Founders Brewing Company

Ferd577

Indiana

4.8/5  rDev +10.6%
vibe: 4.75 | quality: 4.75 | service: 5 | selection: 5 | food: 4 | $

Loved the staff. They answer questions well, pour samples and never let your glass sit empty. The food (mostly sandwishes) are quality deli style, pickles and all. They have a huge assortment of beers on tap, many only available on tap, everything they will fill a growler with and you can bring your own from another brewery.

You can get everything they bottle as carry-out and the prices are way better than at the party store, $3 to $5 less per 4 or 6 pack. Their gift shop is pretty nice too boot.

02-09-2013 12:17:20 | More by Ferd577

CWOlsen

Michigan

4.13/5  rDev -4.8%
vibe: 4.5 | quality: 5 | service: 3 | selection: 4.5 | food: 3 | $$

Founder's is the reason Grand Rapids is "Beer City USA" They have created a brand that is the highest quality yet maintains the ability to experiment and branch out to many different offerings.

The brewpub is large and friendly, but can be a little too loud depending on the evening. They host live music some nights (very loud then).

Mug club is a good deal with breaks on pints, six packs and growlers.

I personally like Centennial IPA and All Day IPA (being a bit of a hop head) but most of the standard offerings are well above par (from Pale to Stout) Red's Rye is very popular.

12-01-2012 20:31:30 | More by CWOlsen

MudDrinker

Ohio

4.88/5  rDev +12.4%
vibe: 5 | quality: 5 | service: 5 | selection: 4.5 | food: 5 | $$

The interior is well put together - large, well-spaced bar extending across the entire dining room. The dining room/main hall is widely spaced with a high ceiling to give a laid-back, relaxed atmosphere no matter how crowded it gets. The front of the building is entirely a patio to control overflow, or for those crisp fall days and warm summer nights.

Bartenders are all friendly and open to questions, service is fast and reliable.

Food is delicious and proportions huge on the verge of ridiculous (vegetarian-friendly, one or two vegan-friendly options).

Of course, the beer is amazing. They have tiers based on rarity, seasonality, etc. When I went in it was a Saturday during lunch, all the "higher" tiered beers (seasonals and peculiar taphouse-exclusives) were all gone. Still, FBS (Breakfast Stout) and Dirty Bastard was on tap. Came away with a growler of Harvest Ale.
When they fill your growler, expect at most an inch of air at the top of it.

Bottom-line: If I lived in Grand Rapids, I would be in this place at least once a week.

12-01-2012 17:52:22 | More by MudDrinker

avalonct

Michigan

4.81/5  rDev +10.8%
vibe: 5 | quality: 5 | service: 4.75 | selection: 4.5 | food: 5 | $$$

This place just seems to get busier and busier everytime I visit. It's nearly impossible to get a table during the weekend, and the weekdays are harder to come by as well. This place is definitely getting a lot of positive press in the Grand Rapids area, and deservingly so. I just hope the owners and staff don't let all of this publicity get to their heads and sacrifice service, food, and most importantly the quality and integrity of the ingredients of the beer. I was told that they are tripling their batch of KBS for next year based on the demand this year. That is great, but like I said, I hope they don't cut corners and sacrifice the quality for quantity.

Anyway, this place is still clearly a must visit and the selection of beer is wonderful for a variety of interests.

11-26-2012 21:07:00 | More by avalonct

tat2matt

North Carolina

4.53/5  rDev +4.4%
vibe: 4 | quality: 4.5 | service: 4.5 | selection: 5 | food: 4 | $$

Great selection of classics, hard-to-find unique brews, and one-off experiments that made for an enjoyable destination experience. The newer building with numerous windows and clean restaurant feel made the atmosphere a little less "dank" than I prefer my bars, but I wasn't really there for the ambiance. I was there the for beer and I was not disappointed. All of the servers were very friendly, knowledgeable, and eager to refill our glasses when they were a little too close to empty. Reasonable pricing for great beer. Definitely a must-visit for any beer lover who finds themselves in the mitten.

11-07-2012 14:12:23 | More by tat2matt

theecaleb

Alaska

4.3/5  rDev -0.9%
vibe: 4.5 | quality: 5 | service: 4.5 | selection: 3.5 | food: 3.5 | $$

A: Looks like a former train station, the place is HUGE. Nice long bar, plenty of seating.

Q: Its Founders. If you've had their beers in bottle, expect nothing less when you visit. The place is all about quality.

Ser: Much better than most brew houses I've visited. It seems most craft brewery's either have miserable employees, or servers who belong at the your local Applebee's and just don't understand craftbeer. You wont find this attitude at Founders, all the employees seemed to genuinely care about their industry and were there to serve you.

Sel: Selection was nothing to write home about, it seemed they only had three or so beers that were unique to the brewery. Most the other taps you can pick up at the local brew store.

