For my 30th birthday my wife planned a surprise beercation to Grand Rapids and Kalamazoo. We will be there Oct 21-24th. We are both from the south and have never been to Michigan, so reading online is our only resource. Any suggestions about which breweries we should visit? Any recommendations on other places to visit, good craft beer stores, or places to eat would much appreciated. Thanks!
There's a post in this forum titled One day in Michigan and the post by @erowe should have everything you need. Hope you have a great trip. Cheers!
Lots of info on this, do some thread searching. That being said, in GR; Vivant, Founders, and Perrin are all must stops and Hopcat is a should stop(great selection, but a little pricey). For a nice dinner, go to Bistro Bellavita or the Chop House, not sure how the tap list is, but the food is excellent. Vivant also has very good food. For a more casual meal, Marie Catribs is awesome, but they do not serve alcohol. Their food is fresh and made from scratch and tastes great! they also have a lot of vegetarian and gluten free options. Founders is also good for a casual meal, if you are looking for a tasty sandwich, but that is pretty much all they have. Other places you should go if you want to make a nice excursion from GR are Grand Haven and Holland. Oddside in Grand have makes some awesome and creative beers, and the beach and town are just nice places to walk around. Also if you are a fisherman, some big lake brown trout and stealhead could be caught in the channel and of the pier at that time along with a few late salmon. In Holland, New Holland is a great stop for some beer and some of their house made spirits. Our brewing is also right nest to New Holland, but I have not been here recently enough to give an opinion. Holland is also a nice town to walk around with some interesting shops. I dont get to K-zoo often, but Bells is a must and Dark Horse in Marshall should also be. If you want some store info send me a convo when you have a good idea where you are staying and I will give you some places close to you, there are many good stores around GR.
Arcadia is a nice one to hit in Kalamazoo. Originally from Battle Creek, they opened up a facility in Kalamazoo down the street from Bells. Cereal Killer BW should be out about then and you might be able to find shipwreck porter in town.
i would say def try to make it to Lake Michigan while you are there. as mentioned above, Oddside is pretty great and in Grand Haven which is right on the water. there are so many great places to go, i would honestly just pick a few things and enjoy your time. you are never gonna hit them all in one trip thats for sure. Founders and HopCat in GR i am sure will be on your list. hell i could make a weekend out of those 2 alone lol. Have Fun.
Thanks for the info! I will check through old posts as well. Figured I would come here and ask the locals. If you ever go to Asheville (my hometown) or Birmingham for any reason I'll be glad to return the favor. Really looking forward to the trip.
The other referenced thread above was for a one day stay by that poster, so I didn't add a few places that I'll add here. In the Kzoo area, I'll recommend a visit to Latitude 42 in Portage. It's only around 7 miles south of downtown Kzoo. For good stores in the Kzoo area, Mega Bev on West Main St. is probably the biggest, and Drake Party Center is also a good one.
another shop in kzoo is Tiffany's. Pubs worth a stop are Shakespear's, the Beer Exchange and Central City Taphouse - I think you can find tap lists for all three online. Besides Bells and Arcadia in Kalamazoo Gonzo's is another place to try if time and your liver allow. On your way from Kalamazoo to G.R. take exit 49b and go about 3 miles to Maude's taphouse in Otsego for 41 taps and a few bottles too. You'll pass by Jesse's Party Store on the way back to the highway, they do a good job of keeping new stuff coming in. Enjoy your stay, cheers!
Dont forget about saugatuck, may get lucky to stumble on some BA Neo. beer exchange is a great bar and food is amazing, shakespears has a crazy tap list most days. Bells is a great stop and food is top notch. make the trip to Darkhorse if you have time you wont regret it! if you travel up the coast oddside, livery , greenbush all recommended. and Some really great small time Breweries just outside of GR: Pike 51, White Flame just to name a few. stop at Rishi's in Grand Rapids for bottles if you feel like taking some of the best back home with you. shoot bring some up i am sure you can set up a trade or two!! cheers and enjoy!
"For my 30th birthday my wife planned a surprise beercation to Grand Rapids and Kalamazoo." Seriously, you are one lucky man. Does your wife have a sister?
Awesome. Lots of options here. Hahaha, sorry, her sister is already taken. She made a loose itinerary for us but told me to figure out what I wanted to do. This is what she gave me at dinner. Definitely hope to bring some bottles back to cellar/share. Setting up a trade is a good idea that I hadn't considered… if anybody is interested let me know. I will probably try to make that happen. After the trip I will come back and let everyone know where we ended up going. Thanks again!
Are you near good people? if so, I would love to try more from them if you want to set up a trade, I have a few goodies that you wont find.
Have never set up any trades on this site and I know this isn't the trading forum, but if anyone is interested in some local beers from the south I would love to set up a trade for some unique beers in your area that I would not be able to purchase during my trip. Send me a message if your interested and I will see what I can grab from the cellar that fits your taste. Thanks again for the suggestions.
