Raise Your Glasses: Brewery Vivant’s Long-Awaited Beer Fest is Back

From Brewery Vivant:

After a four-year hiatus Brewery Vivant is again opening its parking lot to ticket holders for a day of beer and community merriment called B.F.F. Fest centered around Barrel aged beers, Firkins and Farmhouse ales. This event marks the evolution of the highly acclaimed Wood Aged Beer Fest, known affectionately as WABF by its devoted fans, with an expanded showcase of hand crafted beer.

“It has been four years since we have been able to put on our annual festival. Just like we have all changed and adapted during that time, so has our festival,” comments Jason Spaulding, Company CEO. “Our original festival featured only Wood Aged Beer, but this year we are also showcasing a number of other interesting styles and small batch offerings only available at the Festival. We are looking forward to welcoming people back for a fun day with friends in our East Hills neighborhood that we love so much.”

The Wood Aged Beer Fest had gained a renowned reputation and drew travelers from around the country to visit Grand Rapids as Beer City USA.  Now this famous festival is making a comeback with an evolved concept that will elevate the festival to new heights. Attendees can expect to sample an array of carefully crafted and aged beers that will tantalize their palates, all while experiencing the warm camaraderie of a vibrant community.

“The beers we’ve created for this festival bring us back to the roots on which Vivant was founded,” says Jacob Derylo, Head Brewer. “Aging beer in wood is something as brewers that we hold close to our hearts. This festival gives us the opportunity to share our art with the people of Grand Rapids.” He adds “We also are excited to expand the beer offering this year with some other traditional styles that speak to what Vivant is all about.”

“We love to try out new beers at these festivals” says Jon Ward, VP of Marketing. “It is an opportunity for our brewers to push themselves and guests to get a first taste of projects we are working on. We have some amazing things in store for people including serving from ‘firkins’ he adds.  “‘Firkins’ are a traditional way to serve beer out of the same vessel the beer was aged in. There is some ceremony involved in the tapping of these vessels that is always a good time as you are literally hammering a spigot into the side of a cask and serving people directly from it.”

The festival will take place at Brewery Vivant, 925 Cherry St SE, on Saturday, September 16 from 1-6. Tickets can be purchased online from the website breweryvivant.com for $40 or at the door the day of the festival for $50 if supplies last. Ticket price includes a commemorative glass and 10 beer tokens. Food will be available onsite from Eastown favorite Basalt and the newly opened food truck PizzaMI.

“Vivant has always aimed to be a place for Grand Rapidians to join together and thrive with their community. Over the years we’ve built a reputation as a gathering place where people can come as they are with friends or stop by and make some new ones while they are here.  Sharing & camaraderie over a beer, cocktail or just some amazing food is one of the things that drive us to do what we do.” says Marco Ruiz, General Manager.  “Getting back to festivals again allows us to do that in an even deeper way with the people of our community,” he adds.

Who we are

Brewery Vivant is the world’s first LEED® certified commercial microbrewery and a Certified B Corporation. We brew beer in the European tradition with the addition of American ingenuity. At our pub we strive to elevate the enjoyment of beer & food and the sense of community in everything we do. Brewery Vivant prides itself on being a destination brewery in the “Beer City” of Grand Rapids. Vivant brands are distributed throughout the State of Michigan.

Broad Leaf Brewery + Spirits is a certified B Corp that focuses on flavor exploration. We stay on the cutting edge with ongoing experimentation to explore new flavors, styles & techniques. There is a constant curiosity to try new things, find new ingredients to push boundaries in beer, spirits, food & beyond.