Founders Brewing plans second brewery

Founders Brewing plans second brewery

Founders Brewing Co. plans to use its building on Hynes Avenue SW in Grand Rapids for warehousing, distribution and beer production. Photo via fb.com

Founders Brewing Co. is opening another brewery.

Founders said today that the additional facility will be in Grand Rapids at 900 Hynes St. SW, about a mile south of its production facility at 235 Grandville Ave. SW.

The brewery had been looking for space for months by the time they found the 190,000-square-foot space, listed by Colliers International | West Michigan.

“As we continue to grow, so too does the demand for space,” Founders co-founder and CEO Mike Stevens said. “We are excited to finally give our warehouse crew a new home, one that will be an efficient space to work in.”

The building is expected to fulfill the brewery’s warehousing and distribution needs, but will also house a second brewery “to focus on barrel aged, experimental, high gravity and specialty beers.”

It will help the brewery further broaden its barrel-aged program.

“We are very excited about this opportunity,” Stevens said. “The plan is to build a secondary brewery that allows us to focus exclusively on specialty and barrel-aged beers. This is the foundation of our company and what we are known for. It represents the very essence of Founders, and it feels great to know that the very roots of our success will always have a primary focus.”

Many of the brewery’s specialty, limited and Backstage Series beers will be brewed and packaged at the facility.

Founders also expects to create additional full-time jobs with the facility.

Use of the building is expected to start Jan. 29, and the facility will not have a taproom.