36 hours in Michigan
Grand Rapids, Michigan is nicknamed “Beer City USA” so I knew that no #BeerTripAcrossAmerica would be complete without a visit. I charted out my journey and got talked into stopping off in Kalamazoo to visit Bell’s Brewery on the way up to Grand Rapids (Thanks Halley, Bell’s was great). My Greyhound bus didn’t get into Kalamazoo until around 9:30pm, so while I had way missed the last tour of the day their Eccentric Cafe was still open until 2am and was just a 5 minute walk from the Greyhound station. It was a miracle sent from the beer gods.

The atmosphere at Bell’s is great. It feels warm and inviting inside and looks a bit like a rustic ski lodge. On a Friday night there was a lovely mix of families enjoying a late night meal, couples, and friends out bar hopping.


I ordered their jambalaya and, of course, a flight of their beers. My flight included their flagship Two Hearted Ale. Brewed with 100% Centennial hops from the Pacific Northwest and named after the Two Hearted River in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, this IPA is bursting with hop aromas ranging from pine to grapefruit from massive hop additions in both the kettle and the fermenter. At 7% ABV is was highly drinkable and refreshing.
I also tried Oberon, which is a seasonal wheat ale and a local favorite during the hot summer months. Next in the flight was Titania. Named after Oberon’s other half (Get the Midsummer Night’s Dream reference?), Titania lives up to its namesakes as a force to be reckoned with, combining sweet citrus tastes with an assertive hop presence.
Lastly, my dessert for the evening was the Double Cream Stout. Named for its velvety smooth, creamy texture, this incredibly rich stout is brewed with 10 different specialty roasted malts chosen that impart notes of rich mocha and espresso. Dark and sweet tones intermingle with a soft, roasty finish. It was the perfect way to end my evening in Kalamazoo.

The Following morning I got back on the bus and headed an hour north to Grand Rapids, Michigan the home of Founders Brewing and at least 60 other craft breweries.

I started my day at Fouders with a tasty lunch in their taproom. You order at the counter (deli food — sandwiches and salads) and then it’s open seating. On a Saturday afternoon this place was hopping and it took a few minutes to find a seat. After scarfing down a tree hugger sandwich I raced over to catch my 3pm tour.
You need to book tours in advance and they book up quickly on the weekends, so visit their tour page and make a reservation. In addition to the standard brewery tour which is about 90 minutes, they also offer beer education classes from Beer 101 to Sensory Evaluation to a Palate Exploration Series.
Sadly I was only able to get on their brewery tour, but the good news is that they cap the tour at 10 people so it is a small, cozy group.
The tour starts in their tasting room “The Emabassy” with a tasting of their porter and a brief history of the brewery. Founders was started in 1997 by Mike Stevens and Dave Engbers who quit their full-time jobs, took out a substantial loan and started a brewery. The name Founders is a tribute to the original, pre-prohibition brewers that were located on Canal St. in Grand Rapids. After some initial challenges, due to making well balanced but unremarkable beers, they were on the verge of bankruptcy. It was at this point that the original Founders team decided to brew the kind of beer that got them excited about brewing in the first place: complex, in-your-face ales, with huge aromatics, bigger body, and tons of flavor, which is what they are known for today.


I was particularly impressed with their barrel aging program. In 2003 they started the bourbon barrel aging movement and today their KBS bourbon barreled stout is a limited release that sells out almost immediately. They rent cellar space, and their barrels are stored in defunct gypsum mines located 90 feet underground in the south part of the city. In order to maintain secrecy the barrels are not standardly labeled, but are given a secret label — this year they were named after Detroit Red Wings players.
Once a year Founders hosts a “Cellar Raid Party,” in which they pull any unlabeled barrels from the cellar, taste them name them and put them on tap for four days only. I wish I could come back for this!
The tour ends back in The Embassy where you get a few more pours of their beers. We tasted Rubaeus, Dirty Bastard and Backwoods Bastard, which is Dirty Bastard that has been aged for a year in, you guessed it, bourbon barrels. Backwoods Bastard was my favorite of the day and at 11.8% it was the perfect ending to a fun and education filled day at Founders.

Steal My Trip
