According to the revolution/rotation of the Earth—and the creators of calendars—spring is here (at least it is wherever you can find Founders beer). It doesn’t feel like spring yet at the brewery because Michigan winters don’t let go easily, but we’re looking forward to busting out some t-shirts. We’ve put six of our t-shirts on sale to help everyone get ready for spring (some are only discounted online). Here’s a retro baseball-style tee that has us dreaming of Opening Day:

This sale ends on March 31—or when our inventory runs out!

Bottles of Founders beer will be available in the NYC area starting March 26. Bottles of KBS will be available (in limited quantities) starting April 2. Check our beer locator to see where we are currently distributed and to find contact information for our distributors if you’re interested in locating a particular beer.
March heralds in that time of year when even people who don’t know the difference between double dribbling and traveling fill out brackets and dutifully watch the NCAA men’s basketball tournament (or at least the highlights, so they know who won).
A few media outlets have decided to build upon everyone’s bracket fever by producing beer brackets. Here are some that feature our beer:

- The Washington Post‘s Beer Madness 2011 bracket pits 64 beers against one another. It’s split into four different types of beer (malt, hops, roast, fruit & spices) rather than four regions. You can find‚Äîand vote for‚Äîour Dirty Bastard in the malt section.
- Our friends at the Whiskey Goldmine are giving beer enthusiasts the chance to fill out brackets and submit them in an attempt to predict what beer will win in their taste testing tournament. Our Breakfast Stout, Porter, and Centennial IPA are all in the running.
- Rumor has it that DRAFT Magazine may be hosting a bracket with another of our beers up for the national championship…
Yes, there’s a new addition to our in-house tap list: Crimson Dynamo.
This beer is a session red (4.7% ABV) bursting with flavor: amber caramel malts are balanced by Simcoe and Cascade hops.
And here’s a pint, on our bar, in all of its glory (and ready for you to try!):

Valentine’s Day is on the way. Everyone gets their lady flowers, chocolates, and/or a teddy bear‚Äîwhy not surprise her with some Founders underthangs (and perhaps some beer for the two of you to split)?
Check out these two options, which are available in our online store:



Bourbon barrels filled with KBS have been aging in the caves beneath our fine city of Grand Rapids for a year and were delivered to our production facility yesterday (see above).
The official distribution release date for KBS is the Ides of March (3/15). However, we’re having our KBS release party in our taproom three days earlier, on Saturday, March 12. We’ll see you here if you want to be one of the first to try the 2011 batch of KBS (bottled and on tap). Doors open at 11am (as usual) and evening entertainment will begin at 9:30pm. Limit one case per customer, while supplies last.
Due to the blizzard-like conditions and concern for both your safety and ours,
The Founders Taproom and Deli will open today, Wednesday, February 2nd at 4pm. (Not 11am)
We apologize for the inconvenience.

All of our ingredients and processes for the beers we distribute are vegan friendly with two exceptions: Breakfast Stout and KBS both contain chocolate.
Our head brewer, Jeremy, does use some honey in taproom beers from time to time (e.g., Honey Wheat).
Image thanks to Phil Dokas, who added it to our Flickr pool.
Greetings patrons:
The Taproom will be CLOSED on Sunday, January 16th, and will re-open on Monday, January 17th at 11am.
We apologize for the inconvenience.
Alrighty folks, barring any unforeseen circumstances, it¬†appears as if our brand new deli will be up, running, and ready-to-go by the time we open on Wednesday, January 12th! All apologies for the¬†recent inconveniences; it has all been in the interest of bringing you a better Founders, and¬†we think you’ll like the changes: better equipment, new sandwiches (!), an order AND pick-up window… amongst other really cool things. Needless, to say, we’re very excited!
Hope to see you for lunch AND dinner! 🙂
Due to some unforeseen delays, our taproom deli will not be opening until the middle of next week (the week of January 9). Until it opens, you’re welcome to bring in your own food. We also have delivery menus available if you’d like to order some food (“Five pizzas to 235 Grandville Ave, please!”), and everyone’s favorite munchies‚Äîpeanuts and pretzels & cheese‚Äîwill still be on hand at the bar.
Thanks for your patience as we work to make a better Founders for everyone. We think you’ll like the changes we have planned.
As our internal expansion and improvements round third base, we’re happy to announce that the Taproom will be open at 4pm on Tuesday, January 4th.
Unfortunately, we will be without the services of our beloved delicatessen. It is tentatively scheduled to re-open at 11am on Thursday, January 6th. We apologize for the inconvenience.
Tuesday’s Open-Mic night with Nicholas James and Jason Heystek will proceed as regularly scheduled, and the weekend’s entertainment with Northern Skies (1/6) and The Fainting Generals (1/8) will not be affected.
In the meantime, feel free to bring in your own grub, and we do have some delivery menus available for your perusal if you need to munch on something. (Deli closure does not affect the availability of bar munchies. Peanuts and pretzels & cheese will be available at the bar.)
Hopefully on Thursday the new deli will be fully operational and kicking out awesome sandwiches yet again.
As you may have noticed, we are knee-deep in the process of our expansion, and are currently undergoing a series of interior renovations. As a result of this, the Taproom will be closed Sunday, January 2nd and Monday, January 3rd. We will reopen on Tuesday, January 4th at 4pm and will resume normal business hours, 11am-2am on Wednesday, January 5th. 
We apologize for the inconvenience, but we think you’ll like the changes.
 
