Founders Brewing Company

Place: Founder's Brewing Company
Location: Grand Rapids, MI



The wife and I decided to take a long weekend, and we settled on Grand Rapids, MI. It has plenty of things that I want to see, and Grand Rapids has plenty to offering if you are not a beer fan. I really liked my time there, and I will gladly go back again. They have a new museum of modern art, the Frederick Meijer Gardens, and plenty of mom and pop type places that make for more interesting food choices. We ate at a place called Maria Catrib's that was one of the best lunch meals I've had in a very long time.

Founder's is one of my favorite brewers out there. I like the line-up of beer they produce and I am hard pressed to find a more consistent craft brewer. I've never had a bad beer out of the bottle (or style) from them. Founder's is pretty much right downtown and was only a couple block walk from our hotel. We were walking right along and I was beginning to wonder where it was, but you come around the side of a large building and there it is. I was quite impressed by how big the place is. It is the largest brew-pub I think I have ever been in. The whole front of the building has large garage style doors on them that open up so you can sit outside and still look right in on the bar. In the back of the taproom you see the brewing facility itself. You can only see the clarifying tanks, mash tun, and a few other things from where we were sitting, but I still enjoyed the view. They have a two large chalkboards that state what is on tap for the day, and they have an even bigger chalkboard that you can order food from. I was only drinking while we where there.
(sorry these pictures suck)
I started off with the regular IPA, and my wife started with the Rubaeus. I've reviewed the IPA out of bottle, but on tap the flavors are much more vibrant with the pine hop flavors coming in much stronger and a bit cleaner on the finish. The malt comes through a bit sweeter as well. Not quite a session beer at 7%, but I would certainly have more than a few of these, and I think it is just a great representation of the style.

My second beer was the imperial stout. I've never had the imperial stout, but I love their other stout offerings (Kentucky Breakfast Stout and Breakfast Stout), so I went ahead with this offering. The nose had plenty of chocolate and dark roasted malts going for it. The flavor profile melded roasted grain, bitter coffee, dark chocolate, and dark fruits together with no flavor dominating the next. The finish is thick, but the mouthfeel is so exceptionally smooth. This is a big beer with one of the best finishes I've encountered. I was really wowed by this offering, and I am going to look for me around the Indianapolis area.

Rubeaus on tap as well brings on new flavors of the sharp bitterness from the raspberries and the malt tastes in better tandem than out of a bottle. Out of the bottle I think is much sweeter than it is on tap. I like it either way, but out of the tap is significantly better.

I really enjoyed my time at Founders. The atmosphere is laid back and I had great service. We were there for happy hour when pints are $1.00 off. A pint of their IPA is only 2.75 during happy hour. I would really like to make it back to Founder's soon, and it is a must stop if you are in Grand Rapids area. This was my kind of place.

Cheers!
Matt