Our second stop of the day of MI brewery visits included Founders in Grand Rapids. Founders is extremely well-known for their Breakfast Stout of which I've dragged two four-packs back home to CO with me. Their Breakfast Stout includes a 99/100 rating on Beer Advocate...pretty impressive work. That said, I didn't try one at the brewery and have regretted it since. We still had two more stops on the day!
The brewery is just off the highway and tucked in to what looks like a recently rejuvenated downtown part of Grand Rapids, to include a lot of brick cobblestone streets and new builds. There appears to be a pretty legit sammich/snack menu, but we didn't indulge and instead spent $15 on a screwed-in bottle opener. Here's a shot of the brewery from the front:
I get the impression I could spend several days poking around beer haunts in Grand Rapids...unfortunately, we only had a few hours. Thankfully, HopCat (review to come!) was walkable from Founders. Here's what we drank, in pint form no less:
Licorice Whip - 5.4%abv; light looking, almost clear golden in color; minimal head, consistent and solid lacing; smells like liquid pizzelle; slightly black licorice on the nose; consistently rising bubbles and strong carbonation; instantly licorice up front; plenty of bitter notes that both instantly whet the palate AND make it kinda dry; the beer gives me a slight dizzying feel because of the strange and unique flavor. Well-balanced for such a different taste.
Centennial IPA - 7%abv; pleasant copper in color; light head; nice orange-smelling tones on the nose; robust lacing; lacing lasts through the entire beer; good balance of malt and hop; definitely hop-driven however; slightly minty but mostly hoppy...and clearly Centennial-hop forward; leaves a lot on the tongue after it's gone; kinda busy; a 'blue collar' IPA to me. Solid overall.
 |
| Our beers and my wife... |
No comments:
Post a Comment