Notes: On Tuesday, January 4th, we may be without the services of the Founders Delicatessen, and may have to work around the construction on Wednesday and Thursday, but will operate under our normal business hours on those days, 11am-2am.
A bit of time-lapse photography documenting the installation of our second new bright tank (more tanks are coming in as I write this and likely as you read this).





More beer is on its way, and soon! We love you all for your support, which has helped us get to this exciting point!

Thanks to all of you for making 2010 one of our best years yet‚Äîlet’s raise a glass [of craft beer] to 2011!
Enjoy the holidays with your friends and family.
Love,
The Founders Family
Our Breakfast Stout has been quite the hit lately with foodies. We’ve compiled a few of the recent articles that mention it as an ingredient in a recipe or as a perfect pairing. All of these would work well for a holiday get together.

Please share your Breakfast Stout recipe and/or pairing in the comments!
We got our first new tank in this morning. Here are some photos (taken by co-owner Dave Engbers) of its delivery.

It just fit in through the doorway:

And the bright tank is now officially in our brewery:

More photos to come!

Check out our new mash/lauter tun! This photo is from the day it was delivered to our production facility.
For those of you who don’t know, a mash/lauter tun is where the malted barley and water are incorporated and the starch converts to fermentable sugars. Our spent grain then goes to a farmer to use as feed for his livestock.
Our expansion is moving along swiftly, so check back for more photos of our new equipment!
We’re proud of the beer that we brew. And part of what makes it so special are the people that brew it, package it, serve it, make food to go with it, etc.
OK, that sounded like a Hallmark card. But really, the people who work here are pretty sweet. Did you know that Jarrod Napierkowski, taproom manager, built all of the tables in our taproom? Or that Mike Dorich, taproom manager, and Nathan Mabie, deli guru, entered their work in ArtPrize this year? We also have the makings of a spa: a resident hairstylist and a massage therapist.

Perhaps the one out-of-work activity that dominates the free time of most of our employees, however, is music. That’s why the FBC All-Stars (an all-Founders-employee supergroup, pictured above) was enlisted to play at Founders Fest this year. Here are some of the local acts that include at least one member of the Founders Family:
Paucity
Oracle
Nicholas James Thomasma
Ultraviolet Hippopotamus
Chance Jones
Mark Lavengood (“Huggy Bear” moved to Chicago, but he’s still part of the family)
The Total Blam Blams
…
In fact, Nicholas James Thomasma just announced that he’s releasing a new album, Lone Star in the Northern Sky, on December 1.
Many of these acts play in our taproom (in case you didn’t know, we host live music every Thursday and Saturday) and at other local venues.
Check them out, and let us know what you think in the comments!

We are extremely excited to see a roof beginning to form on our new facility! And, as Mike Stevens commented on our last post, we are scheduled to complete construction on the manufacturing side by December 15. Come cheer these men and women along because the sooner it gets completed, the sooner we can start brewing more beer!
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