Founders Brewing Joining Detroit Craft Beer Scene

DETROIT, MI — Detroit’s quickly growing craft beer scene will welcome Founders Brewing Co. later this year. The Grand Rapids-based company has announced it will open a 14,000 square foot fully operational brewery, restaurant and retail taproom in the Cass Corridor this winter. Construction is expected to begin this summer.

Founders has rapidly expanded its production and distribution in recent years. In May, the company will expand to include Alaska, the 46th state where people can buy Founders beer, the Detroit Free Press reported. In 2016, Founders was the 16th-largest brewery in the U.S., according to the Brewers Association, a nonprofit trade group.

In Detroit, its new location will be at 456 Charlotte Street, just north of the Masonic Temple in the Cass Corridor, the Free Press reported. It will be the first-ever taproom outside the Grand Rapids-based brewery's headquarters, according to a news release.

The location will be a short walk from Little Caesars Arena, the new home of the Detroit Red Wings and Pistons scheduled to open in September. Founders Vice President Mark Dorich said opening a Detroit location was important to him and the company.

“Having been born and raised in the metro area, Detroit has long held a special place in my heart,” he said in a news release. “It’s a hard-working, no-nonsense, culturally diverse and musically inspired town, which happens to have the best sports teams in the country. Some of our strongest support has come from the east side of Michigan, and we could not think of a better place to expand our taproom experience."

The award-winning brewery's best-selling All Day IPA is 4.7% alcohol by volume. But craft beer enthusiasts know Founders for Kentucky Breakfast Stout (11.8% ABV), a, limited-release imperial stout loaded with coffee, chocolate and bourbon-barrel aged in underground caves, the Free Press reported.

The brewery plans to hire primarily Detroit area employees this summer. "The introduction of a brand like Founders Brewing Co. to the South Cass neighborhood will have a catalytic impact and attract others to invest," Sue Mosey, executive director of Midtown Detroit Inc. said in the news release.

Founders will join a healthy, expanding craft beer scene in Detroit. Just a block away, 8 Degrees Plato Detroit offers a top-notch craft beer bar and store, the Free Press reported. And a few more blocks north, Midtown in the past several years has welcomed a 120-tap Hopcat gastropub and Jolly Pumpkin Artisan Ales, which offers food and Jolly Pumpkin sour beers as well as brews from North Peak Brewing Co, the newspaper reported.

Photo by Scott Olson/Staff/Getty Images News/Getty Images