Founder's Brewing Company

Today on the Bite Tonight: Founder’s Brewing Company.

Located in Downtown Grand Rapids on Grandville Ave Founder’s Brewing Company is ranked one of the top breweries not only in the U.S, but also in the world. Founder’s currently offers about 20 seasonal beers on tap, a variety of deli items, live music, and a store where you can get tons of swag. See how they ranked.

Atmosphere: 4 out of 5 bites

Price: 3 out of 5 bites

Quality/Taste: 3.5 out of 5 bites

Service: 3 out of 5 bites

Wow Factor: 3 out of 5 bites (due to square footage)

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First of all, this place is massive! Josh and I walked in to a huge taproom/dining room. In the evening, you seat yourself, first come first serve. Lucky for us, we were able to snag a seat because loyal beer drinkers tend to congregate to the huge outdoor beer garden.

Backwoods Bastard: Dirty Bastard pulled pork, Colby Jack cheese, tangy coleslaw & Dirty Bastard BBQ sauce on toasted ciabatta. The pork was moist, but the sandwich could’ve used more BBQ sauce. The ciabatta was the perfect choice to hold up to the saucy, crunchy coleslaw.

Detroit Ham & Cheese: Smoked ham layered with cheddar and Swiss cheese, topped with Dirty Bastard Stone Ground Mustard on a fresh onion roll. Served with a sidecar of spicy Giardiniera. The ham was juicy, smoky, and slightly sweet. The onion roll was a little on the over done side, but nothing a little cheese and mustard wouldn’t fix.

Then it was time for dessert….

Rubaeus Raspberry Ale: Class 2, 5.7% alcohol. Strong fruity taste, not too sweet.

Dirty Bastard: Class 1, 8.5% alcohol. Malty,  hoppy and not for us.  Josh asked our server (who closely resembled Ned Stark) for the most popular beer, and this is what he got. Looks like the locals love it!

(Not sure if my poor cell phone flash picture quality had anything to do with the color or not.  Hey, they don’t call it dirty for nothing)!

If you love beer, then you have to check out Founder’s Brewing Company. The huge outdoor beer garden (shown in the photo below:  front, left) and the overall square footage blew my mind. Josh and I aren’t huge beer enthusiasts, but can still appreciate Founder’s. If you haven’t taken a trip to Grand Rapids, stop by this gigantic brewery and lose yourself. It’s a beer lover’s heaven.