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Those who know me know that beer is a serious passion of mine (heck, I even work for Molson Coors, one of the largest brewers in the world). So my husband and I took a long weekend in the self-proclaimed “Beer City” – Grand Rapids, Michigan in February 2020.
The best part is Grand Rapids has a really fun little adventure to help direct your activities in the city! You can become a “Brewsader” and get stamps at over 40 participating breweries. If you get 8 or more stamps you can get a free, super-exclusive, t-shirt! Nothing quite gets my competitive spirit going quite like free swag so you can bet I was on board.
The hardest part about seeking to be a Brewsader is selecting where to go. There are a LOT of great options and I spent an absurd amount of time ranking, mapping, and identifying where to go. Here’s a quick cheat sheet of where we went and and how they ranked. You might as surprised as I was!
Ok – so I loooooved Creston Brewery. We went there for brunch on our last day and I could sing praises for everything. The space – an old furniture factory – was adorable and bright, the food was delicious, the service was perfect friendly midwestern nice, and, the beer! Let’s not forget the beer. So good with lots of unique options – good for brunch and for later if you decide to do so.
Did I mention they had these AMAZING Ice Box Brand Ice Cream Bars in a cooler?! I literally looked after we got home to see if they will deliver to Chicago (sad face, no). So, it’s worth going for that alone.
– Honey Bear (3.75 – Golden Ale)
– Bokonon (4.5 – New England IPA)
– Blueberry Sweet Street (4.25 – American Pale Wheat – really well balanced)
– Michicalia (4.5 – Sour Gose)
2) Grand Rapids Brewing Co
This place was just down the street from our hotel and one of our first stops due to convenience. It made me wish I wasn’t specifically trying to find other places to go, because I really wanted to go back. The vibe was really fun and the food was excellent. And then the beer! It was SO good with excellent sour options. Really fun, vibrant selections. Definitely a place worth stopping.
– Rosalynn Bliss Blonde (4 – Blonde Ale – really fun flavor profile
– DDH Imperial Nordic Flux (4.5 – IPA – this one was ASTOUNDINGLY good)
– Petite Chouette (4.75 – Sour – a literally near perfect sour. YUM.)
– Princess Unicorn Pom Pom Party Passion Queen (4.5 – Sour – I would have given it a 4+ by name alone. But it was ALSO good. I mean, come onnn)
3) City Built Brewing Company
We stopped by City Built for lunch as it had latin-style food and, when it comes to bar hopping, it’s easy to get sick of the traditional pub fare quickly. This place did not disappoint with excellent tacos. The space itself was really cute with long tables, high tops, and a big selection of board games. It was super family friendly which made us miss our kids – well, kind of.
And the beer! Super tasty with a lot of interesting options including sours (yay!). Definitely would go back.
– #happyfriendsgiving (3.75 – sour)
– Even Higher Life (3.75 – IPL – how could I resist a play on High Life?!)
– Tender Elvis (4 – Farmhouse Ale – Saison)
– Noah On Monroe (4.25 – Sour)
4) New Holland – The Knickerbocker
Okay – so as a nationally (or at least regionally?) distributed beer, we knew New Holland needed to be a stop. I mean, who hasn’t tried Dragon’s Milk? We decided to take a tour here and it was a good one – samplings with a good education of the brewing and distilling they do on site.
But – the place is huge and it was crazy busy while we were there. Even with the size we couldn’t get a seat anywhere after the tour so we didn’t get to try much. If you can get there when it’s not a mad house (not sure if that ever happens?) then it’s worth going.
– Dragon’s Milk (4.25 – Imperial Stout)
– Tangerine Space Machine (4 – New England IPA)
5) Founders Brewing Co.
Ah – Founders. This was a must go for a variety of reasons for Eric and I. Centennial IPA is a family favorite and so we purchased the tour and made it our Saturday night stop.
First off – I personally wouldn’t go to the tour. I’m spoiled having worked for Molson Coors and I’ve been able to see on multiple occasion the big operations for Miller in Milwaukee and Coors in Golden, but even still I think if brewing would have been new to me the tour still would be disappointing. None of the operations were running and everything was shown from an overhanging balcony. It definitely wasn’t worth the time or money.
