The Bar Towel

Did a writeup of Grand Rapids to coincide with the upcoming homebrewers conference. Embedded some of the suggestions from this thread - thanks guys for the tips.

http://www.bartowel.com/aha-national-ho ... -michigan/

Of note as I was doing some research was a new brewery opened at the beginning of May - Elk Brewing. Will check it out during the conference.

Hello from the road back from GR. Another great weekend and great host city for the conference.

I was surprised considering there were 3,000 beer folks in the city how generally easy it was to get into the popular places. Barely a wait anywhere.

Some random notes to add to the thread:

- Hit up Vivant for the first time, really nice spot. Chapel has a cool vibe and they're building an expanded patio presently. The patio that's there now is still accessible and has an outdoor bar which is nice to hang out, esp. if waiting for a table inside.

- Right next door to Vivant is a Japanese restaurant which we went to to take a break from beer food. It was very good and reasonably priced. Local craft brew on tap too.

- A few blocks away on Wealthy Street was Elk Brewing, a new addition to the scene. About 6 beers available - fairly common styles (ESB, porter, etc.) but they're just getting going. Nice spot with a large picnic-tabled patio.

- This seems to slide under the radar but right in downtown there's a brewery in the "B.O.B." building. I can see that this place won't be for everyone as it's a varied restaurant complex with things (at least when we went) including dueling pianos and a 80s hair cover band. But there's a legit brewery on the lower level with friendly staff and they brew all kinds of things, including bourbon barrel beers. It's one of the oldest current breweries in GR and is a fine option downtown.

- Great experience at Martha's Vineyard & the bakery complex, which now has a homebrew shop, O'Connor's. Good place and friendly staff. Nice one stop shop with three places to get all kinds of things.

Otherwise the usual spots were all great. The Founders expansion is impressive, with an added bar area to the right when you walk in, and a larger retail area, plus a private event space upstairs. Big beer garden and patio as well. A really top of class destination.

All in all another great trip to GR!

Just saw a band at Pyramid Scheme. it's a 40 second walk (1 block) from HopCat.
Most of the taps are Short's Brewery beer (around 8 or so). Bell's Two Hearted and PRB also on tap.
the bar has 15 pinball games.
Definitely worth checking out.

And, to be honest, i found HopCat to be very underwhelming this time around. it was tough to find beer to drink beyond our 2 rounds. But you can't go wrong with the happy hour special of a pint of Dirty Bastard, crack fries and a burger for $7

also, a total must when driving to/from GR:

http://www.nulltaphouse.com/nl/index

one of the best taphouses you'll ever go to. all these JP one-offs on tap. my god...so good.

Grand Rapids is going to get some more awesome-r with the announcement today that Slows BBQ is opening up a location in town.

This along with the recent announcement a couple of weeks back that New Holland is opening a taproom in GR as well.

Cass wrote:Grand Rapids is going to get some more awesome-r with the announcement today that Slows BBQ is opening up a location in town.

This along with the recent announcement a couple of weeks back that New Holland is opening a taproom in GR as well.

Wow... looks like I will have to visit again in the near future. Been a while...

it's a fucking tiring drive, though. even with a few brewery stops. makes a 3 day trip really long and not sure if i could spend more than 2 nights in GR.

besides drinking, there isn't all that much to do there

atomeyes wrote: besides drinking, there isn't all that much to do there

this place is worth visiting. Nice walk to clear the head on day 2
http://www.meijergardens.org/

NRman wrote:

atomeyes wrote: besides drinking, there isn't all that much to do there

this place is worth visiting. Nice walk to clear the head on day 2
http://www.meijergardens.org/

Agreed. This place ended up being one of the highlights of our trip to GR.

atomeyes wrote:it's a fucking tiring drive, though. even with a few brewery stops. makes a 3 day trip really long and not sure if i could spend more than 2 nights in GR.

besides drinking, there isn't all that much to do there

Prez Museum!

atomeyes wrote:besides drinking, there isn't all that much to do there

The AHL team is downtown. $1 Sam Adams when I was there last year.

Go during artprize. Lots of beer and some pretty amazing artwork to stare at .

So the Grand Rapids tourism people have stepped up and are helping out for a Quick Beer trip in Grand Rapids next week, which is pretty awesome.

Anyone have any particularly good personal recommendations?

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.

seangm 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.

Thanks for the tips. Vivant is on my list for sure. Mitten looks cool and that pizza flight will do me for all my meals

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.