I visited Trail Point Brewing on a Monday evening about a month after their grand opening. Entering the tap room I immediately felt comfortable, there is lots of wood and simple decorations. Luckily it wasn’t busy but there is plenty of seating so it shouldn’t be a problem getting a table even on a regular night. I was a bit surprised there weren’t more college kids from GVSU because it is just down the road from the main campus but maybe they were all studying. The bar tender was quick to provide a beer list and free pretzels. They have a range of beer styles from ales to IPA’s to stouts and after trying a sampler flight I can report that all the beers had good flavor. Going to use the mens bathroom you pass by glass wall that allows you to see into the brewing area and as you can see in the picture they were hard at work fermenting new beers for my next visit.
This seems like a well thought out brewery in a new area and while it’s a bit of a drive from downtown Grand Rapids I think it is worth the trip. They don’t offer food but you can bring your own so I’d suggest picking up a pizza or ordering one delivered if you plan to sit and try all their beers.
Long Road Distillery
I visited Long Road Distillery on June 8, about 10pm and was instantly impressed. The distillery is located next door to Mitten Brewery in an revitalizing section of the west side in Grand Rapids. As you walk towards the front doors you can see inside from large windows on the front that let you see how busy it is. Once inside there is a host stand and beyond that a long curved bar that leads to a large glass wall that protects the distilling equipment from the seating area. The shiny copper still with dials and pipes are mesmerizing letting you see the tools needed to make the distilled spirits that they sell all from local sourced ingredients. When I visited there were seats open at the bar and my friends and I enjoyed a variety of cocktails made from their liquors. The music and ambiance is very classy allowing conversation and encouraging drinking. The staff was well informed and the mixologist seemed adept at creating all the various drinks we tried. There was a mix up with my friends food order that was quickly fixed and he said the pastrami sandwich as tasty as it should be for the premium price.
Overall I left with a very positive impression and will be bringing all my friends and family to visit the Long Road Distillery but because the prices are premium to match their quality I don’t think it will become my personal hangout bar any time soon.
Elk Brewing now has food menu
Elk Brewing now has a kitchen so you can order food from the brewery instead of from nearby restaurants. Early reviews say the menu is simple but the food is tasty so stop in and let me know what you think! Update My friend tried the Faux Frenchie and loved it.
Railtown Brewing Grand Opening
Railtown Brewery grand opening is set for December 12th, 2014 from 3pm to midnight. They will have five beers on tap including a blond ale, a brown, an IPA, a milk stout and a weizenbock. The Cutlerville-Gaines Area Chamber of Commerce will hold a ribbon-cutting ceremony at 2 p.m. at the brewery before the doors open on Friday. The taproom has seating for 50 people so come early if you want to get a seat and they don’t serve food but you are welcome to bring your own.
Visit Railtown Brewing facebook page for updates
On Tap Oct 16-22nd
B.O.B.’s Brewery
•Hopsun, Belgian summer whit
•AHA Bread Beer, Belgian saison
•Full On IPA, India pale ale
•Spaceboy Stout, English oatmeal stout
•Crimson King, amber ale
•Blondie, golden ale
•Spooky Action, way beyond IPA
•Robert the Barrel, bourbon barrel ale
Brewery Vivant
•Farm Hand, French Farmhouse Ale
•Triomphe, Belgian IPA
•Blanford Maple Amber,Belgian Inspired Amber
•Big Red Coq, Red Belgo-American IPA
•Undertaker, Belgian style dark ale
•Tree Bucket, Belgian double IPA
•Pumpkin Tart, Pumpkin Ale
•Coq2Fly,Autumnal Ale
•Thems the Hops
•Mo Lasses’ Stout, stout with molasses
•The Cheetah, defies beer styles
•Sourtude
Elk Brewing
•Light Ale
•Pumpkin Ale
•ESB
•IPA
•Porter
•Imperial Brown
•Scotch Ale
•Rye IPA
•Hopped Amber
•Uptown Ale, Simcoe Pale Ale
Founders Brewing Co.
