Founders Fest Recap

"Thank you, microbreweries, for making my alcoholism seem like a neat hobby."
-- Jimmy Fallon

Truer words have never been spoken. My neat hobby has led me to meet a lot of really cool people, see some really interesting places and experience some great brew with friends and family. One such place is Founders Fest, held every year at Founders Brewing Company in Grand Rapids, MI.

Let's pretend for a moment that you've never heard of Founders, or of many of their amazing, over-the-top beers. Opened in '97, they have quickly grown to an annual production of approximately 30,000 barrels (that's nearly 1 million gallons of beer, for you math students). Some of those barrels are their typical lineup of Porter (one of my favorite Porters), Red's Rye Pale Ale and Dirty Bastard, up to their extremely delicious specialty brews such as KBS (One of my top 3 favorite), Devil Dancer, and Backwoods Bastard. Many of their creations have won highly recognized awards, sit toward the top of many "best beer" lists and are adored by craft beer lovers around the country. To make a long story short, this is one of the greatest breweries around.

Ok, enough of the history lesson and back to Founders Fest....

Held every year in June, Founders Fest features live music, great food and a huge lineup of delicious Founders brew. This was my first year going, so the wife and I booked our trip to stay downtown for the weekend and enjoy all that the Grand Rapids beer scene has to offer (ok, not all of it, but probably the best parts).

We arrived at the festival around 3:30, not much longer after they opened. At this time, it was still pretty warm out, the sun was beating down and not many people were there yet, making our entrance quick and pain free. First stop - the beer ticket booth, where you buy a number of tickets which allow you to purchase beer at the beer tent. Next up was the merchandise booth while there were still no lines to pickup a festival shirt; pretty cool shirts this year if you ask me. Finally, time for a beer! Every year they post most of their available lineup prior to the event, while keeping the very special brews a surprise. Here is what they had...

• Centennial IPA
• Devil Dancer
• Red’s Rye PA
• Pale Ale
• Founders Fest Wheat (our annual brewed-for-the-event specialty!)
• Backwoods Bastard
• Dirty Bastard
• Cerise
• All Day IPA
• Blushing Monk

Not a bad lineup, and most of which I've had before. Although there were some exciting brews on that list, I was looking forward to the surprises they had in store, which were KBS, Cashew Mountain Brown and Kaiser Curmudgeon. I'm a huge KBS fan, it really is a fantastic beer, but this was my chance to enjoy a couple of special brews that I've never had before. My wife ordered a Blushing Monk (Belgian Raspberry Ale - 9.2%) and I had the Cashew Mt (11%, I've read the style to be an American Strong Ale, and Imperial Brown Ale, either of which could be correct).

The Cashew Mountain Brown is like nothing I've experienced in a beer before. When asked what it tasted like, I describe it as tossing a handful of cashews in your mouth and washing it down with a shot of bourbon - two things I enjoy. I sat under a tented area with my beer notebook and wrote a review, which I may or may not share with you all. Needless to say, it was very good, and I thoroughly enjoyed it.

Cashew Mountain Brown

The Blushing Monk my wife had was a flavor explosion of tart raspberries and carbonation. This was the first time either of us had it, and it was certainly good, but not something we normally drink. Founders has bottled this beer and it should be ready to purchase in the next week or two.

We finished our beers closer to the stage, listening to "A.B! & Coconut Brown" and "Steppin' In It." Not really my style, but it's always fun listening to live music. After hydrating a bit, it was time for round two - Kaiser Curmudgeon.

Kaiser Curmudgeon is their regular "Old Curmudgeon" aged in bourbon barrels that were used to age Michigan maple syrup. This was another really great, complex beer. The base of Curmudgeon was there alright, but there was also a maple syrupy texture and taste, with a slow bourbon finish. This is not your dad's Budweiser, this is a serious sipping brew. By this time, we had met up with Jeremy, the bar manager at Fiddler's Hearth, and Cluck from a radio show that everyone in the South Bend area has heard of, except for me. They were both clearly have a very good time, also enjoying a Kaiser Curmudgeon.

Mark-Paul Gosslaar

Round 3: It was time to switch to something a little lighter, with about half as much alcohol - Founders All Day IPA. This was yet another first time brew for me and I continued to not be disappointed. All Day IPA is a newer beer, meant to be session-able (that's craft beer-speak for "drink several in a row") and for only being 4.6%, this little guy packed a huge flavor punch. Extremely crisp, citrusy and a bit thin on the mouthfeel, I can definitely understand why they picked the name. In a tweet, Founders told me that they will be bottling this sometime next year - I can't wait!

While enjoying my IPA, we made our way over to the stage again for the musical stylings of "FBC All-Stars," a band consisting of Founders employees and super-fan Zach Morris (I hear he goes by Mark-Paul Gosslaar now) jamming on older tunes such as Dylan's "Everybody must get stoned" and Huey Lewis and The News "I want a new drug." They actually weren't bad, and it seemed like the crowd had a great time.

