So last month my wife and I went to GR for something and I finally picked up a Grand Rapids "Brewsader" book. It lists all of the breweries in the GR area (Well, not all of them, and some have popped up since the book as printed...) and you can visit each one and get a stamp.
Collect 8 stamps and get a T-shirt. Collect all 32 or so and there is some other really cool stuff, but I can't remember what all you get. I'm not doing it for the Schwag as much as just to catalogue where I've been and write a few notes.
I thought I'd share my experiences here as well. Remember that my own tastes are likely different from your own and one visit isn't likely to define a brewery either.
So let's begin!
We started by visiting Meijer Gardens to take pictures of the Butterflies they bring in from other locations round the world and hatch in a special room you can walk around and look at them and see them hatch form their pupal stage. Meijer Gardens is just a nice place to visit if you like plants and art. That said, I was eager to get on the second half of the day. Beer!
Hopcat
First stop on the Beer Tour was Hopcat. I had a hard time choosing, but it was kind of centrally located and I already had a Grand Rapids Brewing stamp from last time. Hopcat did not disappoint. Had the Crack Fries along with a Fish Taco and Chicken Taco. Wife had some kind of salad. I ordered a M43 Juicy IPA from Old Nation Brewing in Williamston, MI. It's a NEIPA and it did not disappoint. I don't recall having had a NEIPA before and this tasted just about like I expected. Even my wife thought it was not bad and she hates IPA!
Food and service was outstanding! The staff were obviously experts at their job. The place is kind of small, TBH. I don't mind as I've never had to wait too long to get in, but there is no way they don't back up now and again in a town like GR. Highly recommend checking it out if you want a good selection of Michigan beers. They also brew their own, but this other beer caught my eye this time.
FOUNDERS
After that we went to Founder. Just about every time I've visited Founders on a weeknight evening, or weekend, they've been very busy. No exception this time! It was a small wait to order a pour, but not bad. I was excited to see they had Lizard of Koz on Tap! I figured I had missed out on this very rare brew. It's an Oak Aged Blueberry and Vanilla Imperial Stout, clocking in at about 10% ABV.
This was an extremely interesting collection of flavors. I got about halfway through the snifter before palate fatigue started setting in. This is a beer I think I could very much enjoy in about 6 ounce taster sizes. You can definitely pick out all of the above flavors and then some. They had some bombers in the cooler to take home, but I decided I'd rather get a 4-pack of Backwoods Bastard. If I knew of some friends who wanted to try Lizard of Koz I can see picking up a bomber to share, but a bomber is just too much for me to try and enjoy in a small amount of time.
Founders is kind of a Must-See stop if you are visiting GR. I can also see it as a regular stop if you are able to get in at the right time of the day. It's just too busy for a person like me to feel really comfortable. They have lots of live music going on and they often have acts I'd love to check out if I lived close enough to get there on a whim. Once the weather warms up a bit and drinking out in the biergarden is a viable option, they probably won't be so packed.
New Holland Knickerbocker
New Holland has a brewery/taproom on the West Side of 131. Since I'm a fan of some of their other beer, I decided to check it out. It was a short drive from where we were, so off we went!
Firstly, I'm not a city guy. I had to drive around several times before we found parking. And it's not like there isn't some spaces available, they were just marked for other people with a certain card. I might have to read up on their parking system to see how that works. There was a large map inside the brewery that showed parking, so they are aware there is some confusion. We managed to find a parking garage about a block or so away that rates by the hour, so there is no problem now.
I was immediately impressed with the decor. This is a LARGE place with interesting design accents. It's a mix of Industrial and Brewery. They have barrel staves bolted to the balusters and barrel staves attached to the hanging lights to make them look like barrels. It's dark and busy this time of night. The ambience is more urban than I expected, and I think this is a good thing. Not necessarily for myself, but I think it's exactly what NH needed to do to fit in here. It's large enough to hold a lot of people, and it's set up for company outings, meetings, exclusive events, etc.
