Before Canvitational, get to know Brewery Vivant!

We are getting excited for the upcoming Canvitational event happening later this month.  The lineup is very impressive again this year with Canvitational the only place you can get many of these beers due to their distribution. We wanted to get to know each of the participating breweries a little bit better. So, we've sent out a six pack questionnaire to each of them and we wanted to share them with you.

Up now is Jason Spaulding, President and Owner from Brewery Vivant in Grand Rapids.  You can look forward to sampling from them:

Big Red Coq, Belgo-American Hoppy Red Ale
Farm Hand, French Style Farmhouse Ale
Triomphe, Belgian IPA
Undertaker, Belgian Style Dark Ale

1. What music do you hear most often on the brew deck?  

Actually no music is allowed in the brewery at all.  By keeping it quiet our brewers get to know all the sounds associated with our process; pumps, boiler, grain auger, canning line etc.  We find we have been able to troubleshoot quicker, and are better at our jobs.



2. What's your brewing mission? What are you trying to accomplish with your beer?  

Brewery Vivant beer is inspired by the small farm breweries of Southern Belgium and Northern France. The enthusiasm and artistic approach to beer those brewers exhibit, are values we tap into when brewing here in the States. The beer styles from these areas allow for a wide range of interpretation that is a mix of old traditions, brewing science, artistic interpretation of style, and an adventurous spirit to try new things. The mood of the brewer on any given day can lead to a new recipe or twist on an old favorite. This upholds that artistic quality we look for in our craft beer. The brewer matters--  making beer is a hands-on process. It is not always perfect, but that is what makes it art. It is made with heart and feeling. And to us that is why it is special.


3. How many beards can be found in the brewery on any given day? 

Hmmm four brewers, four beards also some ridiculous mustaches around here.


4. Which beers outside of your own do you enjoy? What beer do you wish you came up with? 

I always have some classic Belgian beers in my fridge; Duvel, Orval, Leffe, La Chouffe.  Also really enjoy beers from Solemn Oath in Chicago area, anything from the Bruery in California.  Really mad at those guys for coming up with "Tart of Darkness".  It is a wonderful beer so can't complain too much.


5. What's your go-to shift beer after a long day brewing?  

I usually drink our Farm Hand.  Just some nice nuances in that beer.  I taste different things everytime I drink it.  Depends on my mood, what I am eating, etc.  Lately though I have been downing our Tree Bucket Belgian style DIPA.  At 9.7% it is not a good idea to make that a shift beer.


6. What do you drink when you aren't drinking beer?  

I love bourbon.  A good Manhattan is one of my go-to drinks.  I make my own proprietary recipe and even soak sour cherries in booze in my fridge for a year to make the perfect accent to the drink

  

What is Canvitational?


The 2nd Annual Sun King CANvitational will take place in the heart of Midwest – Indianapolis, IN. Located on Georgia Street, known for Super Bowl XLVI festivities and Pan Am Plaza, the CANvitational is set to showcase 40+ craft breweries from all over America who CAN.

 On Saturday, September 20th, 2014, the 2nd Annual CANvitational will enlighten patrons to sampling craft beer from award winning breweries from across the USA, enjoy local eats provided by local food trucks and music that will be sure to get you dancing in the streets, in an urban downtown atmosphere. Tickets are available and the event will feature some familiar breweries, as well as many out of state. You can find more information about them and the event at http://canvitational.com/.

Tickets are available here.

Michigan trip continued

In continuation of my first post about my Michigan beer trip, we continued our journey to a place that I've been wanting to hit since I heard about their opening in 2010:  Brewery Vivant in Grand Rapids. Brewery Vivant is located in the East Hills neighborhood of Grand Rapids, which I found to be a very walkable and vibrant business area. The pub is located in part of a renovated (and LEED certified) building that was once a funeral home that contained a large chapel in it.  Brewery Vivant focuses on a Belgian and French theme throughout the entire building, menu, and beer list.  This is another brewery that caught me by surprise.  I've heard nothing but good things about them, but actually getting to walk into the pub was the first delight to my senses.  The pub was built in the old chapel.  The room has buttresses, stained glass, wooden tables, and a certain ambiance that made me feel I was somewhere else.  Vivant was just my kind of place.  The food, the beer, and the atmosphere were all impeccable.  I'm a huge fan of Belgian style beers, and I'm very happy to see their continued rise in production by breweries in the US. I love the saison style and a personal favorite was Vivant's French Hand Farmhouse Ale.  It was lighter in ABV, but had a great flavor and paired very well with my meal.  I am also a huge fan of smoke beers and they had a smoke beer on hand that reminded me of a beer from Schlenkerla.  It was fantastically smokey and overpowering with smoke flavor.  I really had a great experience from Vivant, and they are another place I'm already looking forward to trying again in the future.