•Pale Ale
•Centennial IPA
•Dirty Bastard
•Red’s Rye IPA
•Porter
•All Day IPA
•Nitro Pale Ale
•Nitro Oatmeal Stout
•Solid Gold
•Honey Wheat
•Gold Dust Woman
•Night of the Living Red
•Session Stout
•All Night Black IPA
•Harvest Ale
•Double Trouble
•Devil Dancer
•Rubaeus
•Breakfast Stout
•Dark Penance
•Mosaic Promise
Grand Rapids Brewing Co.
•Silver Foam
•Rosalynn Bliss Blonde
•The Fishladder IPA
•Senator Lyons Stout
•New Mission Organics
•Vanilla Brown
•Sweet Corn Swill
•Tennis’s Wet-Hopped Ale
•Brewer’s Heritage Hefeweizen
Gravel Bottom Craft Brewery and Supply
•Bottoms Up, amber ale
•Chain Saw Charlie’s Wacky Wit, belgian wheat beer
•ZSB
•Highland Fantasy, scottish ale
•English Brown Porter
•Crusher Coco Brown, the brown ale that imploded our fermenter
Harmony Brewing Co.
•Grapefruit Moon, IPA shandy
•Jackson’s Joy, fall festival
•Brownson,American Brown Ale
•Star Stuff, belgian double
•Albius, vanilla porter
•Black Squirrel, smoked peat porter
•Crossroads, rye
•Grand Daddy Rapids, cream ale
•Grand Pumpkin, pumpkin ale
Hideout Brewing Co.
•18th Amendment Gluten Free Ale
•Black Hearted Bitter Ex IPA
•Black Rye
•Butterscotch Toffee Stout
•Cinnamon Red Velvet Cream Ale
•Coconut Almond Brown
•Fruit Punch Pilsner
•Hefeweizen
•Hoppy Lager
•Horchata Brown
•Light Amber Ale
•Maple Coconut Amber
•Oktoberfest
•Pumpkin Pie Milk Stout
•Raspberry Infused Lemon Shandy
•Sour Black Rye
•The Almost ESB
•Belgian Tripel
•Rebellion Mead
•9AM Hazelnut IPA
•Aviator Pale Ale
•Gangster IPA
•Getaway IPA
•Purple Gang Pilsner
•Smuggler’s Hazelnut Stout
•Polish Potato Ale
Jaden James Brewery
•Gluten Free Ale
•Cream Ale
•Apple Raz Wheat
•Weiss Bier
•IPA
•Peanut Butter Porter
•Black IPA
•Milk Stout
•Russian Stout
•Cherry Hard Cider
•Apple Hard Cider
•Raspberry Hard Cider
•Peach Hard Cider
•Strawberry Hard Cider
•Root beer soda
Mitten Brewing Co.
•1890 Oatmeal Stout
•Superstition Stout
•MVP(umpkin) Ale
•Country Strong IPA
•Rye.B.I. India Black Ale
Osgood Brewing Co.
•Yippee-ki-yay, blonde ale
•358, pale ale
•Notley, porter
•Journey, IPA
•Big spring, stout
•Best day ever, double IPA
•Wingman, wheat IPA
•Hammer, gluten free IPA
•Slam dunke, dunkleweizen
•Brownie bite, Belgian brown IPA
•Bee line, American brown ale
•Sol Seeker, American wheat
Perrin Brewing Co.
•Perrin Gold
•Single Track
•Perrin Pilsner
•Bashtoberfest
•Call the Banners
•Das Braun Lager
•Perrin Black
•Kona Brown
•Nitro Dry Stout
•Veteran’s Pale Ale (VPA)
•Harvest Ale
•Grapefruit IPA
•IPA
•Gilda’s Cherry Saison
•I.I.P.A.
