Guardian Brewing Company is a 100% LGBTQ+ and women-owned craft brewery located in Saugatuck, offering a comprehensive menu of modern and classic draft beers, hard cider, cocktails, wine, and NA options.
Guardian features weekly trivia, Fight Scurvy Thursdays!, Maker’s Markets, Yard Sales, Flamingo BINGO, and monthly Certified Cicerone led Beer School classes, make us a “must visit” destination for craft beer lovers, foodies, and out-of-town visitors. Located just two miles from Lake Michigan, we’re surrounded by miles of parks and trails!
Guardian is a destination craft brewery that opened in 2018. It has 24 beer taps comprised of year-round, seasonal, one-off, and barreled-aged beers, ciders, and seltzers. We offer a wide variety of beer styles that range from our “Nessie” Imperial IPA with Blue Juniper Berries to our “Skyfish” Mexican-Style Lager and all the way to our “Villainess” Imperial Milk Stout with Oreos. We also offer a variety of wine, cocktails, and NA beverages.
Our kitchen’s menu focuses on freshly made food sourced locally and regionally and as the seasons change, so does our menu. We make most menu items in-house and pride ourselves on serving the best beer cheese and queso in the region, great meat, vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free, and dairy-free dishes.
Our restaurant has seats for 92 people, including 13 around the horseshoe-shaped bar. Our space is light and airy, equally comfortable for a dinner with your family or a date night. Outside, you can enjoy our 3,500 square foot patio with an awning covering 50 additional seats and a six-foot gas fire pit. The covered awning features eight 6,000 watt heaters under our awning for your year-round outdoor dining comfort.
We also offer brewing and brewery consulting services, including business brewery management and marketing and beer crafting collaboration. To date, we have helped three breweries open and have participated in dozens of collaborations.
GET TO KNOW THE GUARDIAN MANAGEMENT TEAM
KIM COLLINS, OWNER, CO-FOUNDER & HEAD BREWER
Kim grew up outdoors and her love for Lake Michigan started at an early age, growing up between the Chicago Suburbs and the Indiana National Lakeshore. Kim earned a B.S. & M.S. in Outdoor Recreation from Indiana University Bloomington. After years of being a camp counselor, teaching university courses, running leadership trainings, and leading expeditions, she decided to make the leap to professional brewing.
In 2012, Kim earned her Brewing and Malting Certificate from the Master Brewer’s Association of the Americas (MBAA). She began her professional brewing career brewing for five breweries in Colorado. Kim became a Certified Cicerone in 2016 and uses her training and experiences to teach classes for Beer School at Guardian. To further her education and prepare for beer canning and distribution, Kim earned her certificate in Packaging Technology from the MBAA in 2022.
Kim is currently a Board Member on the Michigan Brewer’s Guild Board and is the Founder and Co-Chair of the Diversity Equity and Inclusion (DEI) Committee. When she is not at Guardian, she loves live music, camping, cycling, & gardening.
DR. CATHARINE BISHOP (KATE), CO-FOUNDER & CHIEF OF OPERATIONS
Kate grew up on a crop farm in Northwest Ohio and has early life experience working in food industry, hospitality, and environmental education fields. She holds a B.S. in Recreation Administration and a M.Ed. in Leisure and Tourism Studies from Bowling Green State University, Ohio. Kate furthered her education by obtaining a Ph.D. in Leisure Behavior through the Department of Recreation, Parks and Tourism Studies at Indiana University in Bloomington, Indiana.
Her area of specialization is Outdoor Adventure Education with a triple-minor in Experiential Education, Gerontology, and Gender Studies. She taught classes for several years as an Adjunct Faculty Member and Visiting Lecturer at Indiana University and spent five years as an Assistant Professor with Metropolitan State University of Denver in Colorado. There, she acted as the Program Coordinator and taught Parks and Recreation Management courses. She also has extensive practical and research experience in Therapeutic Outdoor Programming and working with special populations in both clinical and non-traditional settings.
She left the Academy to pursue another passion of hers (craft beer) and to utilize her management skills within the beverage and hospitality industries. (Kate makes Guardian run smoothly daily and plans for its successful future; her job is the hardest job of all!)
SHAWN VANKAMPEN, BRAND MANAGER
Shawn was born in Benton Harbor and raised in Southwestern Michigan. She has spent the majority of her career in the restaurant industry managing and tending bar and once was a co-owner of Mojito Grill and Martini Bar in Bridgman (since closed). Her passion for wine led her to Republic National Distribution Company as an on-premise wine sales specialist, where she earned her WSET 11 Wine and Spirits certification. Which then led her to Guardian Brewing Company! She is honored to work with the Guardian team and is excited to be a part of their growth.
Shawn also finds joy creating candles, earrings, or anything crafty!
HOLLY VANDER VEEN, KITCHEN MANAGER
JAMIE GROENEWOUD, TAPROOM MANAGER
Jamie was born and raised in the Kalamazoo area. She attended Kendall College of Art and Design in Grand Rapids and earned a Bachelor’s degree in Photography. Jamie spent the last ten years managing restaurants in the Grand Rapids area and most recently the Virtue Cider Bottle Shop, in Fennville. It was while working at Virtue Jamie met Guardian co-workers Kim, Kate, and Liz.
When not working, Jamie loves getting crafty and makes Marker’s Mark wax ornaments for sale at Guardian, as well as delicious jams and jellies, and gnome terrariums. Jamie is excited to be a member of the Guardian team and share her love of all things fermented and distilled.
DAVE CERNUGEL, ASSISTANT TAPROOM MANAGER
Dave loves Nessie Imperial IPA.
ROB REBB, ASSISTANT TAPROOM MANAGER
Rob was born and raised in the metro Detroit area. He attended the University of Michigan Dearborn campus and earned a bachelor of science degree in Information Systems. Rob worked 27+ years in telecommunications at AT&T as a Technical Architect. Rob holds a US Patent granted as part of a team project on website data manipulation.
After many years of spending summer weekends in Saugatuck and Douglas, Rob and his partner of 30 years moved here permanently and retired. Rob loves to walk, hike, kayak, visit national parks, and spending time with friends and his dog Mason.
His love of craft beer brought him to Guardian first as a customer and mug club member. Pegacorn Porter quickly became his favorite Guardian beer. Now he’s excited to be part of the Guardian family!
LIZ VANDENBIL, ASSISTANT TAPROOM MANAGER
Liz was born and raised on the south side of Holland, Michigan. She earned her Bachelor’s degree in Communication from Michigan State University in 2016 where she also minored in Graphic Design and Public Relations. Since graduation, Liz has worked locally in both the Saugatuck and Fennville area, event coordinating, assisting a local artist in the production of her work, and working as a Brand Ambassador and in the taproom at a local cidery.
In her downtime, Liz loves creating, spending time with friends and family, traveling around Michigan, and cheering for her Spartans. She enjoys working with such a well-rounded and hard-working group of individuals at Guardian and looks forward to continuing to grow alongside the ever-evolving company.
OTHER GUARDIAN PROJECTS: COLLABORATIVE BREWING
Since 2015, we have had awesome opportunities to work with multiple organizations and companies to make a special beers to celebrate an event, holiday, or raise money for great causes. To talk with our Head Brewer about planning a beer for your special custom event, please contact Kim by clicking HERE. To see our past custom brewing projects, see the images below.
