City Built Brewery is pulling out all the plugs for its first anniversary.
Owners Ed Collazo and Dave Petroelje suffered through months of delays to open their brewery last Memorial Day Weekend, so they’ve made City Built’s one-year party that much more special. Three sessions of festivities will be held June 9 on the roof of 820 Monroe Ave. NW.
Only 330 tickets to the event were released, but they’ve promised some extra treats will be in the taproom as well.
The first year saw the brewery win the Gerald R. Helmholdt Grand Award from the Neighborhood Business Alliance and Most Promising Hispanic Business from the West Michigan Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, so there’s a lot to live up to in year two.
“Our intention was bringing communities together,” Petroelje said. “It’s been cool to see the different groups we’ve hosted in the Second Ward (City Built’s event space).”
Collazo and Petroelje are confident the anniversary party will be a way to launch into the future.
Check Out the Food
Collazo’s aunt, who’s from Thailand, will be throwing her influence into a full smoked pig.
City Built’s kitchen is largely influenced by Collazo’s Puerto Rican background, so expect an interesting, but likely delicious, fusion of flavors.
The brewery’s kitchen has been a major selling point for the business, and Collazo actually credits the nine-plus month delay for its success.
“It allowed our staff to hone in on the menu, not just how to make it, but turning out how it should,” he said. “If we would have opened in September, I don’t think we would have had the reception we did in May.”
What’s on Tap
With Petroelje at the helm of the brewhouse, his inventive style of brewing will be showcased more than ever before at the anniversary party. The highlight is City Built’s first bottle release, a bourbon barrel-aged version of Chaga Khan stout called Diamond of the Forest.
Also on tap will be a variety of fruited variations on the Monroe Weisse, a tart Berliner Weisse, and four variants of a Russian Imperial Stout: Mole, Baklava, Coquito (a Puerto Rican Christmas drink) and Lavender & Coffee.
And you can find a strawberry, guava, pineapple expression of the brewery’s Fluffy Unicorns, a pineapple and vanilla imperial pale ale.
“The biggest learning curve this year was what we wanted to be versus what people wanted us to be,” Petroelje said. “You have to balance it.”
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