Niche Grand Rapids brewers eye ‘untapped market’

Advocates ask state to allow direct-to-consumer sales

By Abby Poirier

Speciation Artisan Ales LLC has carved out a niche in Grand Rapids’ craft beer industry by producing a signature line of “wild” spontaneously fermented ales, hand-crafted sours and fruit-centric beers, most of which it sells from over the bar at its Wealthy Street taproom. e brewery operates in a relatively small corner of the craft brewing market that produces styles that have fervent fans all over the globe. However, not many companies in the industry focus on nicky, time-consuming wild ales, which require years of barrel aging to produce signature avors and the proper amount of funky characteristics.

Owner Mitch Ermatinger said Speciation regularly has patrons coming from hundreds of miles away to buy beer, which can range in price from $6 per 16-ounce can to more than $25 for a 750-milliliter bottle. Most weekends, more than half of the brewery’s sales are to beer tourists, he said.

“And almost all of them are from out of state,” Ermatinger said. “We get tons of Chicago tra c, tons of New York tra c. We’ve positioned ourselves as a specialty brand, and I think that attracts a wider base.”

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