Today in Lansing: EagleMonk Pub and Brewery celebrates six years in business

3 to 10 p.m.

EagleMonk Pub and Brewery

4906 W. Mt. Hope Hwy., Lansing

Click here for event page

There will be racks of Saddleback BBQ ribs, 12 beers on tap, three wines on tap and two beers on English beer engines for EagleMonk Pub and Brewery’s sixth anniversary.

There will be charitable components of this event as well, including a food drive for the Delta Waverly Rotary Youth Backpack food program that helps school children with healthy weekend meals, and T-shirts for sale with proceeds going toward purchasing a community external defibrillator.

Owners Dan and Sonia Buonodono first opened the EagleMonk Pub and Brewery in 2012, after traveling to microbreweries across the U.S.

“They were all so unique and all have a niche,” said Sonia.

Dan, then president of a Lansing area home brewing club, made beer for over 30 years before taking a crack at his own brewery business.

“I don’t know that we had a clue what we’d be,” said Dan. “Most home brewers have a vision of opening a brewery someday. It was more for fun than a profitable enterprise.”

Sonia said, “Our goal was to be a neighborhood pub and we’ve met that goal. We wanted to create a very warm atmosphere.”

The mugs measure the success said Sonia. “Mugs now stretch from the main room down the hall and into the game room.”

Brewing English style beers, Dan said, they are simply what he likes. “About three years ago, I did a DNA test and I thought I was mostly Italian, because of our last name. I found out that I’m 50 percent English. I thought, ‘Wow no wonder I like these styles of beer.’”

Having Saddleback BBQ cater is personal, said Sonia. “Saddleback’s owner Matt worked for us when we first opened, so we’ve had a relationship all along. For the first few years we had his pulled pork.”

The featured artist on display is Midwest Coast Fabrications, a metal decor artist from Michigan.

“I’ve done a lot of artistic things in my life, and it was a natural thing to have a new artists featured every month,” said Sonia.

Giving back to the community is part of being the neighborhood bar, said Dan.

EagleMonk has a beer on tap that donates a dollar for every pour, said Dan. “It raises between $250 to $350 a month to donate to different organizations.”