Going to Michingan Trying to Plan Which Breweries to Hit.

I didn't do the tour, but went to Founders a month ago for the first time... Incredible! I bet the tour is amazing.

 

My wife and I went on the Saturday tour at Founder's back in March and absolutely loved it. I debated the more expensive tour and was given some great advice within this thread: http://www.beeradvocate.com/community/threads/founders-brewery-tours.267153/

In addition to the tour, we had a private tasting in the empty bar upstairs with the tour group (12-16 people) that included some of the normal rotation beers and some 'rare' things that they decide to crack open. For us that included '12 KBS and some Curmudgeon's Better Half (I believe also from 2012). You also get a coupon for a free 'tier one' pint and coupon for a free pint glass from the gift shop.

We ended up grabbing seats at the bar after the tour and instead of heading out to Odd Sides we stayed for the better part of the day. Fantastic time.

 

If that saturday happens to be the 22nd definitely Bell's and catch some awesome music in their beautiful beer garden.

 

From Three Rivers, you're an hour or so away for Dark Horse in Marshall. Their normal tap list can be somewhat lackluster with regard to any pub-only offerings, but they do tours that include a tasting in their VIP loft, usually with something interesting like BBPt5. They have a really nice outdoor "compound" now as well.

 

I'm not going to respond until you learn how to spell the name of my state of residence. So far, you've got two strikes against you. (Being from Illinoise is no excuse.)

 

I really enjoyed the tour at Bell's Production Facility in Comstock. I enjoyed it so much I've done it twice. They served 8 or 10 ounce pours of Two Hearted and Amber Ale during the second tour. Serving these beers has only been a recent addition. However, avoid this tour if a bus drops off a bunch of people if you can. Most of those people don't care so they make too much noise and drown out the guide.

 

You should check out Oddside Ales, which isn't far from Grand Rapids. They always have limited Barrel Aged stuff on top. They make great stuff.

 

Not sure about tours, but if you are staying in Three Rivers, you should really consider The Livery in Benton Harbor and/or Greenbush in Sawyer.

 

I haven't been on the Bells downtown tour in ages, but you could see the sour program there.
The Comstock brewery has the scale and equipment that impresses me, was there last fall for a big tour. The Barrel Aged program is there.
Made it through Founders last year, also big in scale.

 

The ones that don't have bugs in a barrel are in Comstock (not just stouts by the way). If a barrel starts to go off, it is removed to the downtown brewery. No different from other breweries that have the sours/wilds isolated from the clean production beers. I have toured the downtown brewery in a long time. There is now a barrel area you can see through some windows on Kalamazoo Ave, including some Foudres.

The last time I was at Comstock I got a special tour. Don't know what they do on the standard tour today. There was no tasting when I toured, so that has changed.

 

Not that I am aware of. The samples are new.

There is a picure of the production barrel storage on the Bell's Brewery Official Facebook page.

 

Now that that is smoothed out, we're happy that you are coming to Michigan. (Bring money, the economy still sucks a bit around here.)

I have not done the tour at Founders or the Bell's downtown location to be able to comment on them, but I did tour the Comstock facility when it was first opened several years ago, which was a self-guided tour then. Now I think it is a guided tour. All of that new equipment is impressive, especially the large copper cookers surrounded by all of that natural wood trim. It's a ****-n-span version of the style of an old-style brewhouse. Most of the tour was conducted at the second floor level, so you are overlooking all of the production operations. I don't know if that is largely what the current tour consists of or not, but it is a very impressive facility. (Better than New Glarus, which is also a self-guided tour.)

P.S. I've been in the Eccentric Cafe when a guided tour was starting, and beer is permitted to be purchased at the Cafe and carried on that tour. I don't know if beer is permitted during the Comstock tour. (There was none available at all when I toured that facility.) Maybe someone can confirm the beer being permitted during the tour at the downtown location before you use it as a factor in making your choice.

 

Everything is Stainless in Comstock, Tom. The wood structure is impressive.