The Beer. Unfortunately, I am unable to give a review that does this place justice. I had a Barrel Aged Red Ale. I chose this partly because it sounded interesting, and partly because it was on the "light" menu. At this point I didn't want to overindulge. There wasn't really a place for us to sit and enjoy each others company, so I sampled that while walking around checking things out. Suffice to say I was impressed enough to want to go back another time. I believe the same beer you enjoy in their Holland Taproom, and on the grocery store shelf is being served there, and likely some special beers only brewed there. I was very tempted to try one of the Dragon's Breath varieties. Maybe next time.
Rockford Brewing Company
No stranger to Rockford. And while I've been here a time or two, it's been a while. This was kind of a spur of the moment visit, and I kind of had to pee and the wife wanted something to eat. And I didn't have a stamp from here yet.
It wasn't busy so we sat down immediately. I doubt they are really full very often. There is a large room upstairs if the need arises. We ordered some kind of deep fried mashed potato thing. I didn't pay attention to exactly what was in it, but it had a wasabi sauce to go on top. Amazing! I am now very curious to know how they cook these.
I ordered a cask-served Cedar Aged IPA. It was pretty good, but I didn't notice it was cask until I tasted it. I'm not a big cask ale fan. I think they tend to fit the English Ale styles a bit better. Maybe beers that are maltier, or darker. In this case I kind of missed the cooler temps and carbonation from the standard pour. The flavor was interesting. I think the cedar is subtler than oak, but there was definitely some character from it in the beer.
Rockford is what I would call an "average" small brewery. Nothing stands out as being "bad", but not much gets the attention like some of the special beers that come out of some of the bigger places. That said, I think if you can find a few favorites, this is the kind of place you go to for sitting and having a conversation. To me, it's a more comfortable place to go for a beer and a meal. It's located right along the Rogue River and it looks to have a nice area around it for a nice walk.
Final Thoughts
I guess where I went wrong was not getting more "flights". That is my usual SOP when visiting breweries, but it just didn't occur to me at the time. I think it would have helped in evaluating the breweries better.
It was a good day, and I got 4 stamps in the book. There are plenty more to visit, and I plan to go back a few times this summer to see what can be done to get the book filled in.
Collect 8 stamps and get a T-shirt. Collect all 32 or so and there is some other really cool stuff, but I can't remember what all you get. I'm not doing it for the Schwag as much as just to catalogue where I've been and write a few notes.
I thought I'd share my experiences here as well. Remember that my own tastes are likely different from your own and one visit isn't likely to define a brewery either.
So let's begin!
We started by visiting Meijer Gardens to take pictures of the Butterflies they bring in from other locations round the world and hatch in a special room you can walk around and look at them and see them hatch form their pupal stage. Meijer Gardens is just a nice place to visit if you like plants and art. That said, I was eager to get on the second half of the day. Beer!
Hopcat
First stop on the Beer Tour was Hopcat. I had a hard time choosing, but it was kind of centrally located and I already had a Grand Rapids Brewing stamp from last time. Hopcat did not disappoint. Had the Crack Fries along with a Fish Taco and Chicken Taco. Wife had some kind of salad. I ordered a M43 Juicy IPA from Old Nation Brewing in Williamston, MI. It's a NEIPA and it did not disappoint. I don't recall having had a NEIPA before and this tasted just about like I expected. Even my wife thought it was not bad and she hates IPA!
Food and service was outstanding! The staff were obviously experts at their job. The place is kind of small, TBH. I don't mind as I've never had to wait too long to get in, but there is no way they don't back up now and again in a town like GR. Highly recommend checking it out if you want a good selection of Michigan beers. They also brew their own, but this other beer caught my eye this time.
FOUNDERS
After that we went to Founder. Just about every time I've visited Founders on a weeknight evening, or weekend, they've been very busy. No exception this time! It was a small wait to order a pour, but not bad. I was excited to see they had Lizard of Koz on Tap! I figured I had missed out on this very rare brew. It's an Oak Aged Blueberry and Vanilla Imperial Stout, clocking in at about 10% ABV.
