About
Our beers are crafted for a chosen few, a small cadre of renegades and rebels who enjoy a beer that pushes the limits of what is commonly accepted as taste. In short, we make beer for people like us.
Our taproom experience was born in 1997 in downtown Grand Rapids, MI, when our Co-Founders decided to start a brewery and realized immediately that the only way they could earn some cash (the brewery was losing money during those first years) was through bartending. With its super-casual vibe, gritty feel and amazing beer, the taproom quickly became a haven for many misfits, artists, musicians and more in Grand Rapids, outgrowing its tiny space quickly. The good news was, so did the brewery. Our entire operation moved to its current downtown Grand Rapids location 10 years ago to accommodate this growth and has since maintained the relaxed atmosphere and “all are welcome” approach to those who walk through the door. What’s next for our taproom? A second one, of course! We’re headed to Motown and hope to bring our Founders feel to the heart of the Cass Corridor in downtown Detroit.
Our taproom experience was born in 1997 in downtown Grand Rapids, MI, when our Co-Founders decided to start a brewery and realized immediately that the only way they could earn some cash (the brewery was losing money during those first years) was through bartending. With its super-casual vibe, gritty feel and amazing beer, the taproom quickly became a haven for many misfits, artists, musicians and more in Grand Rapids, outgrowing its tiny space quickly. The good news was, so did the brewery. Our entire operation moved to its current downtown Grand Rapids location 10 years ago to accommodate this growth and has since maintained the relaxed atmosphere and “all are welcome” approach to those who walk through the door. What’s next for our taproom? A second one, of course! We’re headed to Motown and hope to bring our Founders feel to the heart of the Cass Corridor in downtown Detroit.
8/10
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Appearance 8
Aroma 8
Flavor 8
Texture 8
Overall 8
Clear, bright golden color with a small cream colored head; aroma of caramel; coffee; somewhat smooth palate; balanced flavor with a long, light bitter sweet finish
Tried
from Bottle
from
Total Wine & More - San Antonio ( Del Norte)
on 04 Jan 2026
at 00:56
6/10
—
Appearance 6
Aroma 6
Flavor 6
Texture 6
Overall 6
Tried
from Can
from
Horrocks Farm Market
on 03 Jan 2026
at 21:26
8.6/10
—
Appearance 8
Aroma 8.5
Flavor 8.5
Texture 9
Overall 9
Bottle at home. Opaque dark brown to black color, full sized off-white head that lasts for quite a while. Aroma is malts, sweetish, liquor. Flavor is malts, sweetish in a subtle way, with a distant soft touch of raisins, light bourbon notes but also very subtle,light coffee, light chocolate and vanilla. Very well balanced. Very nice. Lovely beer.
Tried
on 02 Jan 2026
at 22:34
7.8/10
—
Appearance 8
Aroma 7.5
Flavor 8
Texture 8
Overall 7.5
12 oz bottle. Pours a clear copper color with a white head. Toasty caramel-honey aroma. Nice sweet toasty malt flavor, caramel/honey biscuit with bitter hops, citrus. Just a good barley wine.
Tried
from Bottle
on 30 Dec 2025
at 04:13
8/10
—
Appearance 8
Aroma 8
Flavor 8
Texture 8
Overall 8
Weird, so its listed here as a hazy, and I expected a hazy because I thought the Mortal Bloom beers were hazies...but this was clearly not a hazy?! Poured at most with a light chill haze but otherwise mostly clear golden to amber color, full 2 finger+ head. Pronounced bitterness despite the list 45 IBU (but also not super bitter). A lot of aromatic and flavoring hops, leans towards pine, resin, but hints also at unripe grapefruit rind, and a little sweat sock. Fairly clean and semi-dry to balanced malt profile, hints at crackers, white bread. I like it as a sort of standard DIPA from the oughts era. Cans from Publix Oviedo FL
Tried
from Can
on 27 Dec 2025
at 22:06
6.9/10
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Appearance 6
Aroma 7
Flavor 7
Texture 6
Overall 7.5
Dose 0,355l: Bernstein, leichte Trübung, stabiler mittelporiger Schaum; sehr fruchtige + leicht würzige Nase, kräftige Süße, exotische Früchte, Mango, Papaya, Aprikosen, kräftige florale Hopfennoten, kräftig Malz, Karamell, kräftige Hefearomen, würzig-fruchtige Bitterkeit; sehr fruchtiger + würziger Körper, Zitrusnoten, exotische Früchte, kräftige würzige Hopfennoten, kräutrig, leicht harzig, etwas Pinie, kräftig Malz, Karamell, cremig, moderate Kohlensäure, kräftige Hefearomen; fruchtig-würziger Nachgang
Tried
from Can
from Beyond Beer
on 27 Dec 2025
at 18:13
7.4/10
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Appearance 7
Aroma 7
Flavor 7.5
Texture 8
Overall 7.5
12 oz bottle. Just realized this is 15 months old. Aroma is woody, chocolate, coffee, wet stone. Pours inky black with a half finger beige head that settles into a ring quickly. Taste is bittersweet, finishing dry, with flavors of bourbon barrel, cocoa, and coffee. Flavors seem a little muted at this stage, but it’s not bad.