F: Pretty dang good. They only real down fall was the sandwiches don't come with any sides, and if you ask for chips they come in a little single serving bag. Made it feel kind of cheap, would have been nice to something homemade or unique to go along with a delicious sandwich.

Visit was early, around noon on a Saturday in September. So it was not very busy yet. Due to Michigan weather, we did not get to explore if they had any outdoor seating or beer garden. They had a few small TV's to watch the local sporting events. Overall, I thought Founders was above average, and I would recommend it to anyone as one of the top craft brewery's in the Mitten. I would visit again.

11-04-2012 21:58:14 | More by theecaleb

RobWilson

Indiana

4.71/5  rDev +8.5%
vibe: 4 | quality: 4.5 | service: 5 | selection: 5 | $

I was there at a busy period but intended to make a quick stop on my way home. The server was very helpful in guiding me to reasonable samples knowing I would be driving within 30 minutes. The beers I tried were delicious and true to their styles.

The shop is attached to the tasting room and was well-stocked with bottles for me to take home with me. Prices for swag was reasonable. The cashier in the shop made the wonderful suggestion of mixing the cherry with the stout.

Definitely worth the trip and not far off the Interstate if you're just passing through Grand Rapids.

10-24-2012 02:29:14 | More by RobWilson

DrinkMoreBigBeers

Michigan

4.35/5  rDev +0.2%
vibe: 4.5 | quality: 4 | service: 4.5 | selection: 4.5 | food: 4.5 | $$

February 2012

Driving up to the big red barnyard like building was nice as it stuck out against the other buildings right in downtown Grandrapids.

Atmosphere - Can you say this tap room is huge! With a really nice wooden bar that seemed to go on forever. Even at 4 p.m. it was busy for the sheer size of their tasting room. Only thing I did not expect and had to get use to is trying to get a table for my fiancee and I. Expect to ask someone if they are leaving, and ask if it would be alright for you to have the table once they are finished; or you may stand around for quit some time. It would be nice if they put a sign up that told you about this, and gave you a few humorous pointers for all newbies. Later on in the evening they had a live band which was a nice touch of entertainment. Oh yeah, can you say this room gets loud!

Quality - The quality is top notch, everything seems to be brand new. Lots of wood from the bar to the tables, chairs, and floors. Although this room is huge it seems like they could personalize it a little more by adding a few decorations here or there. Beer is also top notch with three different tears that are priced accordingly. Top notch on quality now they just need to add the little things to make it feel more welcoming and personalized.

Service - Service is good once you get seated the wait staff checks on you often. At the bar there was not much wait for the sheer amount of people drinking. Only thing to be expected is to go up and order your food and pick it up from a separate location from the bar.

Selection - There beer selection was great. I found that they had some beer we never heard of from them and they were excellent. My Fiancee found her favorite which was only offered in the tap room, which was called Manguy Mango. I got to try an assortment of beers all in one sitting. Almost to many to choose from for a one time visit. My pallet was taxed to the max.

Food - They have a nice sandwich selection that we choose from. The two that we had were excellent and they even told you on the menu what to pair them with. These sandwiches were huge and definitely worth the price. You may want to split one depending on how much you plan on drinking.

Value - There beer prices at the tap room were reasonable especially if you wanted to get a growler. If you get a chance to go you may want to pick a sampler to start. You get 4, 4 ounce pours for a decent price. Very good price for the quality of beer you get here. The sandwich were big and delicious too. A very good experience and a must for any beer connoisseur.

09-22-2012 14:24:43 | More by DrinkMoreBigBeers

C2H5

Illinois

4.66/5  rDev +7.4%
vibe: 4.5 | quality: 5 | service: 4.5 | selection: 4.5 | $$

This is just a great place to have a beer!
I really like Founders beers and a trip to the brewery in Grand Rapids was well worth the 3 hour ride . I enjoyed the very large bar and had excellent experience with the waitstaff. The atmosphere reflects their beer perfectly, a very relaxed and unpretentious environment with a refined and very high quality product. I am jealous of the "mug club" members here, because I am sure that they get taken care of by Founders. I would love to visit again tomorrow!

09-06-2012 05:40:20 | More by C2H5

spartan1979

Missouri

4.45/5  rDev +2.5%
vibe: 4 | quality: 4.5 | service: 4.5 | selection: 4.5 | food: 4.5 | $$

We had lunch here last Thursday. The place is amazing, it's huge inside with great views of the brewery.

I love sandwiches and Founders has a great sandwich menu. That's about all they have, but that's enough for me. If you can't find a sandwich that interests you, you don't like sandwiches.

I'm not a big fan of Founders beers (I know that's sacrilege, but to each his own) but they had a couple of beers on tap that I haven't had and I enjoyed them both.

The service was very good and the staff was very friendly. I have to go back and try a couple of the other sandwiches.

07-26-2012 01:27:07 | More by spartan1979