USA, MI: Elk Brewing Company holds grand opening for its second location

Grand Rapids’ Elk Brewing Company has been a must-visit craft beer spot on Wealthy Street since opening two years ago. In a recent expansion, the brewery held its grand opening of its Comstock Park location on Sept. 15, MLive.com.

The new brewery is located at 400 Dodge Street in Comstock Park, near the Fifth Third Ballpark. Manager Mike Goodwin hopes the brewery will become a staple in the community.

"I hope to add a something little bit unique to (Comstock Park)," Goodwin said. "I want to work on getting committed to the community."

After two days of soft openings, Goodwin is excited to see the brewery finally open to the public.

"Doing something like this is very exciting," he said. "It's up to us to represent what the community is."

The 5,000-square-foot space can hold about 100 people inside and 120 on an outdoor patio. The bar inside opens with rolling garage doors to the patio which will be closed in the winter.

The bar boasts 20 taps that will feature 14 Elk brews along with four local ciders. The brewery also plans to offer red and white wines made special for the brewery by Bel Lago Vineyards and Winery.

The extra brewing space was a major reason for the move. The Wealthy Street Elk location has a capacity of moving 600 barrels per year, while the new location can move about 1,800 barrels per year.

Goodwin said that the current plan for Elk Brewing is for the mainstay brewing to move completely to Comstock Park and focusing the Wealthy location on experimenting with producing sour beers. It's easier to produce sour beer in an isolated location since there's risk of cross-contamination in a brewery that has both kinds of barrels in the same area.

The Comstock Park location is also home to a full kitchen, in contrast to the Wealthy Street location that only serves appetizers and small sandwiches. The menu at the new location is still being figured out.

"I do want to start wrapping ourselves in the community," said Goodwin. "I definitely want to be part of things out here."

Hours for Elk Brewing's Comstock Park location are Sunday – Thursday 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. and 11 a.m. to midnight on Friday and Saturday. The kitchen will close at 9 p.m.

18 September, 2016