Founders Brewing Company closed...for 2 whole weeks

It's official: Founders Brewing Company has shuttered its taproom doors… at least for a little while. No, this isn't a harkening back to the near-bankruptcy levels that Founders famously (or infamously?) operated at during its early days--it's another stage of the brewery's seemingly ever-expanding presence in Grand Rapids. After investing $26 million into its most recent project, Founders has made sure that its patrons understand that the taproom will be closed starting Tuesday (that's today!) all the way until September 16. That's when the rest of the changes to the taproom--including a spacious beer garden complete with its own bar and at least one fireplace--will be finalized.

I've imagined that many people--both local and from other places in the world--will be clamoring for the taproom while the public is barred from entering. I know at least one person who has already expressed his depression over the temporary closure. He's one of my best friends and he's on a one-month vacation from his position with the Peace Corps in Senegal. During half of his month here in the U.S., Founders will be closed. The man is a huge fan and I'm doing my best to make sure that he gets his fix, but there's nothing enjoying a glass of Dirty Bastard or Red's Rye straight from the source. Depending on how well he maintains his composure, he could end up leading a revolt to break in, manning the taps in his manic state for all those who have a love for Founders and craft beer that is equal to his. Watch out, Founders--there are quite a few of us!

A rendering as imagined from Grandville Avenue | Courtesy of Founders Brewing Co.

As in many other situations, this is an instance where patience is most certainly a virtue. If you haven't seen the renderings, you need to right now. Seriously. Look at them. I've been drooling over them for months--since they were released in April--and so has my friend in the Peace Corps, even though he's been thousands of miles away the entire time. The beautifully landscaped garden! The second level! Those ghost people! Founders is going to be completely different in less than two weeks, but the heart of it will still be there and that heart is what makes Founders so great. The ability for myself and many others, in Michigan and elsewhere, to feel solidarity with the company's spirit is what has turned some of the best beer that is poured in Grand Rapids into some of the best beer that is poured in the entire world.

The private rental space and educational facility, complete with second-floor balcony | Courtesy of Founders Brewing Co.

Interestingly, the company has plans to expand its share of the international craft beer market. Even though the CEO of Founders said that its beer has been available through a Danish wholesaler in Europe for the past five years, the company has not focused much on its game outside of the U.S. until now. The international beer market should be ready for the storming of its beaches as Founders rolls up on the shores of Sweden, Denmark, England, Canada, Australia, and Brazil in the near future, if it hasn't already. Way to represent Michigan on the international level, Founders.

How Long Can Our Beer City Bubble Last?

Those of you who know me will not be shocked to see that I'm writing about Michigan beer. My love for the liquid from our peninsular state is blatantly apparent, and it doesn't hurt that I've accidentally surrounded myself with people who are extremely agreeable with me on the topic. Known to some (including myself) as the Great Beer State, Michigan has the fifth-highest number of breweries in the nation at 122, according to a 2012 report from the Brewers Association. Homing in on Grand Rapids and West Michigan, we find a handful of them. A brewery tour crafted by Experience Grand Rapids lists 21 establishments, 15 of which are located in Greater Grand Rapids.

Heavyweights like Founders and Bell's easily made the cut onto this tour, as did Brewery Vivant, a particularly propinquitous location to my home that is known for sustainability and Belgian beer, not to mention the fact that it's situated in a repurposed funeral home. Lesser known brewers like Pike 51, White Flame, Waldorff, Harmony and Jaden James were included as well. Notably absent is Perrin Brewing, but that could be due to the operation's relative youth. It's likely that several others didn't make the list, as well.

Keeping track of these breweries has not been as hard as one might think, probably because the whole industry is dear to my heart. Still, I cannot say that I've been to all of the breweries that Grand Rapids has to offer, let alone all of those that I listed. And thinking about the sheer number in our city--let alone West Michigan and the entire state--got me wondering just how long our brewing bubble can last. The number of new companies each year seems to go up little by little (I'm looking at you, Perrin), with some breweries like Founders expanding on what seems to be an annual basis. National data reported by the Brewers Association show that there is still serious growth, year after year with 13 percent by volume in 2011 and 15 percent in 2012.

But growth can only continue for so long. As of 2012, the U.S. had the highest total number of breweries (2,403) since the 1880s. More than 400 breweries (counting both brewpubs and

Excluding Prohibition, the mid-to-late 1970s saw the lowest
number of breweries in the nation, bar none. (Infographic
courtesy of the Brewers Association)

microbreweries) opened in 2012 while 43 closed their doors. Though the closings account for about 10.5 percent of the openings, few people seem to be worried that their dreams of opening a brewery or working as a brewer are endangered. The burst of this delicious, carbonated bubble likely won't happen for awhile, but it should be noted that a saturated market often leads to the weeding of the weak.

So with a swollen craft brewery sector, Grand Rapids moves forward as Beer City USA for the second year in a row. But what does that title even mean anyhow, when it seems that we may have been the only city to circulate a pseudo-political campaign for the win? You saw all of those coasters, right? Grand Rapids had more than half of the total votes cast during the poll with 27,005 votes out of approximately 50,000. Coming in second place, Kalamazoo had 11,150 votes, just above Asheville (who tied with us last year for the title) with 10,075 votes. Maybe our beer is just that good--who knows? But be sure to notice that the top two cities are from Michigan… Could this be a sign that our state is too deeply in love with its own beer? Let's hope not because it's apparently contributing more than $133 million to our state's economy, according to the Michigan Brewers Guild, and it's certainly having a major impact on tourism in Grand Rapids and other cities throughout the state.

--Matt Knaack lives in Grand Rapids and occasionally blogs for ZZP.