Hopping around in Grand Rapids
I like beer, so when one of my business trips took me to Grand Rapids, Michigan I found a very good place with which to experience some home brew. I found them when I asked the concierge at of one of the hotels Grand Rapids if they knew of any good micro-breweries around and they told me about these two: Hopcats and then find a place that serves Red’s Rye.
Hopcats is a multi-tap that includes all of Michigan’s beers. They have 22 Michigan beers in a 48 tap lineup. I personally, would like it if they had more, but running a brewery isn’t my line of business. While I was there, taste testing all 48 beers on tap, and I do mean just taste testing, 48 beers I think would kill me, I was told that there would be a 49th tap, a limited edition cask beer. Too bad they don’t have it right now, because that sounded really good. They also plan an in-house brewing operation that will feature a beer brewed by a local master and it’s tauted as the kind of beer my dad might have opened after mowing the lawn. I’m not sure if that’s good or bad.
It took me a while to find a bar that served Red’s Rye, I’m not much of a rye fan, but since it was recommended, I thought what could it hurt? I managed to find a place that offered free Internet service, so I looked up Red’s Rye and the creator did a decent job of describing his 6.4% ale. The site also said Bello Vino serves the beer. So, I found Bello Vino and ordered a bottle of Red’s Rye. The color was orange and has a creamy head that is a tan color, but then the creamy head drops and foams. It has a light body and the hop is pretty balanced. The hop and rye is mixed with tangerine peel and grapefruit peel which gives the beer it’s citrus aroma. It has a dry after taste. Nice. Very nice. It has a really hop attitude that make me wonder why then is it necessary to make most IPA’s 12%? This beer does it with 6.4% and dose it well.