Grand Rapids Beer:: An Intoxicating History of River City Brewing

by Patrick Evans

Overview

In the nineteenth century, dozens of local breweries worked tirelessly to slake the thirst of the rapidly growing city of Grand Rapids. Grand Rapids Brewing Company, along with other savvy barley merchants, established a beer culture that would dominate western Michigan until Prohibition turned off the spigots. After the repeal of the Noble Experiment, gigantic national brands stunted the growth of area breweries for decades, but the contemporary craft brew renaissance turned Furniture City back into Beer City, USA. Tour local operations like Founders and HopCat with veteran hophead Patrick Evans and enjoy the rich heritage of Grand Rapids beer.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781626195585
Publisher:	Arcadia Publishing SC
Publication date:	01/26/2015
Series:	American Palate
Pages:	192
Product dimensions:	5.90(w) x 8.90(h) x 1.80(d)

About the Author

Patrick Evans is a reporter for the Grand Rapids Business Journal and also works part-time as a bartender for the Mitten Brewing Company. A member of the Grand Rapids Society of Brewers, Evans holds a BA from Michigan State University and maintains a blog called Mitten Brew.

Table of Contents

Foreword Dave Engbers 5

Preface 9

Acknowledgements 11

Introduction 13

Part I Pre-Prohibition

1 First Brewers 19

2 Christ Brothers 27

3 Brewers of the Late 1800s 29

4 Market Infiltrated 37

Part II A New Age

5 United Front 43

6 Early Twentieth Century 51

7 Prohibition Hits 54

Part III Post Prohibition

8 First Sips 61

9 Lakeshore Roundup 67

Part IV Present-Day Breweries

10 GRBC 75

11 The First Wave 77

12 The Shop That Started It All 82

13 A Brief Hope 85

14 New-Age Founders 88

15 Holland's New Brewery 98

16 European Inspiration 105

17 Sellers Market 112

18 A Second Wave 121

19 Along Chicago Drive 136

Part V Lakeshope Booms

20 Holland 141

21 Grand Haven 145

22 Muskegon 147

Part VI Beer, Cidep, and Spirits, Oh My

23 Ciders 151

24 Distilleries 155

Part VII Supporting Industries

25 More Than Beer 159

Part VIII Beer City's Future

26 The Future Is Now 167

Bibliography 169

Index 173

About the Author 176