Located about 10 minutes from downtown, Brass Ring Brewing operates a taproom pouring unfiltered brew and a tiny kitchen serving tikka masala tacos, roasted pork loin, beer cheese, and house pickles. Brass Ring’s mission for its small-batch beer is simplicity. At the beginning of the pandemic, Brass Ring built outdoor structures, seating two to four people; created Neighborly IPA, which raised money for charity; and moved live events online.

Arvon creates bold New England-style IPAs and heavily fruited sour beers such as Jurassic Haze, Harbor Beach, Citra Drops, and De Tour Reef, targeting craft beer enthusiasts. The company moved to Grand Rapids in 2020 from Grandville, Michigan; until then distribution was limited to specialty stores in metro Detroit.

Sacred Springs launched in 2018 with a rotating lineup of non-alcoholic kombuchas on tap with flavors such as Root of Life (beets, ginger, and turmeric), Flower of Life (jasmine, elderberries, hibiscus), and Trop Hopics (pineapple hops). Now, the micro-taproom also serves hard kombucha, mead, and meaducha, a blend of mead and kombucha.

The state’s largest brewery and the one that helped elevate Grand Rapids onto the world brewing stage, Founders is pretty widely known to beer drinkers. Founders is now one of the biggest breweries in the nation, thanks to All Day IPA, the best-selling craft can in America, and Kentucky Bourbon Stout (KBS). The company also has a taproom in Detroit’s midtown. Masks are no longer required in the taprooms.

This local beer bar turned popular chain got its start in Grand Rapids and now has nine locations, including in Detroit, Ann Arbor, and another in Grand Rapids. The original location has a small brewing operation and an extensive list of about 50 beers on tap. There’s a full menu of bar food such as beer-battered fries, burgers, salads, and pretzel nuggets.

Jolly Pumpkin produces a variety of unfiltered and unpasteurized Belgian-style, barrel-aged sours and farmhouse ales. It has seven brewpubs, including in Detroit, Chicago, and Traverse City. Customers often pair their vegan-friendly taps with tasty pork toppings or vegan pizza.

The spacious, westside post of Harmony Brewing Co. is modeled after a German beer hall. It doesn’t have pizza on the menu as it does on the eastside, but the food menu includes poutine, sausages (hopwurst, bulgogi, hotlink, and vegan Italian). The drinks menu is more extensive, however, with more taps, with a number of German lagers to toast the history of the building.

A local favorite, City Built creates a wide range of complex but tasty beers, many of them inspired by plants, herbs, and fruit. The brewery not only is gaining recognition for its IPAs, but it’s also been honored nationally for the vibrant label created for its Czech pilsner Prague Underground. Fill up on food, too: The menu is inspired by the owners’ Puerto Rican heritage — yuca fries, tacos, tostones, and mofongo.

Owned by Nate Walser, the former head brewer at the behemoth Founders, Greyline is a tiny neighborhood joint with 16 taps and limited snacks. (It’s fine to take your own food inside.) As Walser indicates on the website, the brewery, has “no plans to take over the world through distribution domination or be the next beer superpower.” Expect lots of great experimentation.