•Hopwood
•Stoutwood
•Redwood
•Quadwood
•Juicy
•Razzberry Blonde
•Black Goat
•Rye Wine
Schmohz Brewery
•Valley City Cream Ale
•Treasure Chest ESB
•Amber Tease Ale
•Pail Ale
•India Pail Ale
•Hopknocker Imperial IPA
•Bone Crusher Stout
•Bloody Red Ale
•Pickle Tink Ale
•Razzmanian Devil
•Cirrus
•Zingiberene Ale
•Schwartz
•Miracle Off 28th Street
•Kiss my Scottish Arse
•Mad Tom’s Robust Porter
•Oktoberfest
•Gypsy’s Kiss Bock
•John T. Pilsner
•Barley Wine
•Sammi Rae Root Beer Soda
•Sammi Rae Black Cherry Soda
Brewery events this week
Brewpub Events
Wood Aged Beer Fest
October 4, doors open 1-8 p.m.
On Cherry Street, right in front of Brewery Vivant
$12
*MUST buy tickets ahead of time online. For the first time no tickets will be sold on the premise day-of. Find tickets here.
Founders Beer Garden: An Art Prize Fundraiser
October 4 Noon-8p.m.
Rosa Parks Circle
Take a break from your ArtPrize adventure with Founders Brewing Company’s newest Artist Series beer, Mosaic Promise—the official beer of ArtPrize 2014. All proceeds go to Art Prize.
BREWERY VIVANT
Weekly Pub Events
Monday – Stein night: bring your own stein. Starting at $5 per liter for mainstay beers.
Tuesday Monk Club Night, Special Discounts for Monk Club Members
Wednesday Growler night, $2 off growlers.
Sunday Smokehouse Sunday – smoked special all day long; Restaurant/Bar Industry Night: 25% off food and $1 off every beer.
FOUNDERS
This Week
Birds of Chicago featuring The Appleseed Collective
October 2 at 9:30p.m. FREE
Nicholas James and the Bandwagon
October 4 at 9:30p.m. $5
GRAND RAPIDS BREWING COMPANY
Weekly Pub Events
Monday – Friday Industry Night. Anyone in the industry receives a discount from 10 p.m. to close; Happy Hour: any Tier 1 or Tier 2, beer, wine, wells, or calls 1/2 off from 4-6 p.m.
Tuesday Local Night. Anyone living in Grand Rapids or surrounding areas receives $2 drafts from 6 p.m. to close.
Saturday and Sunday Brunch and Bloody’s. Best Brunch features in town 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.
JADEN JAMES BREWERY
Weekly Pub Events
Tuesday $2 off growler refills, $1 off howler refills
Thursday Thirsty Thursday, 5-8 p.m. $1 off pints
MITTEN BREWING COMPANY
Weekly Pub Events
Monday Flight Night, $19.99 for pizza flights and $5 for accompanying beer flights.
Wednesday Team Trivia, 7:30-9:30 p.m.
OSGOOD BREWING CO
Weekly Pub Events
Monday $2 off pizzas and salads
Tuesday $1 off pints
Wednesday Mainstay pint and pizza for $13
SCHMOHZ BREWERY
Weekly Pub Events
Monday Member Night, $3 pints for members*, 2-10 p.m.
Tuesday Growl-n-Gulp, $1.25 pint with a growler fill, 2-10 p.m.
Wednesday Brewer’s Choice, $3 pints*, 2 p.m.-midnight
Thursday $11 pitchers, $16 premiums, 2 p.m.-midnight
Friday 50 cents off, noon-3 p.m.
Saturday Schmohz Gear Day and Root Beer Floats, noon-midnight
*Premium Drafts are slightly higher in price
Source: The Rapidian
On tap in Grand Rapids Oct 2nd-8th
B.O.B.’s Brewery
•Hopsun, Belgian summer whit
•AHA Bread Beer, Belgian saison
•Full On IPA, India pale ale
•Spaceboy Stout, English oatmeal stout
•Crimson King, amber ale
•Blondie, golden ale
•Spooky Action, way beyond IPA
•Robert the Barrel, bourbon barrel ale
Brewery Vivant
•Thems the Hops, a really hoppy beer
•Farm Hand, French Farmhouse Ale
•Triomphe, Belgian IPA
•Blanford Maple Amber,Belgian Inspired Amber
•Big Red Coq, Red Belgo-American IPA
•Undertaker, Belgian style dark ale
•Tree Bucket, Belgian double IPA
•Agent a Deux, dark Belgian style ale brewed with black currants, vanilla beans, and rose petals
•Tripel, Belgian style ale
•Pumpkin Tart, Pumpkin Ale
•Coq2Fly,Autumnal Ale
•The Cheetah, defies beer styles
•The Cemetarian, wood-aged selection
•Devastation, Brewer’s Grove project
Elk Brewing
•Light Ale
•Hefeweizen
•ESB
•IPA
•Porter
•Imperial Brown
•Scotch Ale
•Hopped Amber
•Uptown Ale, Simcoe Pale Ale
Founders Brewing Co.