The taproom area was nice and had some live music while we were there. We didn’t stay because it was exceptionally crowded and the ordering process was actually a little confusing. Still, Founders beer is delicious and if you haven’t had it, it’s worth a stop. We just didn’t love the overall execution of the process.
– K.I.T. Pale Ale (3.75 – Pale)
– All Day (4 – IPA – a classic)
– Hello Jane (4.25 – IPA)
– Kentucky Breakfast (2 – Stout – guys, I’m just not a big stout fan in general but oof, I really don’t like KBS. Sorry, I know there’s a lot of KBS lovers out there)
– Solid Gold (3.5 – American Light Lager)
– Rubaeus (3.75 – Fruit Beer – let’s face it, I’ll always be a Rubeaus fan. After all, it’s what I consider to be a “gateway” to the best style of beer, souuuurs!)
6) Atwater Grand Rapids
Full disclosure – we specifically went to Atwater because this was the newest craft partner to the Molson Coors family and I was excited to give it a try for the sake of my work.
And I’m glad we did! The space was cute and the beer flight has some really tasty prospects. I will say this is the place where we encountered the worst service but I got the sense it was a bit of an off day so don’t judge too harshly. It’s definitely a good stop if you are in the area for New Holland.
– Fog (3.75 – IPA)
– Whango Raz (4.75 – American Pale Wheat – I loooved the balance of the mango and raspberry in this one)
– Hey Diddle Diddle (4 – American Pale Wheat)
– Sunshine in January (3.75 – blonde ale)
7) E.B. Coffee & Pub
This may be surprising to you, but finding breweries open for breakfast wasn’t an easy feat (I know, right? Amateurs). And that is where E.B. Coffee & Pub did not disappoint. It’s a drive – maybe 15 minutes – outside of Grand Rapids. If you’re looking for that morning option this is a solid location. No one blinked at our double beverage order of latte and beer and we were able to sit in some comfy chairs around the fireplace.
We only sampled a little of the beer selection but the two we had were solid options if not mind-bending.
– Dirty Dancer (4 – Blonde Ale)
– Blackberry IPA (4 – a dark IPA)
Excellent reviews made this our first stop on the way into town from Chicago. Such a stereotypical hipster brewery. It used to be a convenience store from the looks of it and the tables were all wobbly and all the workers wore flannel, beards, and beanies. It was kind of adorable. The food was decent and the beers were good, but the ambiance was a bit lacking. If you’re driving past it’s not a bad spot but if you’re already in Grand Rapids you don’t need to make the trip out.
– Gingerbread Joe (4.5 – winter warmer – not normally my style, but good)
– TwoGuys IPA (4.5 – IPA – a very solid IPA)
This brewery had a super high rating, ties to the founder of New Holland, and is in an amazing old refurbished funeral home (coooool!) – so I was psyched to go. We made the trek (a little over a mile) from downtown which was actually a really nice walk past some historical buildings. But – to be honest – we were a little disappointed.
Their beer were mostly farmhouse style and, while seemed decent, didn’t do much for us. The menu was quite small and a litte frou-frou/pricey for our tastes (think duck confit, etc).
– Jam Jar (3.5 – Farmhouse Ale – honestly, this reminded me of Rubeaus but… not as good)
All in all, it was a huge success and definitely a cute/fun town to visit. We were there in February so I can’t speak for outdoor options but I bet a lot of these places have them and have adapted for the social distancing requirements as well. We hope to go back to Grand Rapids soon and add to our list (even though we already earned the shirt!)
If you go, we found the Hyatt to be a solid place to stay for both comfort and location – it was very easy to walk to pretty much all these breweries and there were others in walking distance we didn’t make it to.
What did we miss that we have to make sure we get to next time?
Categories: Lists, Travel | Tags: 2020, beer, best of, city built brewing, creston, gose, michigan, recommendation, sour, travel guide, untapped, usa | Leave a comment
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