Brewery Vivant

Our good friends, Jen and Hans, returned to Michigan (they now live in Arizona... *tear*) for the holiday season.  While they were here, we decided to whisk them away to Grand Rapids to show them one of our favorite Michigan breweries.  It's no surprise when I say that Brian and I enjoy the many different microbrews that Michigan has to offer, and one of Brian's current favorite breweries is Brewery Vivant, which offers an extensive collection of delicious Belgian style beers.  Since Jen and Hans (who are also fans of microbrews! ;)) were in town, we figured that there was no better time to head to Grand Rapids to check out Brewery Vivant for ourselves.  We were definitely not disappointed!  The food was remarkable, the beer was delicious (and I'm typically not a Belgian style beer drinker - I like my super hoppy IPA's), the staff was super friendly and extremely knowledgable, the service was great, and the atmosphere was delightful!  I would highly recommend this place to anyone!  Even if you're not a fan of microbrews, the food is absolutely scrumptious and you can't beat the location.  It's set up to look like a medieval church, with the bar as the altar, which is a sight to see in and of itself. :)  Plus, the pub has a German bier hall vibe, which brought back many memories of our times spent in actual German bier halls.  All in all, it was a great experience, and we're so happy that we were able to share it with such great friends! :)

Inside the pub...
LOVE the tables and the bar! :)

The menu...
You seriously can't go wrong with anything on it.  Everything we tried was delicious!

We started with Bavarian brezeln and beer cheese for appetizers...
Absolutely drool-worthy!  I'm still dreaming of it! :)

Jen and Hans enjoying their beers...

Brian was thrilled to finally be there! :)

Cheers to great friends! :)

In addition to everything else, they also had a small gift shop where you could purchase Brewery Vivant goodies... Including their specialty beers that can't be found in stores.  Brian was quite the happy camper! :)

Brian and Hans...
These two were definitely happy to be reunited! :)

And, while we were waiting for our taxi, we decided to take couple portraits in front of the brewery...
Gotta love photo ops! :)

Cheers to Brewery Vivant! :)

After our Brewery Vivant experience, we thought we'd check out the Grand Rapids Brewing Company for a quick nightcap (As if we really needed it after shenanigans at Brewery Vivant! But, hey, you only live once, right?! :)) 

By the end of the night, Brian was clearly in his happy place! :)