•Pale Ale
•Centennial IPA
•Dirty Bastard
•Red’s Rye IPA
•Porter
•All Day IPA
•Nitro Pale Ale
•Nitro Oatmeal Stout
•Solid Gold
•Honey Wheat
•Gold Dust Woman
•Night of the Living Red
•Session Stout
•Double Trouble
•Sleeper Cell
•Devil Dancer
•Rubaeus
•Breakfast Stout
•Curmudgeon Old Ale
•Mosaic Promise
Grand Rapids Brewing Co.
•Silver Foam
•Rosalynn Bliss Blonde
•John Ball Brown
•The Fishladder IPA
•Senator Lyons Stout
•Bonita Applebrown
•Oktoberfest
•Vanilla Brown
•Sweet Corn Swill
•Brewer’s Heritage Hefeweizen
•Shandi
Gravel Bottom Craft Brewery and Supply
•Bottoms Up, amber ale
•Chain Saw Charlie’s Wacky Wit, belgian wheat beer
•ZSB
•Highland Fantasy, scottish ale
•English Brown Porter
•Crusher Coco Brown, the brown ale that imploded our fermenter
Harmony Brewing Co.
•Golden Lion Tamarin, pale mild ale
•Grapefruit Moon, IPA shandy
•Jackson’s Joy, fall festival
•Brownson,American Brown Ale
•Star Stuff, belgian double
•Albius, vanilla porter
•Black Squirrel, smoked peat porter
•Harmonious future, black saison
•Crossroads, rye
•Grand Daddy Rapids, cream ale
Hideout Brewing Co.
•18th Amendment Gluten Free Ale
•Bacon Stout
•Black Hearted Bitter Ex IPA
•Black Rye
•Cinnamon Red Velvet Cream Ale
•Coconut Almond Brown
•Fruit Punch Pilsner
•Hefeweizen
•Hoppy Lager
•Light Amber Ale
•Oktoberfest
•Orange Tangerine Pilsner
•Pumpkin Pie Milk Stout
•Sour Black Rye
•Tea Infused Citrus Pilsner
•The Almost ESB
•Rebellion Mead
•9AM Hazelnut IPA
•Aviator Pale Ale
•Gangster IPA
•Getaway IPA
•Purple Gang Pilsner
•Smuggler’s Hazelnut Stout
•Polish Potato Ale
Jaden James Brewery
•Gluten Free Ale
•Cream Ale
•Apple Raz Wheat
•Weiss Bier
•IPA
•Peanut Butter Porter
•Black IPA
•Milk Stout
•Russian Stout
•Cherry Hard Cider
•Apple Hard Cider
•Raspberry Hard Cider
•Peach Hard Cider
•Strawberry Hard Cider
•Root beer soda
Mitten Brewing Co.
•Big Train Strong Ale
•Black Betsy Coffee Stout
•Mitten Pale Ale
•Country Strong IPA
•Sparky’s ESB
•Kissing Bandit Blonde
Osgood Brewing Co.
•Yippee-ki-yay, blonde ale
•358, pale ale
•Notley, porter
•Journey, IPA
•Big spring, stout
•Best day ever, double IPA
•Wingman, wheat IPA
•Hammer, gluten free IPA
•Slam dunke, dunkleweizen
•Brownie bite, Belgian brown IPA
•Bee line, American brown ale
•Sol Seeker, American wheat
Perrin Brewing Co.
