Visiting Grand Rapids

There are countless threads on this topic but I will suggest a few liquor stores (which we call "bottle shops") and breweries for you.

A visit to Siciliano's, Horrocks Market, and/or Rishi's should give you excellent selections of local and distributed (from out of state/country) craft beer.

I would suggest staying downtown so you can walk/Uber/Lyft to a variety of breweries. Brewery Vivant, New Holland Knickerbocker, Creston, City Built, The Mitten, and Greyline are all worthy of stops. And they all offer above average to excellent food service.

 

Like Anchor says, there are a number of threads asking about GR. Here is a link to a search that I did that will get you started: https://www.beeradvocate.com/commun...s&t=post&o=date&g=1&c[title_only]=1&c[node]=9

The current 'hot' bottles to look for would be Bell's Black Note Stout, and the Short's Hoppy Holidays variety pack. There are probably a few others, but nothing is coming to my mind right now. Enjoy your GR stay and the CBS.

 

Just to piggy-back, will I find M-43 at those places you listed? How often do those cans get send out fresh? thanks!

 

M-43 is available practically everywhere, at nearly every bottle shop and numerous grocery stores in the Grand Rapids area. If you can't find it, you aren't looking hard enough. It generally doesn't last more than a week on the shelf but on a Thursday or Friday it should not be a problem. Cans are delivered weekly to most accounts.

 

If you can't find it at Siciliano's, Horrock's or Rishi's, you ain't gonna find it. If you are restricted with your time, focus on these three bottle shops. I have never been to Siciliano's but I know there reputation as a bottle shop is second to none in GR.

I frequent Rishi's and Horrock's a few times each year. Rishi's has a slightly better beer selection compared to Horrock's and they also sell liquor. Lots and lots of liquor. They usually have one or two private bourbon selections in their store. Rishi's also just started a 10 tap growler fill station in their shop about 6 months ago. There is always something at that growler station that makes me happy. They have 16 oz, 32 oz and 64 oz growler available for fills. Rishi's usually post a weblink on their facebook page on Thursdays that takes you to a webpage showing what is on tap at their growler station. Their facebook page is also a great source to see the new beer releases that they recently received from the distributors. One last note on Rishi's - he has a new store and an older store. You want to go to the new store on 28th Street.

Horrock's also has a great bottle selection. They also have 30 to 50 beers on tap at any given time. I have never been disappointed by their selection as well. I don't think they fill 16 oz bottles but they fill 32 oz and 64 oz growlers as well as crowlers. Horrock's is also a nice place to grab a quick bite to eat if you need to eat on the run.

Switching gears, I can't think of any other beer releases or special events going on December 1. Seems like something should be going on but I'm not aware of anything besides the CBS release. Ah, what the hell...you guys should be going to Founders and getting loaded on CBS. Screw everything else.

 

I’ll just add that Horrocks is by far my favorite shop in town, although it’s about a 15 minute drive from downtown. Horrock’s is actually a market so if you make the trip, I recommend grabbing lunch while you are there. They have amazing soups, pizza, sandwiches and sushi. Not to mention, the amazing bottle selection.

Enjoy your trip to town!

 

If you have a wine snob with you, there is a place between Rishi's and Horrock's called Russo's. I believe they have narrowed down their craft beer selection but Russo's has a fantastic wine selection. Horrock's and Rishi's has a good selection of wines as well but I think I would favor Russo's for wine.

 

HIJACK TIME: This weekend a buddy and I are staying in the "East Highlands" neighborhood in Grand Rapids....food recommendations? Any hidden record stores off the beaten path? Something of note that an out-of-towner might not know about?

Thanks in advance!!

 

"East Highlands"? Never heard of that area, have a couple of cross streets?

Vertigo Music on Division is the record store to visit.

 

Anything new to report in the last 3 1/2 months since a GR thread was last posted on? I'll be flying in next week Wed on a work trip looking to hit up a few places. I'm sure it will be quite busy with people being KBS Week. Will have several hours Wed early afternoon and then Thurs evening. Nice to see so many breweries open up around Noon! Let me know if there's any others I should sub in/out. Not specific to any style as I like just about everything. Would like to hit 4-5 places when I get into town Wed that are not downtown yet still pretty closeby (between the airport and downtown) so I can get a few in since that's really the only day I can venture off a little bit. Was last in GR in Spring 2015 so I'm sure there's been a lot happen since then.

