|
|
Grand Rapids Area, July 2003 |
|
|
 Hair of
the Frog
Todd’s brother took a temporary assignment in Grand
Rapids. Since we hadn’t been to
the area yet, we decided to pay him a visit.
He was staying in a small hotel on the north side – just a couple
blocks to walk to Hair of the Frog Brewery (now closed). We got a room in the same hotel and took a walk to Hair of
the Frog with Todd’s brother.
The atmosphere was quite cool – couches,
footstools, low tables and games. The
upstairs area had free dartboards and other cool games.
The only bummer for Todd's brother is that it is non-smoking.
However, they had a nice patio area for smokers.
It was also different how they made the old in-ground pool into a seating
area with plant-life.
We visited Hair of the Frog twice over the weekend.
We took no notes, but remember liking some of the brews.
They do not have growlers here or brew to go. The hotel was another matter and after the first night, off to a Holiday
Inn nearby.
See
new link to The
Hideout (click here) - which it is now called!
Robert Thomas Brewing Co./Roffey Brewing Company
The following day it was time to visit the other
microbreweries in the area. There
are (were) 4 more to visit. After
plotting out our course on the maps we left on our tour.
The first stop was at Robert Thomas Brewing Co.,(Roffey Brewing Company
merged with them). They were closed and didn’t open till like 5:00 pm and we
decided we would not be coming back here that late.
It appeared to be a small place. Moving
on, Grand Rapids Brewing Co. was next.
See
new link to Schmohz (click here) -
which it is now called!
|
 |
|
 |
|
|
Grand Rapids Brewing Co. |
|
|
This
is a very nice place and we liked the dark woodwork.
We sat up at the bar.
The bartender was helpful and courteous and we were
glad to find that they had growlers.
We ordered a sampler and we tasted:
Centennial Silver Foam, Pale Ale Tap, River City
Red, and Lumberman Dark.
Todd asked if they did any bottling when we found
out they had a bottle of Metaphysical Monk -
Belgian Tripple which we ended up purchasing, very
tasty.
See
updated link to Grand
Rapids (click here) for more information!
Appearance:
4.5 stars
Beer: 3.5
Food: did not
eat
Atmosphere: 4 stars
|
|
|
|
|
|
B.O.B.’s House of Brews |
|
|
Next stop we went to the B.O.B.’s House of
Brews.
This is a very cool place. There are six levels of
different restaurants and clubs with a comedy club on the top
floor. Judson’s
Steakhouse, Gill’s Fish House, Monkey Bar, Bobarino’s,
Crush, and Dr. Grins.
At Bobarino’s we sat outside on the Sky Deck, a
patio area overlooking busy Fulton Street.
In our sampler we tried: Blonde Ale, Porter, Smokey Scotch, B.O.B.’s Lager, and Festive Amber. We remembered liking their brews. For dinner we ordered “build your own pizza” and it was
pretty good, I think.
We’ll have to come back here again.
Web
address is: www.thebob.com
See
our latest visit by clicking here!
Appearance: 5 stars
Beer: 4 stars
Food: 4.5
Atmosphere: 4 stars
|
|
|
|
|
|
Founders Brewing Co. |
|
|
Our last stop was Founders Brewing
Co. They
don’t serve food here, just some chips, peanuts, and
pretzel type stuff.
They also have bands for entertainment.
The building is a big warehouse and this place is
very open inside, lots of windows.
We ordered up a sampler and
tried several different brews.
We did not like the Java Stout but, many of their
brews were tasty. They
had a couple different stouts on tap.
Canal Street Brewing Co. was no longer on the Michigan
Beer Guide list and we found out it had re-opened as
Founders.
See
our latest visit at founders by clicking
here!
Their
web address is: www.foundersbrewing.com
Appearance: 3.5
Beer: 4 stars
Food: no food
Atmosphere: 4 stars
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Home
|
|
|
|
Sanford Lake & Mountain Town (June, 2001)
|
|
|
|
Big Buck & Alcatraz (Aug, 2001)
|
|
|
|
Jamesport, Lighthouse, Mackinaw, Northpeak, Brewzone, Boyne River (Sep, 2001)
|
|
|
|
Wiltse's (Nov, 2001) & Tawas Point (May, 2004)
|
|
|
|
King, Big Rock, & WAB (July, 2001)
|
|
|
|
Hereford and Hops (starting Dec, 2001, several trips)
|
|
|
|
Harpers, Tuba, & MBC (Mar, 2002)
|
|
|
|
Tahquamenon, Lake Superior, Jasper Ridge, Library brewpub (Aug, 2002)
|
|
|
|
Quay Street, Dragonmead, Great Baraboo (Apr, 2003)
|
|
|
|
Hair of the Frog, Robert Thomas, Grand Rapids, B.O.B.'S, Founders (July, 2003)
|
|
|
|
Grizzly, Arbor, Leopolds (Aug 6, 2004)
|
|
|
|
Sports, Traffic, Stoney, Kuhnhenn (Aug 7, 2004)
|
|
|
|
Thunder Bay, Belle Isle (Aug 8, 2004)
|
|
|
|
Jamesport, Salmon fishing (Aug 29, 2004)
|
|
|
|
Rochester, Big Rock, King, Bo's, WAB, Bastone, Copper (Sep 11, 2004)
|
|
|
|
Black Forest, Frankenmuth (Oct 1, 2004)
|
|
|
|
Old Hat, Bilbos, Olde Peninsula, Bells, Kraftbrau (Oct 8, 2004)
|
|
|
|
Arcadia, Dark Horse, Harpers (Oct 9, 2004)
|
|
|
|
Midland St. Ale Tour, Bay City, 2004
|
|
|
|
Old Boys, New Holland, Via Maria, Grand Rapids Brewing (Nov 12, 2004)
|
|
|
|
The B.O.B., Founders (Nov 13, 2004)
|
|
|
|
Thunder Bay, Kings, Bo's, CJ's (Feb 5, 2005)
|
|
|
|
Great Baraboo, Dragonmead, Belle River (Feb 26, 2005)
|
|
|
|
Boyne River, Shorts (Apr 30, 2005)
|
|
|
|
2nd U.P. Trip - Part 1, Tahquamenon, Lake Superior, Vierling, Jasper (Aug 24,25, 2005)
|
|
|
|
2nd U.P. Trip - Part 2, Red Jacket, Keweenaw, Library, Hereford & Hops (Aug 26,27, 2005)
|
|
|
|
Mountain Town, Sanford - 2nd Trip (Sept 10, 2005)
|
|
|
|
Michigan Brewing, Jolly Pumpkin, Redwood Lodge, (Sept 24, 2005)
|
|
|
|
Livery, Saugatuck, New Holland, Via Maria (Sept 30, 2005)
|
|
|
|
Middle Villa, Schmohz, Hideout (Oct 1, 2005)
|
|
|
|
Redwood Lodge (Sep, 2004), Redwood Lodge (Oct 8, 2005)
|
|
|
|
Kuhnhenn, Bastone, Lilys (Oct. 21, 2005)
|
|
|
|
Bonfire, Etouffee (Oct. 22, 2005)
|
|
|
|
Cork 'N' Ale 11th Annual Fall Beer Tasting (Nov. 3, 2005)
|
|
|
|
Traverse City, North Peak (Dec. 2, 2005)
|
|
|
|
Mackinaw, Shorts (Dec. 3, 2005)
|
|
|
|
Lumber Barons' Charcoal Grill & Brewpub (Dec. 9 & 10, 2005)
|
|
|
|
 |