A couple of All Day IPAs later and it was time for us to move-on to another Grand Rapids hot-spot, Hopcat. Overall we had a blast at Founders Fest this year. These people know how to throw a party! Everything was great from the food, music, beer, even the porta-johns were plentiful and clean. Founders mentioned that this was their biggest year so far, and I definitely can't wait until next year!

Founders Devil Dancer coming to Fiddler's Hearth

"When you dance with the Devil, the Devil don't change. You do. Massive in complexity, the huge malt character balances the insane amount of alphas used to create it. At an incredible 112 IBUs, it's dry-hopped with ten hop varieties." --Founders Website

Spoke with the bar manager over at Fiddler's Hearth in South Bend yesterday and found that they had a keg of Devil Dancer delivered the other day, and hope to have it on tap after the coming weekend. Stay tuned for a more precise announcement when I hear more.

Founders Devil Dancer hits South Bend

Just wanted everyone to know that Founders Devil Dancer (Triple IPA, 12%) hit South Bend today, specifically Belmont on South Bend Ave. Grab it while you can!

Kill a Zombie and another rises...

As many of you are aware, Zombie Dust was on tap at Fiddler's Hearth yesterday, but it sure didn't last by the end of the night. It was delicious as always and the beer geeks flocked in to devour.

Didn't get a pint? Don't worry, thanks to Eric over at Michiana Beer Nuts, I can report that it will also be on tap at Chubby Trout in Elkhart this weekend. They were just waiting to free up one of 3 lines before putting it on, and are confident it will be this weekend. Do yourself a favor and get it while you can!

South Bend Brewfest in October

This has been in the works now for a few months, and I'm finally permitted to release this info to the masses!

Indiana Beer, one of the local beer distributors, is putting on a brewfest at the Century Center called "South Bend Brewfest." Details are still being worked on, however below is some information for you to save the date with.

Date: October 22nd, 12-4pm. This is the same day as the ND-USC game, which is a night game, starting at 8pm.

Location: Century Center, on the island unless weather is poor, then it will be held in the atrium.

Breweries: The typical breweries that Indiana Beer distributes should be there, including New Holland, Sierra Nevada, Goose Island, Figure 8, Shoreline, Southern Tier, along with a bunch of independent breweries and one of my favorite up-and-coming breweries; Barehands. In addition to those, they anticipate having a few from other distributors, including Bell's, Founders and Dark Horse.

Tickets and pricing is not available at this time, however keep checking back for more information!

Sierra Nevada Beer Camp available at Martins

Sierra Nevada's Beer Camp cases have been selling out fairly quickly in the South Bend area, but I noticed a few recently at the Martins Supermarket on 23. If you haven't heard of their Beer Camp yet, the basic idea is that they select a few lucky people to brew a beer under their tutelage and the resulting product is sold around the country.

For more info, check out Sierra Nevada Beer Camp.

O'Rourke's Tap List

Having an after-work pint at O'Rourke's in Eddy Street Commons next to ND campus and thought I'd share the tap list... minus the BMC crap.

Goose Island Fleur
FFF Alpha King
FFF Gumballhead
Great Lakes Conways Irish Ale
New Belgium Fat Tire
New Belgium Somersault
Sierra Nevada Pale Ale
Bell's Two Hearted
Bell's Oberon

Nothing too exciting, at least it isn't hard to find a decent pint these days.

3 Floyds Zombie Dust on tap at Fiddler's Hearth Friday

If you've had 3 Floyds "Zombie Dust" (6.2% American Pale Ale, brewed with Citra hops) before, you know how rediculously tasty it is. Make sure to stop by Fiddler's Hearth on Main St. in South Bend for a pint... just make sure to save me some!

Saturday Beer Recap (Part 2, The Mark)

After dinner at Corndance, it was only 6:30 and the night was still just beginning. We decided to stop by The Mark for a drink and see what's new. As usual, they had a pretty solid lineup. I chose the Great Divide Chocolate Oak Aged Yeti, and I would not be disappointed. Even though there is a bottle sitting in my refrigerator, I hadn't tried it yet. This is a rich Imperial Stout and as the name suggests, has a huge chocolate component to it. I took my time enjoying this delicious brew while my wife had an Upland Preservation Pils, which I thought she would enjoy even though I did not. Not surprisingly, I was wrong, and she didn't like it. The bartender was really cool, I don't recall his name, but we talked beer for a little while and he let me sample Left Hand Sawtooth Ale (ESB) on nitro, and He'Brew Bittersweet Lenny's RIPA (Rye IPA), both of which were tasty. I probably would have had a glass of either one, however quite uncharacteristic of The Mark, there was a seemingly hammered wino who couldn't control the volume of his own voice. This guy was way too annoying to ignore, going on and on about horse racing and betting, so we paid our tab and headed to the next bar. Before leaving, the bartender mentioned that they would be putting Sam Adams East West Kolsch on soon, as well as New Holland's Farmhouse Hatter. If you haven't been to The Mark yet, I highly recommend it. Their food and service is really good, and their craft beer selection is usually the best and most diverse in the South Bend area.

