I'm gonna need to hear more about "pizza flights"!!!
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We have a trivia question in order to register to prevent bots. If you have any issues with answering, contact us at cass@bartowel.com for help.
Introducing Light Mode! If you would like a Bar Towel social experience that isn't the traditional blue, you can now select Light Mode. Go to the User Control Panel and then Board Preferences, and select "Day Drinking" (Light Mode) from the My Board Style drop-down menu. You can always switch back to "Night Drinking" (Dark Mode). Enjoy!
Grand Rapids, Michigan
Awesome! Looking forward to the recap and video, enjoy your time in GR!Cass wrote: ↑Mon May 29, 2023 3:47 pmThanks for the tips. Vivant is on my list for sure. Mitten looks cool and that pizza flight will do me for all my mealsseangm wrote: ↑Mon May 29, 2023 1:03 pm Here I was thinking it wasn't so long ago I was in GR but damn, that was 5 years ago. Some spots we enjoyed (apart from the obvious ones) were Brewery Vivant, cool location in an old church; The Mitten which is in an old firehall and did "pizza flights"; and Creston, a smaller brewery in the north quarter area which had that neighbourhood in transition vibe with cool little cafes and restaurants, etc. Kusterer Brauhaus I haven't visited but looks like a spot worth checking out; Bavarian style beer hall, good reviews.
Another really cool spot, although it's not quite in GR proper was Horrocks Market. It's a grocery store with an actual bar and craft beer section, you can get a pint of beer and walk around while shopping. The carts even have cupholders! Might be a fun add on, something to check out on the way in/out of the city.
And another great tip about Horrocks. I was planning on a kicker night in Lansing on the way back so that'll be a stop for sure.
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S. St. Jeb
- Seasoned Drinker
- Posts: 1139
- Joined: Tue Mar 22, 2011 11:44 pm
- Location: Burlington, ON
S. St. Jeb wrote: ↑Wed Jun 07, 2023 9:23 pm Just try to make sure we don't have to turn our head sideways to look at them.
A'hem. Thinking of you Gary Gillman.
I think portrait works ok and landscape doesn't, or perhaps it's the other way around. I'll figure it out In Grand Rapids today with a fun update. I noticed yesterday a few people taking beers from a brewery across the street to a park seating area. I thought to myself, "that's a bit weird, usually patios aren't separated from taprooms or bars by an entire street."
Turns out Grand Rapids made a "Downtown Refreshment Area" where you're allowed to buy beer to go from select bars & breweries and drink on the street. Done as an economic spark during COVID but here to stay (or so it seems). Pretty neat. I haven't seen open container rules in the U.S. anywhere except New Orleans & Vegas.
Another reason that makes GR a solid beer destination.
https://refreshments.downtowngr.org
Turns out Grand Rapids made a "Downtown Refreshment Area" where you're allowed to buy beer to go from select bars & breweries and drink on the street. Done as an economic spark during COVID but here to stay (or so it seems). Pretty neat. I haven't seen open container rules in the U.S. anywhere except New Orleans & Vegas.
Another reason that makes GR a solid beer destination.
https://refreshments.downtowngr.org
My first of two A Quick Beer videos from Grand Rapids is posted up. This one is just a one on one conversation with David Ringler, who’s behind the Küsterer Brauhaus on the west side of downtown. It’s an area where a lot of breweries are popping up, and it’s a fun Munich style bierhall with very nice German style beers. In a sea of much same-ness with taprooms nowadays, this was a welcome change.
New Quick Beer, this one the rest of Grand Rapids. A really fun visit and happy to have been able to go back.
Great recaps @Cass! Grand Rapids is indeed one of the best beer destinations anywhere, a must visit for beer aficionados. Hopefully I'll get back there sooner than later, we barely scratched the surface on our last visit.
Thank you @seangm! It was a really fun trip and nice to see how the beer scene has grown since the last time I was there (which was around 10 years ago for the AHA Conference I believe). The area where Jolly Pumpkin/New Holland/Broadleaf is is completely new - I don't remember anything there in the past and now there's a line of stuff.
I left out the downtown stuff, of which there's still a lot of the more known places (HopCat, Founders, etc.). So many options in GR.