Looks like another solid lineup. Do any BA's remember what brews they poured last year? I know they had Blushing Monk, but what were their "surprises"?
They had KBS and Better Half. I think they also had Kaiser Cashew Mountain Brown. I could be wrong though. If the weather is good, it is a top notch event and worth going to. Not sure we will make it this year, but we are going to try.
Solid lineup of what? I didn't see 1 beer listed. I'm sure the lineup will be "solid" once they announce it but so far just general info on the event with the bands that r playing.
This was last year's lineup.. Centennial IPA Devil Dancer Red’s Rye PA Pale Ale Founders Fest Wheat Backwoods Bastard Dirty Bastard Cerise All Day IPA Blushing Monk Better Half KBS Cashew Mountain
I don't think they release the lineup until a few days prior to the event, and they tend to hold a few as surprises. If nothing else, it's a great time, especially if the weather is nice.
I was more referring to the lineup of the bands. I'm sure they'll have something great. I'm really hoping they do the Cashew Mountain Brown again this year.
I'm trying to convince the wife to go as I really want to hit this event. All signs are looking good, can't wait!
From the CraftBeerinMI mailing list: April 21st, beginning at 11am. Founders 11th Annual Black Party! Location: Founders Taproom Cost: $10 General Public/$8 for 2012 Mug Club Members It's our 11th annual Black Party! An all-day celebration of our darkest, richest, blackest beers! Featuring musical entertainment from: Chamberlin, The Stereofidelics,and Oracle. Our 11th Annual Black Party celebrates the black beers we've come to love: stouts, porters, black IPAs, etc. The event features rare and classic Founders beers, as well as some brewed just for the Black Party. Dexous will be grilling up his famed Dirty Bastard brats in the afternoon, which will be available through our deli while supplies last, of course our regular menu will be available as well. Live music begins at 6pm and goes all night. The company store will have tons of sweet Founders gear for sale, and the whole day will be an incredible experience. Your paid admission gets you a commemorative Black Party pint glass and your first fill of Class 1 beer!! The glass is yours to take home! Dexous' famed Dirty Bastard brats will be available in the afternoon. The tap list will be absurdly wonderfully stacked but will not be announced until the day of the event. Old favorites, rarities, and crazed, experimental one-offs will all be featured. Expect to see: *Imperial Stout *Breakfast Stout *Oatmeal Stout *Black IPA *Barrel Aged Stouts (multiple varieties) *Milk Stout *Rye Stout *Berzerker37.....and more! Full details at http://www.foundersbrewing.com/?event=black-party
Already bought my tix today... Can you tell I'm excited??? Tomorrow will be my first Founders even other than the KBS release. These should both be GREAT events!
Looks like I'm going. I've got a friend in Grand Rapids that's getting tickets. I've had a few Founder's brews but haven't found anything I love yet. I'm still looking forward to it though.
I know it is early yet, but any insiders have any info to add with regard to the taplist for this year's event? Also, are we talking lines such as 'KBS is tapping at 7, so let's get in line at 6:30 to score some' (MI Winter Beer Fest) or in the past has it been more relaxed along the lines of 'let's see what they have and grab a beer off of whatever they have available when we get to the front' (DLD style)?
I may be finding my way up. The taplist is not all that important to me, with Soulive on stage I would go and drink water all day. Luckily there is no reason to abstain, great beer as well as Soulive is a cant lose situation.
Really torn as to whether to hit Founders Fest this year. I'm heading out on a 3 week road trip July 5th, so I'm leaning towards conserving money for that. While I want to see what specialties they will have on tap, the music itself isn't really my cup of tea.
After being underwelmed by their taplists on KBS day and Black Party....I will be staying home and saving my $$$ as well I did see Looking Glass was on this evening....that may be worth it by itself!
Keep This is nothing like a beer release. This is as much of a street festival as it is a beer event. Great music, great food, great people (more "regular" folks than beer geeks). They could be pouring CBS and 80% of the people there will not care. You will get a wristband when you enter. You will proceed to buy beer tickets. You will proceed to the beer tent. Choose your beer and listen to some GREAT music. You may have to wait if you go to the specialty beer line but no more than 10-15 mins. They typically rotate those throughout the day and have 3 or 4 pouring at the same time. The basic beers you can get pretty much right away and are available throughout the day. This is my favorite festival of the year for the simple fact that it isn't a beer festival.
Just so long as I don't start drinking at 9:30 the night before I think I should be fine. Water is probably still a good idea.
I had Looking Glass on tap last night, it's a pretty fascinating concoction. The base beer is there but the hops are pretty overwhelmed by the brandy which is just extremely forward on both the nose and taste. Also, look how dramatic the color difference is (Looking glass in the snifter on the left, regular Double Trouble in the smaller glass on the right).
Dave's Not Here is an amber ale aged in a blend of three different barrels. It was pretty malty from what I remember, with a some pretty tasty "wood" notes coming through as well.
Just throwing this out there again. Me and another BA are riding our motorcycles up there from Chicago. Leaving around 9am on Saturday. Stopping at a few breweries on the way up until we reach Grand Rapids and then we will be hitting the fest. If any of you ride, it would be awesome to get a couple other riders in on this.
EseLocosSS, I don't ride but I was wondering what breweries you were stopping at on the way up from Chicago? I think me and a few buddies will be going to Bell's on Sunday because it's not too far out of the way on the drive back. In case anyone was wondering, I ordered three tickets last night off their website and the last numbers on each of my print out tickets is 471, 472, and 473. So I would be assuming that they have sold less than 500 tickets online so far.
Interesting. I'd guess most of the ticket sales were in the taproom or walk up. Thought I read they had 5,000 last year.
Sorry Founders! I love ya....but I am headed to Hoppin Frog in Ohio to load up on some BA Naked Evil! #nobarleywineingrandrapids
Lineup for Founders Fest... "Beer: All of our regular favorites will be on tap, including Centennial IPA, Pale Ale, Dirty Bastard, Reds RyePA, Porter, Solid Gold, Cerise Cherry Ale. We will also be pouring Founders Fest Wheat, which is brewed once per year, just for this event! As for the specialties and firkins, those are all surprises, and will be announced as they are rotated on and off throughout the day!" By the way, this is the first year they are putting firkins on at Founders Fest.
Can someone explain how they do the ticketing for the beers for this event? Is every pour a ticket and how much does a ticket cost?
I don't remember the exact way or cost, but I think the tickets were a buck or two each, and they had 2 or 3 different classes of beers. It's convenient in a way, but also annoying because I would imagine a large majority of people ended up with extra tickets at the end, like I did.
Hmm... wonder how efficient they will be about getting the word out on the specialty taps... looks like I will be spending a lot of time at the beer tent.
Dave's Not Here is absolutely great. It'll probably be there. A little birdie told me that they'll have two barrels of the Looking Glass. Its the Double Trouble aged in Brandy barrels -__-. Its amazing. Besides those Frangelic Mt. Brown will most likely be there. Its being released in bottles like a week or so afterwords. Therefor I doubt Cashew Mt. Brown will be there. I hope I'm wrong however for I have never tried it. I would flip if Blushing Monk is on tap! Whatever is there its gonna be great. I'm really excited to see Soil and The Sun! See you there.
Looking forward to seeing everyone there. I'm excited to see Soil and the Sun too. Going to be another great event.
