Aberrant Ales

In all honesty, the only other time I've been through downtown Howell was when I got off at Exit 141 in the middle of the night in error. With that said, I was pleasantly surprised at how clean and how well kept the downtown area truly is. Aberrant is nestled in amongst several other local businesses. It's easy to find and there's easy access to parking either on the street or lots nearby. This was a terrific stop today. The wait staff are super friendly and they know the menu, both the beers and the food. It's very clean. The bathrooms are spotless. I had two flights while I was there. It seems they focus on New England IPAs, hazy and otherwise - and rightfully so. All of the IPAs were on point. The hazies were dank and juicy at the same time, without being overly sour or sweet. Their standard IPAs hit all the right notes. I also tried all of their stouts and their amber ale. I won't offer up any comparisons to Lansing area breweries, but I will say that these folks are doing it right. The imperial stout, Elephant in the Alley, was 10 out of 10. The cream ale was also excellent. The food was great. I had chicken street tacos with their verde salsa. My buddy had the Nashville hot chicken sandwich. I was over the moon with my tacos and the verde sauce. After I had one taco, I ordered chips and salsa just so I could get more. My friend commented several times on the crispiness and juiciness and general awesomeness of the chicken sandwich. I look forward to coming back with my family. I know my wife would enjoy it. I'm sure my boys would enjoy the atmosphere and the food. I will definitely be back. Again, great stop. I highly recommend Aberrant.

Nice looking location right on the main drag of Howell. Plenty of seating options from the bar to the window. Of the three breweries we visited in the area we found the IPA and the Amber the best here at Aberrant Ales. A few TVs located about was nice. Service was okay, server seemed extremely hesitant to approach or engage. When asking about food and drink I got the minimum reply possible. Definitely didn't have an inviting experience here, but the beer was good. Also note if your covid conscience, no one was wearing a mask here. In fact we got a few strange looks when we sat down. I definitely would give them a second try though

Waited at least 20 min to be greeted at our table, and that was from the bartender leaving the bar to see us. There were at least 4 waitresses walking around socializing but ignoring us despite making eye contact. False advertising for drinks. Showcasing a “margarita” but was told it was made with hard seltzer because they’re not licensed for spirits. $13 drink wasn’t even worth the price. We were ignored the rest of our time there to the point that we had to walk up to the bar to get our bills. Never going back there.

Food is pretty good here. Beer selection is great, IF they have it in stock. I don’t like how they’re consistently always out of beer that is on the board. That seems to be a regular thing. Prices I think are high for nowheresville Michigan but the quality seems to be pretty solid so yeah 5 stars, why not