Long Road Distillers

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) A new staple on Grand Rapids’ west side is Long Road Distillers. The distillery is celebrating its first anniversary with a celebration to thank the community for its support.

The Long Road Distillers First Anniversary Celebration is Saturday, May 21 from noon to midnight. There will be free tours of the distillery, live DJ and music, and the release of Long Road Distillers Single Barrel Wheat Whiskey. There is no cover, but you are encouraged to reserve your space with a free ticket.

There will be a live music show in the Rickhouse at 8 p.m. Tickets for that are $10 in advance or $15 at the door.

Long Road Distillers
537 Leonard Street NW
Grand Rapids

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) If you are looking to mix it up a little this Valentine’s day, why not turn to a mixologist for a little help? Long Road Distillers is perfecting the art of the craft cocktail with some special events for Valentine’s Day weekend.

Long Road Distillers prides itself by using local ingredients and making every drink by hand. They also offer classes to teach the art of making cocktails.

On Valentine’s Day weekend, you can find Long Road Distillers at the Downtown Market Grand Rapids on Saturday for Valent-ICE. They will also have some special cocktails at their Leonard Street location, along with live music on Saturday from local musician Alexander Lynch.

Long Road Distillers
537 Leonard St. NW
Grand Rapids

Monday – Thursday, 4 p.m. – midnight
Friday & Saturday, noon – midnight
Sunday, noon – 9 p.m.

Long Road Distillers

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WZZM) — This week on the Beer Beat, we’re learning about hard alcohol at Long Road Distillery.

In the video above, Pat Evans of the Grand Rapids Business Journal and Grand Rapids Magazine takes us to the distillery to explain why that sector is becoming more popular.

Check out Pat’s writing in the Grand Rapids Business Journal and Grand Rapids Magazine.

Long Road Distillers

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich (WOOD) – Grand Rapids first every distillery, Long Road Distillers, visited in studio to mix up a few cocktails with unexpected combinations, like pink peppercorns and lemon! Longtime friends Kyle Van Strien and Jon O’Connor are self proclaimed “neighborhood boys” who love West Michigan and have done a lot of work in the community. They always wanted to start a business and decided it was time for Grand Rapids to have a distillery. What makes Long Road special? Everything they serve has been hand crafted by them for you! Fresh squeezed juice, small batch ginger beers, everything made by starting with the raw ingredient. All the grains they use for the liquors are sourced within 30 miles of Grand Rapids, it doesn’t get much more local than that!

Besides tasty liquors, Long Road has awesome food! Kyle and Jon explain that, “You’ll come for the drinks and stay for the food. But the food will keep you coming back!” The menu is small and concise, but filled with yummy and unique dishes with local ingredients. Everything from munchies like deviled eggs and shrimp cocktail to heavier plates like kielbasa and large salads. They whip up a few menu favorites for Rachael and show off a very cool gift idea. Their “bathtub gin kit” is a great cocktail box with a Prohibition theme. It includes a botanical kit to infuse the Long Road vodka, instructions, and everything you need to mix up your own Prohibition vodka. All proceeds go to the Grand Rapids Public Musesum. Find out everything about Long Road Distillers by clicking here!

Looking for New Year’s Eve plans? Celebrate the New Year in The Rickhouse at Long Road Distillers!

Cocktails, food, music and a one-of-a-kind ball drop are all included with your $25 ticket!

Join Long Road for :

  • A Sparkling Cocktail Toast at midnight
  • A Slider Bar with all the fixins
  • LRD Drunkin’ Truffle Dessert
  • Music to get you moving on the record player, spun by local talents Return of Sparkle Motion (Eric Schmieder, Jeff Finan, and Jason Richardson)
  • A VERY special, Long Road edition, ball drop from 3 stories up in the distillery atrium!

And, before you head upstairs at 10 p.m., join them downstairs for Shrimp Cocktails (4/$10) with a house Cocktail Sauce made with our horseradish infused vodka, and vynil tunes spun by Dan Climie and Benjamin Davey!

Full story here.

Long Road Distillers

Cocktail Week – Grand Rapids starts on November 11 and runs through November 22.

Long Road Distillers

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) — The first ever Cocktail Week in Grand Rapids begins on Wednesday.

Experience GR said 29 area restaurants are participating in Cocktail Week GR and serving up signature Michigan-made cocktails.

