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Things still aren’t normal out there, and for one Michigan brewery, normal is now kind of subjective. For Two Guys Brewing in Wyoming, the last few years have seen major changes, multiple pivots, and lots of hard work. They’ve turned what could have been a disaster into a couple of great years for the brewery, with even more changes to come.
The brewery is known not just for their hand-crafted beers, they have also created quite a reputation for their incredible, from-scratch food as well. They’ve also garnered a reputation for being generous members of the Grand Rapids beer community, and true advocates for this industry.
“I’ve been brewing for 25 years,” owner Thomas Payne said. He owns the brewery with his wife Amy. “But I’ve been in restaurants for 38, so it just made sense that of course, our food was going to be good. We wanted to make sure that we are giving our neighborhood a downtown Grand Rapids experience without going downtown.”
BY Amy Sherman
'Real honest food' puts Two Guys Brewing on the map
MIBREW TRAIL MAGAZINE
WINTER 2022
Check out Hearst’s newest brand showcasing Michigan Breweries at MiBrewTrail.com.
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Two Guys Brewing
2356 Porter St
Wyoming, MI
616-552-9690
www.twoguys-brewing.com
MIBREW TRAIL MAGAZINE
WINTER 2022
Photo Credit: TwoGuys Brewing
community during its time of need. Transforming from in-person dining to a total take-out restaurant in just a few days, the couple moved all their seating out of the way and quickly added multiple coolers to hold grab-and-go food, cans of beer, and their popular seltzer.
And when I say transformed, I mean it. I visited during the height of the pandemic, and the whole restaurant had been turned into one giant prep and packaging area. Tom had tables lined up and was quickly assembling dozens of charcuterie boards to be sold. Giant wheels of cheeses were scattered about, with stacks and stacks of aluminum disposable pans lining the walls. Amy was running about filling up the coolers by the door with quarts of creamy broccoli cheese soup, wet burritos, and chicken enchiladas. Staff members were mixing up dressings and stirring sauces. It was pretty amazing to see the transformation from a regular running restaurant into something totally different.
The couple both had grocery store experience, so this type of move wasn’t totally new to them. They believed that while people wanted help with cooking, they still wanted to feel that they were providing homemade meals for them. So Two Guys did the prep work and had meals ready to go.
“It was real honest food, but you just didn’t have to do the hard part,” Tom explained. “You could still take it home and cook for yourself.”
This pivot is what put Two Guys on the map.
During my recent visit Two Guys had their special Mardi Gras-inspired menu running, and let me tell you, do not miss this. The Payne’s second favorite city in the world is New Orleans (Wyoming is first) and they travel there several times each year to eat and get inspired. When they first opened, they would do an authentic Cajun and Creole meal once a year for Mardi Gras. It then morphed into a week-long party, then a month-long event because of its popularity. And now, I can reveal that according to Tom, he’s pretty sure they are just going to run with this all the time since it’s been so well received.
Photo Credit: TwoGuys Brewing
“It’s probably not going to go away,” Tom said. “We love the Big Easy, and we think we give New Orleans, well, we do it right. We do justice to the food scene down there, up here in Wyoming Michigan.”
Lucky us! This food is totally top-notch, and truly authentic, something we have long been lacking in the West Michigan area. Start off with the creamy, light as clouds crab beignets. These little gems fairly melt in your mouth, and with good reason. Tom explained that they are pretty much just fresh lump crab, rich mascarpone cheese, and just enough panko bread crumbs to tie it all together. They take a ride through some beer batter and a dip in the fryer. Served with Two Guys house remoulade sauce, they are totally delightful, and perfectly paired with one of their newer beers, the Powerslide. This all-Michigan pilsner is one of those beers that show off the talent of the brewer since there isn’t anything to hide behind. Simple, crisp, yet full-flavored, it features hops from Pure Michigan Hops in Coopersville.
At Trail Point, Cannarozzi cam under the tutelage of Gary Evans and Jeff Knoblock. “Jeff has always been super supportive of me,” she said. “Gary was fantastic, he taught me a lot. I give him a lot of credit. Beer making can be kind of easy, but there are alot of mistakes you can make, and he taught me discipline. I give him a lot of respect.”
From there, Cannarozzi moved on to managing the cellar at Our Brewing, and then took the leap to the big dog in town, Founders. “I wanted a challenge,” she said. “I applied for a cellar position, as there were a lot more of those than brewing positions.”
Here, she blossomed. “The cellar position at Founders back then, we were responsible for everything on the cold side until packaging. So that meant, sanitizing, cleaning tanks, working the centrifuge, and clarifying beer without a filter. I learned about dry hopping, fruit additions, and was there for all of their seltzer trials. I got to work in the 300 barrel brewhouse, 3 days a week,” where she brewed some of Founders experimental and small batch beers.
“The process on such a large scale was fascinating,” said Cannarozzi. Dry-hopping here might mean 1400 pounds of hops being dumped from a bulldozer dangling over the tanks. Some days it might mean just filling and emptying barrels all day long. “Founders was super strict about how things were done. They really taught me everything I could possibly learn. It was just such a different scale of things.”
