary customer segments: tourists and visitors to Northern Michigan, local Leelanau Peninsula residents, and craft beer enthusiasts. Distribution is intentionally constrained to the single physical site plus direct-to-consumer digital channels, with no wholesale, franchise, or multi-unit footprint.

Operationally, Hop Lot is bootstrapped with no disclosed institutional funding or private equity backing and maintains founder-led control through the Lutke family. The brewery celebrated its 10-year anniversary in June 2025 and was voted #2 Beer Garden in the Country by USA TODAY 10Best in 2026, signaling both operational durability and rising national brand recognition. There is no proprietary technology layer; the stack is standard third-party SaaS for commerce and point-of-sale, and no AI/ML capabilities are in evidence.

Name

Hop Lot Brewing

Legal name

Hop Lot Brewing Company

Website

https://hoplotbrewing.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2015

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Hop Lot Brewing is a family-owned craft brewery and restaurant founded in 2015 in Suttons Bay, Michigan, operating a multi-acre year-round outdoor beer garden on the M22 scenic byway and serving tourists, local residents, and craft beer enthusiasts with on-site brewed beer, cocktails, ciders, wines, and food.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Craft Brewery & Restaurant

NAICS

Breweries (31212), Drinking Places (Alcoholic Beverages) (7224)

SIC

Malt Beverages (2082)

akta.pro primary industry

Microbreweries & Craft Breweries (THAFALAC)

akta.pro secondary industries

Brewpubs & Taprooms (On-site Beer Service) (THAFALAA), Taprooms & Brewpubs (CRANACAF), Pubs & Gastropubs (CRANACAB)

Keywords

• Craft brewery
• Beer garden
• Brewery restaurant
• Craft beer taproom
• Live music venue

Headquarters

HQ city

Suttons Bay

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Supply Chain, Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. On-site beverage and food sales: Brewery and restaurant revenue from on-site consumption of craft beers, ciders, wines, cocktails, and food menu items at the Suttons Bay location.
2. Take-out and online ordering: Online ordering system for take-out food and beverages through Heartland POS (Square) integration.
3. Merchandise sales: Online merchandise store selling Hop Lot Brewing branded apparel and items through Square e-commerce platform.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

Hop Lot Brewing operates a family-friendly craft brewery and restaurant in Suttons Bay, MI, brewing on-site a diverse selection of ales, IPAs, lagers, and seasonal beers. The core offering is a year-round outdoor beer garden hospitality experience paired with a full food menu, ciders, wines, cocktails, non-alcoholic beverages, take-out service, and live music events.

Product overview

Hop Lot Brewing Co. is a family-friendly Northern Michigan brewery and restaurant offering a unified hospitality experience centered around its year-round outdoor beer garden. The core offering combines craft beer production with a full food menu and alcoholic/non-alcoholic beverage selection. The product portfolio includes: on-site brewed craft beers (IPAs, ambers, stouts, lagers), ciders, wines, cocktails, and non-alcoholic options as beverage offerings; a beer garden food menu with shareable plates, sandwiches, burrito bowls, and salads; merchandise shop; take-out service; and live music events in the beer garden. The brewery was founded in 2015 by Steve, Sarah & Drew Lutke and is located on M22 in Suttons Bay, MI.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Craft Beers On Tap

Quantifiable outcome

• Ranked #2 Beer Garden in the Country - 2026 (USA TODAY 10Best)

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• New Holland Brewing: Michigan craft brewery combining beer and spirits production with multiple pub/restaurant locations; a relevant peer on the craft beer + on-premise food + spirits diversification axis.
• Short's Brewing Company: Northern Michigan craft brewery (Bellaire, ~50 miles from Suttons Bay) operating a destination pub with on-site brewed beer and full food service — the closest like-for-like comparison for Hop Lot's destination taproom + food + family-friendly model.
• Brewery Vivant: Grand Rapids craft brewery built around a destination taproom and pub model with full food service; directly comparable in emphasizing on-premise experience over distribution.
• Right Brain Brewery: Traverse City craft brewery and taproom operating in Hop Lot's core trade area along the M22/TART corridor; directly comparable small-batch craft model with on-site food and beverage service.
• Stormcloud Brewing Company: Lakeside Michigan craft brewery in Frankfort with a brewpub and live music programming; comparable in size, single-site footprint, and tourist-driven Northern Michigan location to Hop Lot.
• Dark Horse Brewery: Michigan craft brewery operating a destination brewpub with on-site food and outdoor seating; comparable small-to-mid Michigan craft operator with a similar taproom-led model.

Broad incumbents

• Sierra Nevada Brewing Co. National craft brewery incumbent operating large destination taprooms (Chico, Asheville) with on-site food and outdoor beer-garden-style seating; relevant as a scaled analog of the destination-taproom play.
• Founders Brewing Co. Grand Rapids-headquartered Michigan craft beer incumbent with a large taproom; broader scale and broader distribution make it a competitive incumbent in the regional craft market where Hop Lot competes.
• Stone Brewing: National craft brewery with destination taproom gardens in Escondido and other locations; relevant broader-market peer illustrating how a destination-beer-garden format can scale, even though Stone's distribution reach is far beyond Hop Lot's.
• Bell's Brewery: Largest Michigan craft brewery (now part of Tilray Brands) operating the Eccentric Café taproom; broader craft portfolio and national distribution make it a relevant incumbent peer rather than direct small-scale competitor.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/589542294586608
• Instagraminstagram.com/hoplotbrewingco
• Xx.com/hoplotbrewery
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/hop-lot-brewing-company

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles3 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Hop Lot Brewing