Outside of Brewery Vivant

Another shot. The front entrance is through the Chapel doors at the bottom of the picture.

Looking at the top of the bar showing the wood and stone work

Interior shot of the bar and old Chapel.  Here is the original look. 

Tap handle shot

Beer flight

Tap list

A bowl of mussels 

Interior shot of the stained glass window above the entrance door

The next morning we needed to have a solid base for another day of all things beer.  Normally I would never post pictures of breakfast food on a beer blog, but Marie Catrib's, not far from Brewery Vivant, was the real deal for breakfast food. I would recommend this to anyone.

Rock the Hash-bah with spicy chorizo made with pork and mixed with diced potatoes, corn, onions, cayenne, cumin, peppers

Eggs, bacon, in-house made sausage, mushrooms, onions, cheese and potatoes.  Homemade Rye bread with honey butter and mixed berry compote. 

When in Grand Rapids, you must make the pilgrimage over to Founders.  We didn't realize we chose the weekend of the Harvest Ale release party, but we hoped some special gems would be on tap that day.  We got there when they opened up and were about 20 people or so deep in a line that had already formed.  It was $10 bucks to get in that day, but for that $10 you got a pint glass and a glass of Harvest Ale.  If you stuck around long enough it also covered the cost for live music later that evening. Founders has a pretty large space and I was surprised it was nearly at capacity by noon.  Mostly it was the mug club members I saw pounding beers.  I saw more of those than anything else.

Outside of Founders

Stained glass behind the bar

Beers for the day

Nitro oatmeal stout.  4.5% with plenty of flavor.  It was one of my favorites at Founders. 

Pint of Harvest Ale

I had to have a breakfast stout at the source. 

The last stop on the beer adventure was just a short walk away to The Hopcat. They are continually ranked as one of the best beers bars in the world by beer geeks. The Hopcat has been well written about, but this place is a wonderful beer bar that has 48 taps and a large bottle list. 48 taps is too much for most places, but The Hopcat really turns their beer.  This is another one of my favorite stops when in Grand Rapids.

Shot from the end of the bar

Tap towers

One of the best beers I had all weekend.  Biere de Mars from Jolly Pumpkin. 

Pint of something

It was another successful beer trip to SE Michigan.  Breweries and bars keep multiplying like crazy up there, and we only really hit the tip of the iceberg when it comes to beer establishments.  Many breweries we wanted to hit, but simply couldn't because we just didn't have enough time or enough cab money.  I'm looking forward to my next trip that hopefully happens sooner than later.

Beer Tourism: Michigan

On the weekend of October 16, Jess and I went up to Detroit for the Detroit Free Press Marathon. When I think of Detroit, I picture a Thunderdome-style apocalyptic world with overturned flaming cars and people fighting for gas. I'm pleased to report that this was not the case. The downtown area was fairly quiet, with a good variety of abandoned buildings, but it was also safe, walkable and full of good restaurants. Tons of different historic architectural styles made up the downtown area, which is cool if you're in to that (and we are).  After Jess finished up her second full marathon, and beat her Chicago time from last year to set a new personal record, we checked out the two rival coney dog shops. Lafayette was our favorite, but both were great. For dinner, we celebrated at Michael Symon's Roast. Now before I go on,

Check out this beer list.

Yeah, that's right, a huge selection of beer with a focus on sours. Jolly Pumpkin La Purcela was on draft so of course we got that. Lots of clove and cinnamon with a bit of winter squash behind the tartness. That was followed up with a bottle of Jolly Pumpkin's iO Saison, which was a really stellar fruity saison that gained its fruit notes from hibiscus. The food was incredible as well, my New York Strip Steak was topped with an entire piece of bone marrow! For dessert we split a Guinness ice cream sundae topped with pretzels. Sure, it's not a cheap place, but Jolly Pumpkin was about the same price as it is in a liquor store here. The beer list does not lie!

