Announcing the beer that won the vote for the Pure Michigan contest that we closed out at the beginning of this month: Vanilla Stout! Thanks to the over 1,200 of you that voted for your choice! Vanilla Stout was in a close race with Apple Ale at the end and only won by a handful of votes.

Our brewmaster Jeremy Kosmicki is working on formulating the recipe, and it will be on tap only in our taproom throughout the month of July to celebrate Michigan Craft Beer Month. We hope to see you here in Grand Rapids this summer to try this one-of-a-kind beer—be sure to look for Pure Michigan Vanilla Stout on our chalkboard.

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Grand Rapids Whitewater (GRWW) is a project that is near and dear to our hearts that is looking to restore the Rapids to the Grand (River). We’ve kept you up-to-date on the project’s progress and have donated proceeds from special release tickets sold for our on-site releases to the cause. This is a project that will create neighborhoods, that will bring businesses and people downtown, and that will connect the city of Grand Rapids around the Grand River, which is why this city was founded in the first place. As GRWW co-founder Chris Muller says, “When someone says, ‘Grand Rapids…but where are the rapids?’ I’d love to point at something.” We would, too, and that’s why our co-founders and business partners have been behind this cause from day 1, donating the seed money to get the program off the ground.

The federal announcement in support of this project took place at 2:30 p.m. on Friday, May 10, at the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Museum in Grand Rapids. In attendance were the chair of the White House Council on Environmental Quality, the acting administrator of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, U.S. Sen. Debbie Stabenow and officials from the U.S. departments of Interior and Agriculture(see photo above).

The 11 new project locations are:

• Big River and Meramec Watersheds in St. Louis, Mo
• Delaware River Basin (Cooper River) that covers Philadelphia, Camden, N.J., Chester, Pa., and Wilmington, Del.
• Grand River in Grand Rapids, Mich.
• Green-Duwamish River in Seattle
• Mystic River Watershed in Greater Boston
• Martin Pena Canal in San Juan, P.R.
• Middle Blue River in Kansas City, Mo.
• Middle Rio Grande in Albuquerque, N.M.
• Passaic River in Passaic, N.J.
• Proctor Creek Watershed in Atlanta
• Western Lake Erie Basin in Toledo, Ohio

Check out this announcement in the Wall Street Journal for more information.

And here’s an artist’s rendering of what the Grand River will look like with the rapids restored:

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It was announced today that our hometown of Grand Rapids, Michigan, won the vote again for Beer City USA, and this time Grand Rapids won it outright. We shared the title with Asheville, North Carolina, last year.

Our fellow Michigan cities Kalamazoo and Ann Arbor also made the top ten list this year.

Thanks to everyone who voted in the Beer City USA poll, and we hope to see you out (and online) celebrating craft beer this week!

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Our hometown of Grand Rapids, MI, shared the title with Asheville, NC, last year, a city that had held the title for three years running before we tied with them.

Vote here: https://polldaddy.com/poll/7078031/.

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Head over to the Pure Michigan blog to vote for a Pure Michigan beer that we’ll pour in our taproom during the month of July to celebrate Michigan Craft Beer Month. Now through Friday, May 3, you can vote on the beer style that you want to see available in our taproom: Vanilla Stout, Apple Ale or Wheat IPA. We haven’t brewed these beers before, and we’ll be ordering ingredients and brewing based on what all of you choose. Vote here!

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Videographer: Kevin “The Scientist” Cole

Music by Jason Heystek, Founders Brewing Co.’s Head Cellar Operator

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“We approached ArtPrize because we love this community and we love what the event has done for this city,” said Mike Stevens, co-founder and CEO of Founders Brewing Co. “Our taproom has been a venue since year one, so we anticipate ArtPrize, just like everyone else. We chose to increase our commitment this year and can’t wait to pair our world-class beer with the most engaging art event in the world.”

Elements of the partnership include offering Founders beer at all official ArtPrize events, signage, promotion, merchandise, specialized glassware and other specialized items during the 19-day event. Additionally, the brewery will be recognized as a major sponsor at all ArtPrize events, and will be featured on the ArtPrize promotional poster.

“ArtPrize is always open to new, strategic ways to partner with leading and emerging national brands. We couldn’t be more excited to welcome them as the exclusive brewery of ArtPrize,” said Daryn Kuipers, interim executive director for ArtPrize. “Both Founders and ArtPrize are two organizations that are defining Grand Rapids’ reemergence. Both organizations have heritage, values and roots in this community and will make an excellent partnership.”

With its mix of public voting and juried awards, ArtPrize explores the tension between the professional and populist in an epic conversation. The fifth edition of the popular art competition will take place Sept. 18 – Oct. 6, 2013. Artist Registration for the 2013 event will open on Monday, April 22.

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“Founders Fest is our biggest party of the year,” said Mark Dorich, Festival Coordinator and Founders Director of Retail Operations. “It’s always a great time celebrating with our community, and we’re really excited about this year’s music lineup.”

A wide range of musical talent will be rocking out at this year’s Founders Fest, with national act G. LOVE & SPECIAL SAUCE coming in from Philadelphia, PA, with some hip hop/blues to headline. Other performers include IVAN NEVILLE’S DUMPSTAPHUNK with funk from New Orleans; MAN MAN, also of Philadelphia; electro rock from Founders taproom repeat performers ROSTER MCCABE of Minneapolis; horn-driven tour de force, Chicago’s LOWDOWN BRASS BAND; and bluegrass sweethearts LINDSAY LOU & THE FLATBELLYS of Ann Arbor. Hometown crowd favorites ALEXIS join local Latin rock crew CABILDO, and a super-group of Founders employees return as the FBC ALL-STARS to round out the entertainment line-up.

This year’s event will again feature local food vendors as well as a Local Artists Row, which showcases the various works of some of the area’s finest artists and designers. There will be other strolling and surprise entertainers sprinkled throughout the day. And, of course, there will be plenty of beer available, including our year-round offerings and quite a few taproom one-offs. The entire festival will be outdoors on the street; the indoor taproom space will be closed for the day.

Founders Fest is a celebratory “thank you” to Grand Rapids and West Michigan for getting us to where we are today. We’ve been a part of the Grand Rapids scene since 1997 and have grown our brewing tradition from modest beginnings to being one of the highest rated breweries in the world.

“We look forward to Founders Fest every year,” said Co-Founder & CEO Mike Stevens. “Beer and music bring people together, and we love being able to put on an event that does just that. It gives us the opportunity to get our family, friends and community together for a day so that we can toast to all of them.”

We’re also partnering with The High Five Program, a local community organization that assures the prevention of litter and significant reduction of waste streams at large-scale events, for the second year. With help from High Five, we managed to achieve over 90% waste diversion last year and hope to beat that rate this year.

Guarantee yourself entry to Founders Fest 2013 and save a little cash with advance pre-sale tickets:

Discounted advance ticket sales will again be available starting Friday, April 19, at the Founders taproom, as well as online, via http://foundersfest2013.eventbrite.com/. The event is limited to ages 21 and older.

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Please note that these are just renderings. Details, such as surfaces and furniture, may change. But this should give you a good sense of the space. Also, you can click on images to see them at a larger scale.

Here is roughly what our beer garden will look like when it opens this fall, from the ground level looking toward the south:

The same space, from a higher angle:

Lastly, the deck you see in the rendering above is connected to a space that will become our event rental and education center (more details to come):

Our taproom will remain open throughout our construction with plenty of world-class beers and delicious sandwiches for you to enjoy. We’re excited to share this space with Grand Rapids and with all of you this fall.

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