•Perrin Gold
•Single Track
•Perrin Pilsner
•Bashtoberfest
•Call the Banners
•Perrin Black
•Kona Brown
•Nitro Dry Stout
•Veteran’s Pale Ale (VPA)
•Harvest Ale
•Grapefruit IPA
•IPA
•Lil’ Griz
•I.I.P.A.
•Razzberry Blonde
•Hopwood
•Stoutwood
•Redwood
•Quadwood
•Juicy
•Black Goat
•Rye Wine
Schmohz Brewery
•Valley City Cream Ale
•Treasure Chest ESB
•Amber Tease Ale
•Pail Ale
•India Pail Ale
•Hopknocker Imperial IPA
•Bone Crusher Stout
•Bloody Red Ale
•Pickle Tink Ale
•Razzmanian Devil
•Cirrus
•Zingiberene Ale
•Schwartz
•Miracle Off 28th Street
•Kiss my Scottish Arse
•Mad Tom’s Robust Porter
•Oktoberfest
•Gypsy’s Kiss Bock
•John T. Pilsner
•Barley Wine
•Sammi Rae Root Beer Soda
•Sammi Rae Black Cherry Soda
Mitten Brewing upstairs and outside expansions
Mitten Brewing has been busy expanding their capacity to utilize all the area they have at their current location. First opening outdoor patio seating earlier this summer complete with umbrella’s and heat lamps for the cool fall evenings and now they’ve opened the upstairs too!
This new upstairs offers another bar and more table seating as well just in time for ArtPrize. The upstairs will be open all day for art viewing and for drinks from 5-10 p.m. every day!
What’s on Tap Sept 5-10th
B.O.B.’s Brewery
•Hopsun, Belgian summer whit
•AHA Bread Beer, Belgian saison
•Full On IPA, India pale ale
•Spaceboy Stout, English oatmeal stout
•Crimson King, amber ale
•Blondie, golden ale
•Spooky Action, way beyond IPA
•Robert the Barrel, bourbon barrel ale
Brewery Vivant
•Agent a Deux, dark Belgian style ale brewed with black currants, vanilla beans, and rose petals
•Farm Hand, French Farmhouse Ale
•Triomphe, Belgian IPA
•Big Red Coq, Red Belgo-American IPA
•Undertaker, Belgian style dark ale
•Tree Bucket, Belgian double IPA
•Contemplation, Belgian inspired golden ale
•Tripel, Belgian style ale
•The Cheetah, defies beer styles
•Zaison, Imperial Saison
•The cemetarian, wood-aged selection
•Whiskey rooster, wood-aged selection
•Devestation, Brewer’s Grove project
•Vander Mill Totally Roasted, Cider with spiced, roasted almonds
•Vander Mill Blue Gold, Cider with blueberries
Elk Brewing
•Light Ale
•Hefeweizen
•ESB
•IPA
•Porter
•Imperial Brown
•Scotch Ale
•Black IPA
•Hopped Amber
Founders Brewing Company
•Pale Ale
•Centennial IPA
•Dirty Bastard
•Red’s Rye IPA- draft
•Porter
•All Day IPA
•Pale Ale- nitro
•Oatmeal Stout- nitro
•Werewolf Lazer Circus
•Dissenter 2014
•Curmudgeon Old Ale
•Double Trouble
•Rubaeus- nitro
Grand Rapids Brewing Company
•Silver Foam
•Rosalynn Bliss Blonde
•John Ball Brown
•The Fishladder IPA
•Brewers Heritage Hefeweizen
•Ah-Nab-Awheat
•Shandi
Gravel Bottom Craft Brewery and Supply
•Bottoms Up, amber ale
•Chain Saw Charlie’s Wacky Wit, belgian wheat beer
•ZSB
•Highland Fantasy, scottish ale
•English Brown Porter
•Crusher Coco Brown, the brown ale that imploded our fermenter
Harmony Brewing Company
•Grand Daddy Rapids, cream ale
•Grapefruit Moon, IPA shandy
•Battlecat, Imperila wit IPA
•Beer City, pale ale
•Daydream believer, coffee stout
•Harmonious future, black saison
•Crossroads, rye
The Hideout Brewing Company
•18th Amendment Gluten Free Ale
•BB Stalin’s Sour Russian Imperial Stout
•Berry Pale Ale
•Black Hearted Bitter Ex IPA
•Black Rye
•Boozehound Brown
•Cinnamon Red Velvet Ale
•Coconut Almond Brown (nitro)
•Fruit Punch Pilsner
•Hefeweizen
•Hoppy Lager
•Light Amber Ale
•Light Coconut Brown Ale
•Maple Oak Pilsner
•Tea Infused Lemon Shandy
•The Almost ESB
•Triggerman IPA
•Batch 800 – Triple IPA
•9AM Hazelnut IPA
•Aviator Pale Ale
•Gangster IPA
•Hopped Hired Gun Red Ale
•Mystery Tap!
