Founders Brewing Company

For a brewery that almost didn’t make it, Founders Brewing Company has certainly shown that hard work and believing in oneself can pay off big time.  Having a great product does not hurt either.  If you visit their tap room in Grand Rapids you can see for yourself.  Let me tell you a little about the great flight I had their recently.

Red’s Rye IPA is excellent.  It’s mildly spicy, not too heavy and not too hoppy, though it is assertive enough to get noticed quickly.  The dry finish is long-lasting and memorable.  6.6% ABV. Azacca IPA is almost fruity, a tad bitter, light-bodied and not particularly complex, though the locally sourced, experimental hops make it a truly unique IPA.  Philogynist is not only a good description of me, but it is also a fine wheat beer, light and well-carbonated, sweet, wheaty and not at all like a Bavarian style weissbier, which is good, because they excite me as much as brown ales, and that’s not at all.  Big Lushious is a huge dessert beer (7.8% ABV) and it tastes like a liquid version of See’s raspberry truffle.  It’s opaque, black and floats a russet-colored filmy head.  Smell the coffee, cocoa and raspberry!  Excellent!  Mosaic Promise, brewed with one variety of hops (Mosaic) and one malt (Golden Promise) is light and has a kind of Cashmere Bouquet or Sweetheart soap smell to it.  It’s thin, light and dry, which is OK, but it could use a bit more zing.  Solid Gold is a good summer drinker.  It’s grainy and the bouquet smells like brewery air, which I love.  Mild with a definite drying hops presence.  It’s easy to drink with the benefit of some complexity.  Good stuff.  Nitro Oatmeal Stout is super creamy and smooth, but my wife drank it before I could really check it out.  She likes stouts.  4.5% ABV.

The food is good, the service is good, the vibe is good and it is definitely a destination.  Tons of folks there mid day on a Friday.  Inside or outside, there plenty of seating and a nice group of friendly beer lovers of all persuasions to compare notes with.