Saturday Beer Recap (Part 1, Corndance)

My wife and I went out for our anniversary yesterday, just as we do every year. The plan was to see a movie (The Hangover 2) and grab some dinner at Corndance on Grape Road in Mishawaka. Sure we would do those things, but wound up stopping by several other places (The Mark, Fiddler's Hearth, and a friend's house) by the time the night was over, and had ourselves quite a nice time.

Corndance Draft List

Corndance Bottle List

After locking the kids safely in their bedrooms, making sure to leave plenty of water and food (just kidding, we dropped them off with the in-laws for a night of camping), we were off to start the evening with an early showing of The Hangover 2. You don't read this site for movie reviews, but I will say that th2 was uncomfortable, awkward, and hilarious.

Anyhow, back to beer....

We hit up Corndance for an early dinner, making sure to leave the rest of the evening for whatever trouble we decided to get into. This was my first time at this restaurant, and although this night was not meant to be about beer, I was still looking forward to seeing what they offered.

Nothing too exciting about the tap list, Mad Hatter was out, as was the Upland Ard Ri Imperial Red. In place of those, they had Bell's Oberon (which is what I chose), and Pilsner Urquell (which I would never choose). They did have New Holland's Dragon's Milk (Strong Ale, aged in Bourbon Barrels, 10% abv), which I'm not a huge fan of, but it was one of the better beers on the list, and the waiter was kind enough to allow my wife a chance to try it. The bottle list was also better than average, but nothing special. I've had everything on that list, with Founders Breakfast Stout being the best, in my opinion.

I'm no food critic, but I thought their menu was great, and what we had to eat was extremely good. The atmosphere was nice, and laid back, definitely one of the better restaurants in the area. The only thing I don't understand about this place is that they go out of their way to match their nice decor and killer menu with (from what I can tell) good wine and spirits, but they fall way short on the beer list. To me, it doesn't make sense. When I go to a nice restaurant, I expect to pair impressive food with equally impressive beer. Even Buffalo Wild Wings has Corndance beat in this aspect. Overall, we enjoyed our time here and will certainly return, but I hope they will step up their craft beer offerings before then.

New Belgium La Folie on Tap

Just a heads-up for you in the South Bend area. Fiddlers put New Belgium's La Folie (Sour Brown Ale, 6%), part of the "Lips of Faith" series on tap this afternoon. If you are stopping by for Mad Hatter Day, it should still be available.

Fiddler's Hearth tap list

Just thought I'd pass along what Fiddler's has on tap today, and probably most of the weekend... Definitely worth stopping by over the weekend.

Schlafly Kolsch
3 Floyds Blackheart
3 Floyds Gumballhead
3 Floyds Alpha King
Two Brothers Cane & Ebel
He'Brew Vertical Jewbelation
Bell's Two Hearted

Of course there are also the typical Guinness, Smithwick's, Harp, etc... if you're in to that sort of thing.

Official New Holland Hatter Day at Fiddler's Hearth Date

Alright, it's been confirmed, Hatter Day at Fiddler's will be on the 9th... Should be a good time!

A reminder of the special brews that will be on tap, all from New Holland.

Black Hatter Black IPA
Farmhouse Hatter Belgian IPA
Rye Hatter RIPA
Oak Aged Hatter IPA

Blackheart on tap at Fiddler's Hearth Tomorrow

Just a quick update based on a conversation I had last night with the bar manager at Fiddler's Hearth... 3 Floyds Blackheart (English Style IPA 9%) will be on tap tomorrow. If you haven't had it before, it's delicious.

There is some other cool stuff coming, but I'm going to hold off on revealing the details until he's ready.

Hatter Day date confusion

Just a quick update on Hatter Day mentioned below. I spoke with a manager at Fiddler's Hearth and he informed me that he was actually thinking it would be the 9th, not the 8th (which is what the distributor had announced). Stay tuned for upcoming clarification.

New Holland Hatter Day Celebration

Doing a copy and paste job for New Holland "Hatter Day" at Fiddler's Hearth in South Bend on June 8th from 5-8. I'm not sure if I can be there, but it sounds like a great time!

"The Hatters have left Holland! For the first time ever, all four of the rarest Hatters will be making the journey south to Michiana. For one night only, at one pub only, try all of the Hatters on draft. Black Hatter Black IPA, Farmhouse Hatter Belgian IPA, Rye Hatter RIPA, and Oak Aged Hatter IPA. There is only one keg of each, so come early, because once they are gone, they won't reappear until next June."