•Purple Gang Pilsner
•Smuggler’s Hazelnut Stout
•Lemon-Lime Mead
•Pineapple Hard Cider
•Root Beer and Cream Soda
Jaden James Brewery
•Gluten Free Ale
•Cream Ale
•Winter Ale
•Apple Raz Wheat
•IPA
•American Brown
•Porter
•Hazelnut Porter
•Black IPA
•Cherry Hard Cider
•Apple Hard Cider
•Raspberry Hard Cider
•Peach Hard Cider
•Root beer soda
Mitten Brewing Company
•Superstition Stout
•Double Pine Tar Maple IPA
•Country Strong IPA
•India Brown Ale
•”The Stretch” Cream Ale
•Triple Crown Brown
Osgood Brewing Company
•Yippee-ki-yay, blonde ale
•358, pale ale
•Notley, porter
•Journey, IPA
•Big spring, stout
•Best day ever, double IPA
•Wingman, wheat IPA
•Hammer, gluten free IPA
•Slam dunke, dunkleweizen
•Brownie bite, Belgian brown IPA
•Bee line, American brown ale
Perrin Brewing Company
•Perrin Gold
•Perrin Pilsner
•Call the Banners
•Single Track
•Perrin Black
•Nitro Dry Stout
•Veteran’s Pale Ale (VPA)
•Grapefruit IPA
•Rain Dancer
•IPA
•Lil’ Griz
•I.I.P.A.
•Kingdom of Tonga Vanilla Porter
•Razzberry Blonde
•Hopwood
•Stoutwood
•Redwood
•Quadwood
•Black Goat
•Rye Wine
Schmohz Brewery
•Valley City Cream Ale
•Treasure Chest ESB
•Amber Tease Ale
•Pail Ale
•India Pail Ale
•Hopknocker Imperial IPA
•Bone Crusher Stout
•Bloody Red Ale
•Pickle Tink Ale
•Razzmanian Devil
•Cirrus
•Zingiberene Ale
•Schwartz
•Miracle Off 28th Street
•Kiss my Scottish Arse
•Mad Tom’s Robust Porter
•Oktoberfest
•Gypsy’s Kiss Back
•John T. Pilsner
•Barley Wine
•Sammi Rae Root Beer Soda
•Sammi Rae Black Cherry Soda
Beer City Runner
Beer City Runner is set to launch on Sept 5, 2014 offering a shuttle type service visiting many of the breweries in Grand Rapids. Initially running on Friday (5pm-Midnight) and Saturday (Noon-Midnight), Beer City Runner offers a different way to get between six of the downtown breweries from the traditional brew tour. The Beer City Runner will start at Founders and make stops at Mitten Brewing, Elk Brewing, Harmony Brewing, Brewery Vivant and Hop Cat.
The shuttle will stay on a fixed schedule visiting each brewery about once an hour and a ticket will cost just $20 per person.
The idea is to provide more flexibility than traditional brew tours, with the Beer City Runner you can change breweries or stay longer depending on your preferences.
Beer City Runner is starting with one bus named “Hoptimus Prime” with a max capacity of 14 riders however more then 14 tickets can be sold because people will be hopping on and off as they desire. The TOS prohibit drinking on the bus and require riders to be over 21 as well as giving the driver discretion to reject disorderly riders.
Yet another way to safely visit all the great breweries in Grand Rapids and avoid the hassles of driving and parking!