By K.D. Norris
Railtown Brewing Company will hold its grand opening of its new expanded building and offerings on Monday, July 16 — and if you liked its beer, you’ll still like its beer; if you liked the fun atmosphere, you’ll love the extras available; and if you had wished Raltown had its own kitchen, your wish has been answered.
Railtown’s new location is located at 3595 68th Street SE, Dutton, but just across the border with Kentwood, and near the brewery’s original location. It will have two floors, an outdoor patio and will seat over twice as many guests as the original space.
“Some of the key gains from this new space is a kitchen, larger bar, more taps, more brewing capacity, reserved seating area availability, and patio,” Railtown co-founder Gim Lee said to WKTV in a previous interview. “The tap room will include a mezzanine with additional seating and space that can be reserved for parties and meetings.”
Gim and Justin Buiter opened the brewery in late 2014.
Railtown Brewing previously allowed patrons to bring their own food, but the new space has a kitchen that, according to other media, “will serve American pub grub with some cultural flavor. Dishes will take inspiration from Chinese, Korean and Dutch cuisine,” we are told.
I’m sure there is a beer for that!
For more information on Railtown Brewing Company, call the taproom at 616-881-2364 or visit railtownbrewing.com (leads to a Facebook page).
Seasons’s final GRPM Beer Explorers night might dangerous
Alas, the final 2017-18 season Beer Explorers at the Grand Rapids Public Museum will soon be poured as the museum is partnering with Perrin Brewing Company on Thursday, July 19 to share “the dangers of fruiting beer.”
Wait; there is a danger in that?
“Fruiting beers can be challenging, but Perrin Brewing Company, and its talented brewers, has perfected the process,” according to supplied material. “The company currently boasts a full menu of fruit beers, and in this final Beer Explorers participants will have the opportunity to try three vastly different fruit beers, from Grapefruit IPA to Passion Fruit Gose to Razzberry Blonde!”
In the class, participants will learn how the three beers differ from each other, as well as the stories behind other Perrin fruit beers. Participants will also have the chance to taste the fruit concentrate that goes into these beers, and learn unique facts about fruit beer brewing — did you know there is 1.1 grapefruits per pint of Grapefruit IPA.
Not usually much for fruit beers, but I must admit that sitting on the outside area at Perrin Brewing Company’s Comstock Park pub and sipping a Grapefruit IPA (5 percent ABV, 35 IBU) would go down pretty well on these hot West Michigan summer evenings.
Anyway, the class begins at 6:30 p.m. and will be held on the first floor of the Museum. Participants will have access to the museum’s first two floors to explore. A cash bar will be available.
Tickets for the event are $10 for museum members and $20 for non-members. Participants must be 21 and older. GRPM is located at 272 Pearl Street, NW. For information and tickets to Beer Explorers, visit grpm.org.
For more information on Perrin Brewing, visit perrinbrewing.com .
Grand Rapids Brewing set to release first bottle-conditioned brews
(Supplied Grand Rapids Brewing/Nate Spangenberg)
Grand Rapids Brewing Company will release two limited-edition bottled beers, including its first-ever bottle-conditioned release — limited run of 150 bottles of bottle-conditioned Sur La Lune and Sur Les Nuages — available to the public at GRBC Saturday, July 14, beginning at noon.
GRBC mug club members (and lucky you if you are) will have exclusive access to purchase the bottles two hours prior to the public on-sale. All buyers will be limited to one bottle of each beer on the release day.
Sur La Lune golden ale, French for “on the moon,” was created to be bottle conditioned — a process that includes extra blast of yeast and sugar and a second period of fermentation once bottles are corked and caged similar to a Champagne bottle. The process allows carbonation to occur naturally, with “the pressure of the cork on the additional yeast and sugar enhances flavors, carbonation, aromatics and alcohol content,” or so we are told.
“Bottle conditioned beers have more depth and character than their draft counterparts and a finer carbonation and mouth feel, plus corks and cages are just fun and fancy,” Ernie Richards, GRBC’s “brewhouse alchemist”, said in supplied material.
Sur La Lune also will be available on tap for samples and comparison.
Its companion beer, Sur Les Nuages — “on the clouds” — first appeared in the 2017and comes from the same base recipe as Sur La Lune, but is force-carbonated, capped and fermented solely with a yeast isolate.
For more information on the Grand Rapids Brewing Company and the special releases, visit grbrewingcompany.com .
Green Door’s Get Lost Vodka earns (inter)national honor
Kalamazoo’s Green Door Distilling Co. submitted its Get Lost Vodka to April’s New York International Spirits Competition and announced last week it had claimed a silver medal, along with a tasting score of 92 – outscoring many nationally recognized brands, such as Belvedere, Grey Goose and Ketel One.
“In a competitive landscape that saw over 600 spirits submitted for consideration, including many exceptional spirits from our own great state, we’re extremely honored to accept this recognition from the judges,” Jon Good, president and head distiller, said in supplied material. “We believe this is a reflection of the time and effort that goes into crafting spirits and the exceptional ingredients that we source.”
The competition also awarded Green Door the title of “Michigan Vodka Distillery of the Year”. Along with these recognitions comes the opportunity to compete in several other international competitions.
“The recognition that Get Lost Vodka has generated, not only from New York Spirits, but also from American Distilling Institute earlier this year, has definitely validated this wild adventure that we took up four years ago.” Good said.
For more information on Green Door Distilling, visit gddistilling.com .