On Monday we embarked our trek across Michigan. First up, Kuhnhenn! We had heard a lot about Kuhnhenn, first sampling their beers at GABF in 2008. The brewery has expanded and remodeled and one could hardly tell that it had once been an auto parts shop. The brewery had a large U shaped bar in the center and featured 32 taps all of their own beer, with a few beer/wine hybrids. Why wine? They also have a 6 page wine list of all their own wines. I had a glass of their Cherry Ode'bruine which weighed in at 12% ABV but had almost no detectable alcohol presence. Dangerous! Jess had a Creme Brûlée Java Stout which was hands down the best example of that sub-style either of us had ever tried. Decadent burnt sugars and coffee without being cloyingly sweet.  We went through a sampler of some of their more standard styles (and a beer/wine hybrid) and were not disappointed. Food options are slim here, but the beers are top notch. This brewery is not to be missed.

Cherry Ode'bruine

Creme Brulee Java Stout

16 taps, on this side.  32 total.  All Kuhnhenn.

The tap list - click for bigger

Sampler paddle, the one on the far end is Export Stout mixed with Blueberry wine

After Kuhnhenn, we set off for Ann Arbor, to visit the Jolly Pumpkin pub. We were first met with 1.40/hr parking meters (so quit your bitching, Indy) and then found ourselves in a wonderfully comfortable European-inspired pub. Tons of dark wood and decor that, while kitschy, felt like it had been there for decades. Given the age of Jolly Pumpkin, this was the product of good interior design and not time. Besides a selection of 6-8 Jolly Pumpkin beers on tap, they also had an equal number of other Michigan taps, weighted toward North Peak. I had the Weizen Bam, which was a really great Belgian Wit interpretation, and Jess had a La Purcela (same pumpkin beer we had at Roast). For our next round, I had the standard Bam Biere and Jess went with a Tortuga Chocolate Stout on hand pull.  Seems that Tortuga is a Jolly Pumpkin brand that they apply to their non-sour styles.  Someone correct me if I'm wrong here, I can't find much info on it. The food was mostly sandwiches and pizzas. We got two pizzas and both were very good and provided us with a ton of leftovers. The Jolly Pumpkin pub left us missing Jolly Pumpkin's presence in Indianapolis. Their beer is easily worth the $12+ price tag it carried when in the state.

Bam Biere in the foreground, Chocolate Stout in the background

Next on our list was Dark Horse. We've heard a lot of good things about this brewery, and no one let us down with their recommendations. The brewpub looks like an old shed, on the outside and inside. The ceiling is adorned with handmade clay mug club mugs. The bar was full of friendly regulars and AMC's monster movie marathon was on the TV (YES!). Jess immediately grabbed a Perkulator doppelbock, which she proclaimed to be even better and more heavy on the coffee when fresh, and I grabbed a High Street Bombers Kolsch. The Kolsch was more of a creamy amber brewed with Kolsch yeast, but I wouldn't expect anything normal from Dark Horse. It had a fairly heavy body but was supposedly between 5 and 6% ABV. Our bartender provided us a sample of their Carmel Apple Aley which we incorrectly assumed to be a cider. While it did have some apple flavor, it was more of a burnt sugar laced brown ale with a background of apple. We grabbed a growler of this one before we hit the road, both sad that we didn't have more time to spend here.

High Street Bombers Kolsch

A view of the bar

The outside of the pub

We finally arrived in Grand Rapids, our destination for the day, in the early evening. The hotel valet kindly informed us that it was pint night at Founders, but we had other plans. Brewery Vivant was our dinner destination and easily won the award for best atmosphere. The brewpub is located in an old, small renovated church. The bar is situated where the alter would have been. Brewery Vivant focuses on Belgian beers with an American flair and a side project of making ciders. Farmhouse ales, abbey ales and even a chocolate stout made up a few of the 9 beers on tap that night. One of the most interesting was a tart barrel-aged cider/beer hybrid. The chocolate stout with Belgian yeast was as tasty as you imagine it would be and their house-staple Farmhouse Ale was a good sessionable beer.  Three of their varieties were available in 16oz cans.  I would be shorting you if I didn't mention how good and decadent their food is. The escargot was served with a scoop of tomato sorbet that was added to the dish to create a tomato cream sauce. The butternut squash agnolotti had a super rich butter and cream sauce that, while heavy, still allowed the lime zest and caramelized onions to come through. At the end of dinner we decided that our bodies could absorb no more and we should resume our journey in the morning.

