| The initial inception of Founders Brewing Company took place in 1990. In a run-down college rental house located in Holland Michigan, Mike Stevens and Dave Engbers were trying to figure out what to do upon graduation and leaving the security of college life. They had the brilliant idea of opening a brewery. A pipe dream at the time. After graduating, both found themselves in the workforce, Mike for his father’s video production company and Dave as an elementary school teacher. Both still had a passion for great beer and had begun home brewing as a hobby. Feeling unfulfilled with their current work situations, Mike and Dave decided to live their lives with no regrets and chase their dream. They set off to start their brewery. Unfortunately, neither one had ever taken a business class. They wrote a business plan and set out to find a location. |
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Founders Brewing Company took form in the North Monroe district of Grand Rapids in the dilapidated Wolverine Brass Works Building. The building had been vacant for decades and the years of disrepair and vandalism had taken their toll. After nearly a year of construction and multiple delays, Founders Brewing Company started brewing it’s own beer, and welcomed customers to its sparse taproom connected to the brewery. Following the path of nearly all brewery start-ups, the beer portfolio was limited. The beers were well balanced but unremarkable, and sales struggled. After a few years they found themselves on the brink of bankruptcy and they had a tough decision to make: plow forward or pull the plug on their dream. |
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Following their instincts, Mike and Dave decided to break from the norm of conventional craft breweries and make the kinds of beer that had begun their passion in the first place. They knew that Founders needed to become distinctively different from all other beers on the market. That meant more flavor, bigger body, huge aromatics and increased complexity. In this pursuit, they found like-minded beer enthusiast who also were demanding more from their beer.
Soon after, the portfolio of beer began changing dramatically. The brewers at Founders were given the daunting task to innovate new beers that challenged the conventional beer drinkers’ taste. Putting traditional brewing aside, they began experimenting with non-traditional ingredients; coffees, chocolates, fruits, vegetables, honey and a variety of spices and any other ingredients that were not common in conventional mainstream beer.
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As beer enthusiast began to take notice sales started to flourish. Soon demand for Founders overtook capacity. They continued to push the envelope with their beers and expanded their location until they could no longer fit additional tanks into the brewery. Finally, they realized the time had come to find a new location. Staying true to their West Michigan roots, they started the search in downtown Grand Rapids for a larger facility.
 In 2007 they began construction of a new facility less than a mile from their original location. The new Founders Brewing Company would be found in an abandoned truck terminal in disrepair and need a complete overhaul. But just like the first Founders location, Mike and Dave knew what it could be. They had a vision of creating a much larger taproom overlooking the brewery and designing a much more efficient production facility that could grow Founders capacity. A smart vision to have, as today the demand for Founders requires the company to make continuous improvements for growth as the Founders fan-base grows. |
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