Breweries
- City Built
- Creston
- Greyline
- Harmony Hall
- Knickerbocker
- Mitten

Shops
- Horrocks
- Rishi's
- Siciliano's

Food
- Butcher's Union
- Vivant

TIA!

 

Of the breweries that you listed, I've only been to Greyline and Mitten, and both are good choices. I have not heard anything negative about the others which are all fairly new places, so I think your list of breweries is good. However, none are on the way from the airport to downtown. Rishi's and Brewery Vivant would be the only places that are. However, Grand Rapids is not so large that it takes very long to get to any of the places that you list.

The time that you have will keep you from getting to every place, so of all the places on the list I'd put Brewery Vivant as the must-visit if you are a lover of Belgian-styles and sour beers. (And the great food that they have there goes without saying.)

 

Thanks! I realized many were not en route from the airport to downtown last night when I began mapping them out. Looks like Brewery Vivant opens mid-afternoon so I'll probably check them out Thurs and stick to the others, unless there are other recommendations, to hit up on Tues.

 

I just realized that you don't have HopCat on your list, and that one is always a great experience. Although they are classed as a brewery, they are more well known for being a Bar/Eatery and are not known for their brewery's beers. (I think I read somewhere that their beers, when available, are now contract brewed elsewhere.)

 

Yeah. That was on purpose just because when I was in GR in 2015 I spent a good bit of time there. Plus, being a non-local and researching it back there were a lot of suggestions for that since it is repeatedly been one of the top bars in the country. Each time I travel back to a place I like to get in spots I have yet to visit. Not saying a trip to HC won't happen but looking for new places. Great to know they have their own beer now though.

 

Outside of Brewery Vivant which brewery would anyone recommend for food that also has above average beers? I'll be arriving into town around Noon tomorrow and since Brewery Vivant does not open until 3pm that is not an option for lunch. Here's what's on my list to visit so far that appear to also serve food from what I have seen on their sites / social media. And any recommendations on what to order?

- City Built
- Greyline
- Mitten
- Creston
- Harmony Hall


In the afternoon I will probably try to check out
- Brewery Vivant
- ELK
- Harmony.
Is there any difference in the Harmony locations? I see the brewery serves pizza while the Hall has a variety of food but would assume beer list is similar at both?? Both brew on site I'm guessing.

 

I'm sure this post will bug some locals, but I recommend against Brewery Vivant. I was in Grand Rapids for a day in 2016, and I had time for only two breweries. I chose Founders and Vivant. The former was excellent, as expected. The latter was highly disappointing. I found all of the beers in my flight amateurish, poorly executed, and lifeless. I didn't finish any of them. I'm a Belgian beer fan, so this wasn't a matter of failing to understand the styles (not that everything I tried was a Belgian style). I truly found it to be a well-below-average craft brewery. I might have gotten unlucky with the particular beers or batches, but I left wishing someone had steered me away from Vivant and toward one of the many other breweries in town.

 

If you haven’t been to New Holland’s Knickerbocker, I’d go there well before Creston or City Built.

Vivant has good food and good beer, but I don’t go often because I’m not an enthusiastic consumer of Belgian styles.

At Elk, try their Scotch Ale and ESB.

 

I have not been to Harmony Hall yet, but I think their food menu has a German focus if you haven't picked up on that yet. I don't know if their beers are also German focused. The beers at the other Harmony location were not that impressive when I visited a few years ago, so Harmony Hall's beers may follow the same track.

Greyline had really good beer and food when I was there last year, but I don't recall it being a very extensive food menu.

'Surely' you're right about someone taking exception to your evaluation of the beers, but we all have different tastes. Maybe your visit to Founders first threw off your taste buds. However, it is very rare to see anyone have a negative opinion of their beers, so I'll just recommend that if you ever have the chance to go again, do so to see if your opinion might change.