She was the only woman on her 28 person team at the time. Over on the brewing side, there were three women out of 15, one of who was, and is, Houser.
After taking a break in 2020, Cannarozzi had the opportunity to create an all-female brew team at Elk Brewing in Comstock Park. “It was the chance of a lifetime,” she said. “I like to be challenged, to force myself to learn new things. I went in blind.” Elk was in a state of disrepair at the time, had recipes that had to be pieced together, needed to be reorganized, and cleaned up. If Cannarozzi could do that, she could hire her female production staff, and have some creative freedom in the beers.
“I knew she was capable of cleaning it up and making good beer there, but I warned her that it was going to be an enormous and insane undertaking,” said Houser. It was, but Cannarozzi was up to the task.
The Payne’s are known throughout the beer community for always being ready to lend a helping hand, whether it's with advice on some brewing equipment, or sharing their plans to transform during the pandemic.
“Tom and Amy are the most selfless, caring, welcoming people I've ever met in the beer world,” said Linus DePaoli, who owns nearby 3 Gatos Brewery. “They've been friends and have been helping us since the first time we talked about six months before we arrived here in the U.S.”
DePaoli and his wife Renata came to West Michigan to open their brewery from Brazil, via a stint in Germany.
“They work with everyone in the GR beer community to build the market up for all of us," DePaoli said. “Without them, I'm not sure where we would be today here at 3 Gatos. Without them, our path would definitely have been a lot harder.”
The path hasn’t been quite easy for Two Guys, and for Tom and Amy. But their creativity, perseverance, and dedication to their craft have allowed this little underdog brewery to rise up to the top, and there is no sign of them slowing down any time soon.
“Laissez les bons temps rouler” Two Guys Brewing.
Two Guys Brewing originally opened in 2018, overtaking a former 7-Eleven in the Grand Rapids suburb of Wyoming, becoming another brewery to join the Beer City lineup. Two Guys was a lifelong dream of this dedicated couple, who started out homebrewing and then meticulously planned each and every stop of their brewery.
The only thing they didn’t plan for? A worldwide pandemic.
For the Payne’s, this is when they got creative, and essentially ripped their whole business model apart to create something new, and exactly what was needed not just to survive, but to serve their beloved Wyoming
Photo Credit: TwoGuys Brewing
“We have regulars now who would not have come in here except for that,” Tom said. “So although COVID has been a pain in the ass, it’s also been a blessing.”
Two Guys gives so much credit to their hard-working crew and knew they had to find a solution to the new dining rules.
“Our staff are number one. They are the most important people in this building,” Amy said. “When COVID hit there was a lot of uncertainty.”
The Payne’s knew that their staff had mortgages to pay, and kids to feed.
“We had to figure out a way for them to still have a paycheck,” Amy said. “At the end of the day, Tom and I were up to all hours of the morning and at night making lists of things we could do, in ways that we could provide for them the ability to still draw a paycheck."
All those things that they came up with made it possible for almost everyone to retain their jobs. I have to say It was amazing to stop by for a visit more recently and to watch their space fill up with happy diners and drinkers enjoying the hand-crafted fare here in person, with a bustling, crew taking care of them.
Food is a very big deal at Two Guys, and Tom really prides himself on having a true, from-scratch kitchen.
“We make everything,” he said. “Literally everything.”
We are talking about all the soups, all the dressings, every sauce, and they even bake their own hamburger buns.
“We really wanted to showcase what we can do,” Tom said proudly. “We are very fluid in our food menu. We can spin on a moment's notice.”
“I’m beyond proud of this beer,” Tom said. “Easy drinker, but still very craft. Outside of what our norm is, this is not aggressively hopped, but the hops are still showcased.”
The pair brought out a new sandwich called the “Who Dat” which was inspired by a 2017 trip to New Orlean. This massive torpedo came crammed with shaved ham, turkey, drunken mushrooms, sauteed shrimp, American and Swiss cheese, remoulade, tomatoes, and coleslaw.
“It’s a minimum ten napkin sandwich,” Tom said. “It’s meant to be dirty.”
Dirty it was, and delicious too. We also sampled the Creole cornbread, which comes smothered with a very authentic shrimp etouffee. Tom explained that they like to make their roux the traditional way, which means pretty dark, and full of flavor. You don’t see roux like this in West Michigan, but you do at Two Guys.
Another beer to try at the brewery includes their flagship Two Guys IPA: The Beer That Started It All. It’s a big, bold double IPA, that comes in at a hefty 9%, and is strong enough to stand up to the spicy richness of the food. Also popular at the brewery is their hand-crafted seltzer, whose base is neutral, and can come with almost any flavor you can imagine. The seltzer and its many iterations come with the witty name of Brian Seltzer and his Orchestra.
Two Guys Brewing
2356 Porter St
Wyoming, MI
616-552-9690
www.twoguys-brewing.com
