Dynamic Variation:
Ben Darcie
Author
Ben Darcie

Ben Darcie is a 10-year beer writer, 8-year member of the Michigan Beer Industry & a 15-year homebrewer. Living in Grand Rapids, Michigan, he spends most of his time promoting and connecting the public to Grand Rapids Breweries, Cideries, and Distilleries.

Archival Brewing: Historic-Style Beers

Ah, Belmont. This town just north of Grand Rapids doesn’t get a ton of attention. For those who stop, there is a honeypot of delicious food and drink waiting for you in this unique corner of Kent County. Even if you haven’t been up that way, I’m sure you’ve heard of The Score, one of the biggest…

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Fall Beers Worth Visiting Grand Rapids For

Happy fall, everyone! I’m Ben Darcie, and I’m a 14-year veteran of the Grand Rapids beer scene, including being a beer writer for 12 years and working in the beer industry itself for 10 years. In short, I’ve spent the last 14 years getting to know the breweries of this great city, as well as their…

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A Local's List of Great Fall Places to Eat & Drink

In classic Michigan fashion, fall has arrived in full force, and quickly. Beers turn darker, cocktails turn toward hard spice, and we arrive at the penultimate season for hard cider. A good friend of mine, Pat Evans, wrote an awesome article on fall beverages a few years ago, which still holds…

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Black Calder Brewing: Michigan's First Black-Owned Brewery

Amidst the chaos of 2020, Black Calder Brewing Company found itself in a supremely unusual position: trying to open a Grand Rapids brewery in the middle of a pandemic. I got to speak with Terry Rostic, one of the two owners of Black Calder, Michigan's first Black-owned brewery, about the journey to…

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