Founders Bolt Cutter Coming Nov 11th

Bolt Cutter is a cellarable barley wine with an ABV of 15%. Dry-hopped with a mountain of Cascade hops, it’s balanced by a malty sweetness and spicy complexity, resulting from barrel aging some of it in bourbon barrels, some in maple syrup-bourbon barrels and some not at all (standard fermentation only). We’ve allowed the beer to mature in bottles and kegs since July so that it would be perfect for its release next month. Bolt Cutter pours a deep copper color and is best sampled at different temperatures to allow the flavors to unfold.

And there’s a story behind the name.

“Years ago,” says Co-Founder, President & CEO Mike Stevens, “when our brewery was located on Monroe, we were defaulting on our loan. Eventually, the bank called and threatened to chain our doors shut if we didn’t come up with the money that we owed them. We had seven days to come up with half a million dollars.”

“So I bought a pair of bolt cutters,” says Co-Founder, Vice President of Brand & Education Dave Engbers. “We were determined to keep our doors open and to keep brewing beer, no matter what it took. Luckily, we never had to use them.”

Engbers keeps the bolt cutters in his office as a reminder of how far we’ve come and the journey we’ve taken since brewing our first beer in November 1997.

To thank all of you in West Michigan and beyond for your years of support, we are throwing a free anniversary party on November 17 in our taproom. We hope to see you here so that we can all celebrate together.

UPDATE 10/5:

We are humbled to be celebrating our 15th anniversary next month. And we brewed a beer in celebration of it! Bolt Cutter, our 15th Anniversary Ale and the last installment in our 750mL Backstage Series this year, is a cellarable barley wine with an ABV of 15%. Dry-hopped with a mountain of Cascade hops, it’s balanced by a malty sweetness and spicy complexity. We’ve allowed the beer to mature in bottles and kegs since July so that it would be perfect for a November release. Bolt Cutter pours a deep copper color and is best sampled at different temperatures to allow the flavors to unfold. Read more about the beer, its release, and the story behind its name on our blog.

Tickets for our on-site release of Bolt Cutter go on sale tomorrow morning (Saturday, October 6) at 11am. Please visit our event listing on Brown Paper Tickets for details and to purchase your tickets (we recommend bookmarking the page for tomorrow). The bottle release will take place through our company store, located on the north end of our taproom at 235 Grandville Ave SW in downtown Grand Rapids, Michigan, from Sunday, November 11, through Friday, November 16.

Bolt Cutter will be poured on tap in our taproom during our 15th Anniversary Party, which takes place all day on Saturday, November 17.

Lastly, Bolt Cutter will be released in limited quantities across our 23-state footprint beginning Monday, November 19.

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