Participating local restaurants will offer two Michigan cocktails and a shared-plate appetizer for $25 or less, as well as menu items paired with Michigan-distilled spirits.

Cocktail Week runs from Nov. 11-22.

Cocktail Week GR is similar to Restaurant Week, however it’s centered around the drinks. It also coincides with with the annual Wine, Beer and Food Festival at the DeVos Place Convention Center happening Nov. 19-22.

24 Hour News 8’s Tom HIllen spoke with the owner and the general manager of Long Road Distillery in Grand Rapids — one of the businesses participating in Cocktail Week.

Long Road Distillers

The Grand Rapids Public Museum announced a collaboration on Thursday with a local distillery for a new exhibit that explores Prohibition.

“American Spirits: the Rise and Fall of Prohibition” opens on September 26.

Long Road Distillers, on the city’s west side, has created a “bathtub gin” kit to commemorate the exhibit. It includes everything you need to infuse your own gin at home, and comes with a special prohibition-labeled bottle.

You can pick up the kit at Long Road Distillers. Doors there opened June; it’s the first craft distillery in the history of the City of Grand Rapids.

– WZZM 13, September 3, 2015, Link to page here.

Even though it was early, we had a great time hosting Fox 17 at Jackie Green for “On The Scene with Jackie Green” this week!

Check out the early morning videos here.

Long Road Distillers

Long Road Distillers is Grand Rapids 1st Craft Distillery.  They also feature farm fresh food and bottles-to-go.

They are at 537 Leonard NW in Grand Rapids.  They are open Monday thru Thursday from 4:00pm – Midnight, Friday and Saturday from Noon – Midnight, and Sunday from Noon to 9:00pm.

Check out the full story here.

Long Road Distillers

What’s New in West Michigan!

Hotel Walloon
●    Hotel Walloon is a brand new 32 room, boutique hotel that just opened at the end of May
●    Located on Walloon Lake, centrally located between Petoskey, Boyne City, and Charlevoix
●    Offers guests vintage elegance and unlimited adventure Up North year round
●    Hotel Walloon offers a billiard room, fitness center, wifi, a lakeside spa tub, and a private beach on Walloon Lake.
●    Many of their rooms offer a connecting room options, making this a great place for a family getaway Up North!
Long Road Distillers
●    Brand new distillery opened its doors last week on the West Side of Grand Rapids off Leonard Street.
●    They make craft Vodka, Gin, and White Whiskey, with plans for additional products by the end of the month
●    Limited Menu from their kitchen: small plate items, sandwiches, and salads
●    Able to produce 10,000 cases of spirits a year
●    One of the few distilleries in the state to make all their products “grain to glass,” with most all their ingredients grown within 30 miles
●    Cocktails available in the tasting room, with all their cordials, bitters, and simple syrups made in-house
●    Long Road hopes to begin distributing bottles by the end of summer. For now, patrons can buy one at the distillery, priced at $30 for a 750 ML bottle of vodka, gin or white whiskey and $18 for a 350 ML bottle.
●    The distillery offers an annual membership buy-in with discount perks for $65.
●    Distillery hours are 4 p.m. to midnight, Monday through Thursday, noon to midnight Friday and Saturday, and noon to 9 p.m. on Sunday.

Escape Michigan
●    Escape Michigan is the newest “Escape Room” to open in West Michigan, and will open its doors in mid-June.
●    You and up to four friends will be locked in a special room and have sixty minutes to solve a series of puzzles to find your way out of the room.
●    There are two different escape rooms, with unique obstacles in each. “Outbreak” is a lab setting, and “Secret Agent” is the home of an undercover spy.
●    To start your mission, the “gamemaster” will act as a guide and give clues to the team, leading you to the puzzles you’ll need to solve to escape.
●    Your minds are put to the test, and teambuilding is part of the challenge.

Michigan’s Heritage Park
●    Explore 10,000 Years of Michigan History at Michigan’s Heritage Park in Whitehall when it opens on June 6
●    19-acre living history park in a natural woodland setting in Whitehall
●    You’ll travel through history as you make your way along the half-mile trail, with stops at a Native American Village, an early settler’s cabin, and a logging shanty.
●    You’ll also visit a 1900s farmhouse, a fur trading post, archaeology dig, and a Civilian Conservation Corps Camp.
●    They’ll be hosting a Civil War Encampment on June 13 and 14 at the park, with more special events throughout the summer.

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