Tried
from Bottle
from
Pilgrim's Market
on 27 Dec 2025
at 04:07
7.6/10
—
Appearance 8
Aroma 8
Flavor 7
Texture 8
Overall 7.5
Bottled 7/24/25, drunk 12/26/25, as pictured.
Rich malts pump out the honey, with soft bourbon-like sweetness and mellow oak. Maybe a bit of sweet corn and a hint of warming alcohol, but nothing sharp. Vanilla, oak, honey notes are all round and inviting.
A little more "stiff", shall we say, in the mouth. Same rich honey-like maltiness from the nose, with soft, gently sweet bourbon and vanilla notes, but joined by a peppery, strongly warming alcohol character and light corn. Lingering pepper, hints of hop and mild bourbon. Oaky vanilla and rich, sumptuous, honey-like malts go a long way here, but yeah, there's some dull alcohol and strong peppery warming. You could write it off as "to-style" but I think that would be a cop-out and style or not, there shouldn't be any bit of sharp alcohol in this bourbon barrel American Strong Ale.
Rich malts pump out the honey, with soft bourbon-like sweetness and mellow oak. Maybe a bit of sweet corn and a hint of warming alcohol, but nothing sharp. Vanilla, oak, honey notes are all round and inviting.
A little more "stiff", shall we say, in the mouth. Same rich honey-like maltiness from the nose, with soft, gently sweet bourbon and vanilla notes, but joined by a peppery, strongly warming alcohol character and light corn. Lingering pepper, hints of hop and mild bourbon. Oaky vanilla and rich, sumptuous, honey-like malts go a long way here, but yeah, there's some dull alcohol and strong peppery warming. You could write it off as "to-style" but I think that would be a cop-out and style or not, there shouldn't be any bit of sharp alcohol in this bourbon barrel American Strong Ale.
Tried
from Bottle
from
Julio’s Liquors
on 26 Dec 2025
at 20:26
7.6/10
—
Appearance 8
Aroma 8
Flavor 7
Texture 8
Overall 7.5
Bottled 7/24/25, drunk 12/26/25, as pictured.
Rich malts pump out the honey, with soft bourbon-like sweetness and mellow oak. Maybe a bit of sweet corn and a hint of warming alcohol, but nothing sharp. Vanilla, oak, honey notes are all round and inviting.
A little more "stiff", shall we say, in the mouth. Same rich honey-like maltiness from the nose, with soft, gently sweet bourbon and vanilla notes, but joined by a peppery, strongly warming alcohol character and light corn. Lingering pepper, hints of hop and mild bourbon. Oaky vanilla and rich, sumptuous, honey-like malts go a long way here, but yeah, there's some dull alcohol and strong peppery warming. You could write it off as "to-style" but I think that would be a cop-out and style or not, there shouldn't be any bit of sharp alcohol in this bourbon barrel American Strong Ale.
Rich malts pump out the honey, with soft bourbon-like sweetness and mellow oak. Maybe a bit of sweet corn and a hint of warming alcohol, but nothing sharp. Vanilla, oak, honey notes are all round and inviting.
A little more "stiff", shall we say, in the mouth. Same rich honey-like maltiness from the nose, with soft, gently sweet bourbon and vanilla notes, but joined by a peppery, strongly warming alcohol character and light corn. Lingering pepper, hints of hop and mild bourbon. Oaky vanilla and rich, sumptuous, honey-like malts go a long way here, but yeah, there's some dull alcohol and strong peppery warming. You could write it off as "to-style" but I think that would be a cop-out and style or not, there shouldn't be any bit of sharp alcohol in this bourbon barrel American Strong Ale.
Tried
from Bottle
from
Julio’s Liquors
on 26 Dec 2025
at 20:25
7.4/10
—
Appearance 7
Aroma 7.5
Flavor 7.5
Texture 7
Overall 7.5
Founders does not call this beer a hazy on the label or the description, and it’s filtered, so what is it? I think that’s debatable. There’s no reason a beer couldn’t be made exactly like a New England IPA but filtered, and this is a surprisingly smooth imperial IPA. There’s citrus and a little floral notes in the aroma and flavor. Bitterness is moderate. Solid malt body. I could go either way on style. Perhaps it falls somewhere in between, but anyway, it’s quite enjoyable.
Tried
from Can
on 26 Dec 2025
at 05:27