This was an extremely interesting collection of flavors. I got about halfway through the snifter before palate fatigue started setting in. This is a beer I think I could very much enjoy in about 6 ounce taster sizes. You can definitely pick out all of the above flavors and then some. They had some bombers in the cooler to take home, but I decided I'd rather get a 4-pack of Backwoods Bastard. If I knew of some friends who wanted to try Lizard of Koz I can see picking up a bomber to share, but a bomber is just too much for me to try and enjoy in a small amount of time.
Founders is kind of a Must-See stop if you are visiting GR. I can also see it as a regular stop if you are able to get in at the right time of the day. It's just too busy for a person like me to feel really comfortable. They have lots of live music going on and they often have acts I'd love to check out if I lived close enough to get there on a whim. Once the weather warms up a bit and drinking out in the biergarden is a viable option, they probably won't be so packed.
New Holland Knickerbocker
New Holland has a brewery/taproom on the West Side of 131. Since I'm a fan of some of their other beer, I decided to check it out. It was a short drive from where we were, so off we went!
Firstly, I'm not a city guy. I had to drive around several times before we found parking. And it's not like there isn't some spaces available, they were just marked for other people with a certain card. I might have to read up on their parking system to see how that works. There was a large map inside the brewery that showed parking, so they are aware there is some confusion. We managed to find a parking garage about a block or so away that rates by the hour, so there is no problem now.
I was immediately impressed with the decor. This is a LARGE place with interesting design accents. It's a mix of Industrial and Brewery. They have barrel staves bolted to the balusters and barrel staves attached to the hanging lights to make them look like barrels. It's dark and busy this time of night. The ambience is more urban than I expected, and I think this is a good thing. Not necessarily for myself, but I think it's exactly what NH needed to do to fit in here. It's large enough to hold a lot of people, and it's set up for company outings, meetings, exclusive events, etc.
The Beer. Unfortunately, I am unable to give a review that does this place justice. I had a Barrel Aged Red Ale. I chose this partly because it sounded interesting, and partly because it was on the "light" menu. At this point I didn't want to overindulge. There wasn't really a place for us to sit and enjoy each others company, so I sampled that while walking around checking things out. Suffice to say I was impressed enough to want to go back another time. I believe the same beer you enjoy in their Holland Taproom, and on the grocery store shelf is being served there, and likely some special beers only brewed there. I was very tempted to try one of the Dragon's Breath varieties. Maybe next time.
Rockford Brewing Company
No stranger to Rockford. And while I've been here a time or two, it's been a while. This was kind of a spur of the moment visit, and I kind of had to pee and the wife wanted something to eat. And I didn't have a stamp from here yet.
It wasn't busy so we sat down immediately. I doubt they are really full very often. There is a large room upstairs if the need arises. We ordered some kind of deep fried mashed potato thing. I didn't pay attention to exactly what was in it, but it had a wasabi sauce to go on top. Amazing! I am now very curious to know how they cook these.
I ordered a cask-served Cedar Aged IPA. It was pretty good, but I didn't notice it was cask until I tasted it. I'm not a big cask ale fan. I think they tend to fit the English Ale styles a bit better. Maybe beers that are maltier, or darker. In this case I kind of missed the cooler temps and carbonation from the standard pour. The flavor was interesting. I think the cedar is subtler than oak, but there was definitely some character from it in the beer.
Rockford is what I would call an "average" small brewery. Nothing stands out as being "bad", but not much gets the attention like some of the special beers that come out of some of the bigger places. That said, I think if you can find a few favorites, this is the kind of place you go to for sitting and having a conversation. To me, it's a more comfortable place to go for a beer and a meal. It's located right along the Rogue River and it looks to have a nice area around it for a nice walk.
Final Thoughts
I guess where I went wrong was not getting more "flights". That is my usual SOP when visiting breweries, but it just didn't occur to me at the time. I think it would have helped in evaluating the breweries better.
It was a good day, and I got 4 stamps in the book. There are plenty more to visit, and I plan to go back a few times this summer to see what can be done to get the book filled in.
