Brewery Vivant, Grand Rapids MI

I visited here last year and absolutely loved it. This year was no different.

Brewery Vivant is in an old funeral home and the indoor seating is in the former chapel. I laughed when I was seated in the same table I had last year!

They have so many beers available that I knew this would be a two-flight meal. Here’s the beer menu and the first flight:

Left-to-right in that flight:

Farm Hand – 5.5% – Listed simply as a “Farmhouse Ale,” this is one of those brews I could drink all day with no problem (other than falling down a lot). It’s not too much of anything except clean and refreshing.

Beach Patrol – 6% – They call this one a “Summer Wheat Ale” and I believe it has just a modicum of lemon in it, not enough to be a shandy, but just enough to give this beer a summery sparkle.

Werk Boots – 5.3% – This is the only one I didn’t really love. It’s described as a “shandy-like English Pale Ale” and I just felt it was too heavy on the lemon shandy side.

Chromatic Shatter – 6% – What a great name for a Hazy Pale Ale! I’d say this is somewhat similar to an NEIPA but toned down. If the Farm Hand weren’t available, this would be a delightful option for all-day beverage.

For the meal, I got the Cuban sandwich with fries, with both ketchup and aioli for dipping. It was good, but I felt the Cuban could have done with something to provide moisture as it seemed on the dry side.

But more moisture was soon on the way by way of flight #2:

Rapid IPA – 7% – This and the Farm Hand are “Mainstays” for Brewery Vivant and it was really good, but not my first choice from this flight. Let’s call it “part of a 3-way tie for second” 🙂

Big Red – 6% – I laughed when I saw it called “Big Red Coq” on the slip because it just goes by Big Red on the menu. Regardless, it’s described as a “hoppy red ale” but I wouldn’t describe it that way – the hops are just sufficient to make this red ale very distinctive and earn it the designation of Favorite in this flight and an equal of the Farm Hand overall.

Verdun – 7% – I’ll confess that I don’t really know what a “Biere de Garde” is or should be, but I do know that I liked this one.

Anyuta – 6% – When this arrived, I was a bit apprehensive because it’s a “rustic rye farmhouse ale” and rye beers can be tasty or not … but I did like it. I still preferred the Farm Hand, but the Anyuta was still very enjoyable.

One thing about Brewery Vivant is that they have a tap devoted to a GNT, a Gin and Tonic made with locally-produced Broad Leaf Gin. I knew from last year that I wasn’t going to leave here without one, but there was one more beer that intrigued me, and some interesting desserts …

This dessert is a Sweet Corn Buttermilk Pie. Don’t ask – I don’t know … but this was just fantastic! It’s similar in texture to a cream pie, but a bit grainier; what I really loved was that the flavor is subtle and the sweetness is just under the covers, not walloping you in the face. Whoever their cook is has really outdone themselves with this one!

And here’s that GNT and the last taster-size beer, We’re On a Roll (5%), a “Tootsie Roll Stout” done in collaboration with the Women’s Resource Center. It actually did taste like a Tootsie Roll, but watered down. The GNT, on the other hand, was phenomenal, just as I’d remembered.

Brewery Vivant will keep me returning to Grand Rapids for many years, I hope.