What are some easily obtainable beers to grab while in Grand Rapids (preferably with a 4.0+ rAVG, not trying to hunt down below average shelf turds). I'm coming from OH, so obviously anything not in the same distro. Can't think of anything except for Shorts and Odd Sides but I'm not too sure whats available and where to look for it. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Not a shorts fan, I'm alone on this forum. Pickup Blackrocks 51k and Coconut Brown. Griffin Claw Norm's. Anything from Schramm's if you like mead and they just started distributing in GR. Vivant Big Red is a favorite of mine and if you can find any Zaison left grab it. Also super excited about Vivant's upcoming Gose sometime this month.
+1 on the the 51K Go to Siciliano's because everything is priced as a single and if you get something you don't like you're not out much. Plus you get 10% off when you buy 24 or more and bombers count as 2.
I'm cool with everything that grr32 posted above except for Griffin Claw Norm's. I had this for the first time recently and it was a big sweet malt bomb. I spoke to two buddies and they have experienced the same thing with Norm's. I wish they would date those cans. I'll revisit Norm's sometime though because I love everything else that Griffin Claw brews. Definitely visit Perrin's. They always have some good beers on tap. And they just started selling crowlers last week.
Brewery Vivant brews some great Belgian-inspired beers, and a visit to the brewery is a great experience for beer and food (think duck confit nachos as your appetizer or for your meal). You can buy some cans there. Tapistry also has a very good Reactor IPA out in cans, plus I like the Red Beard Red Ale from Latitude 42. It's pretty hoppy and is also in cans.
You'll miss out on a lot of great beers if you just go by the rAVG here. Following ratings like a bible or hard guide reeks of outsourcing what may be the best part of beer - finding what YOU like.
