DH recently won tickets to tour Founders Brewing in Grand Rapids, Michigan. In spite of the owner being rather tight lipped about many of their trade secrets, we had a super good time!
It was a beautiful summer day. Look at those hops growing on the patio!
Mike (left) and Troy (AKA DH, right) wait at the bar for the tour to begin
Need any to go?
DH (right) listens intently to Dan, owner (left)
Mike leans on a bag of grain. Or was it malt?
Everything in the operation was spotless!
The bottling line, which we learned is the current bottleneck.
The owner had to go meet with a buyer, but he did let us have a couple of rounds on the house.
The sandwiches there are phenomenal.
When Troy and his friends are talking beer, I realize how much I don't know. Who's Esther, and what are the BCGB guidelines?
Centenniel IPA may be their best seller, overtaking Dirty Bastard, but my favorite is still the oatmeal stout.
The owner also mentioned several times that they are very lucky, that most breweries don’t make it. That it is a lot of hard work, a lot of relationships with distributors. Still, Mike and DH want to continue pursuing their dream. Will we make it? Only time will tell. In the meantime, I definitely don’t mind doing the market research!
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FYI the owner is Dave not Dan and it’s BJCP guidelines not BCGB guidelines.
See? I TOLD you I don’t know anything about beer
Founders is bitchin’. Sorry for using a swear, sometimes it’s necessary.
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