A view of the bar from our table.

Dimly lit, but these are the 10 beers/ciders we sampled.  Very nice sampler tray.

On Tuesday, we had a couple stops before we started on our way home. First up was Founders, which was just starting to welcome the lunch crowd. We really lucked out, since all the beers from their Harvest Festival over the weekend were still on. I'm not sure why, but the Harvest Festival also welcome some barrel-aged chile beers. I started out with the more mild Barrel-aged Guajillo Spite which really carried an impressive balance between bourbon and heat. Jess had the standard Spite which was a chile beer with a blend of peppers. This one was spicy without being painful. Since we're both fans of chile beer, a growler of this came home with us. The Cascade Harvest Ale may not have had the variety of hops in the Harvest Ale, but it was a great example of a harvest ale, full of fresh, sticky hop goodness. It was the kind of beer that breweries would love to produce year-round. To finish things off, I tried the opposite end of the Barrel-aged Spite spectrum with the Habanero Spite. Holy crap this was just stupid. Insanely spicy and undrinkable, this beer would make a better chili base or glaze over grilled meat. I was fortunate enough to get a 4oz sample of the first Barrel-aged spite, but our second bartender felt that the Habanero could only be served as 8oz. Thanks bud.

Barrel-aged Guajillo Spite in the foreground, regular Spite in the background

The tap list, click for bigger

Cascade Harvest Ale

The Founders Bar - 16 taps wide

After Founders we headed over to the HopCat. For reference, parking in Grand Rapids is 1.50/hr. Who sets these prices in Michigan? The HopCat immediately felt like home. A well worn, dark wood bar, tons of vintage beer signage, an extensive beer list and big copper tap fixtures. The top of the bar was decorated with rare beer bottles that would make any Beer Advocate reader jealous. Jess ordered a really solid Oktoberfest from Short's and I had a chocolate stout from Odd Sides, which was also good but pretty much what you expect. We ordered a few appetizers and had a nice conversation with the bartender about local liquor stores and beer in Indiana.

The HopCat bar

Odd Sides Dutch Chocolate Stout

After we hit the road, we decided Bell's would be our last stop before heading home, just so we could get home at a reasonable hour. Driving through Kalamazoo gave me more of that Thunderdome feeling I was expecting in Detroit, but Bell's was a really well put together pub. Tons of wood and brick inside, tables, walls, everything. Custom stained glass windows and lots of vintage beer signs. Surprisingly enough, they had a huge collection of Terre Haute Brewing Co signage! I thought about mentioning that to our bartender, but she didn't look like she'd care. The tap list was fairly familiar and they were out of Cherry Stout, so we went with Le Batteur and Milk Stout. We had both previously, and they certainly did not disappoint. Le Batteur is a well-balanced farmhouse ale and the Milk Stout needs no explanation other than to say it wasn't overly sweet. It makes me feel like a beer snob to say I wish they had more wacky stuff on tap, when the reality is that they had 16 beers on that were all of great quality and very cheap.

Le Batteur

Ever-changing food menu

The tap list and a huge '76 Ale sign from Terre Haute Brewing Co.

A classic Kalamazoo Brewing Co. sign

Our trip to Michigan really just left us wishing we had more time to spend in Michigan. Of all the 1-state trips you could take, Michigan certainly tops the list for beer destinations. This is only one direction you could take your journey, as there are great breweries in all parts of Michigan. I feel like I owe it to Matt to let everyone know that the typical brewpub price for a pint of beer is 3.50-4.50, which means a brewery tour of Michigan can be very affordable as well.

I typed this epic on my cell phone and from memory, so there might be typos or sections where alcohol may have impaired my judgement.  Feel free to correct me in the comments.