(Grand Rapids) – A new operation moves into Founders Brewing’s neighborhood.

Brewery Vivant opened in Grand Rapids in December. Rapid Growth featured the brewery’s cathedral-like imagery at the time:

Spaulding’s beer cathedral is named Brewery Vivant (925 Cherry St. SE), and aptly so, considering that the new establishment resurrects a dead spot on the otherwise vibrant Cherry St. (In French, vivant means “alive” or “lively.”) Spaulding teamed with Locus Development, Orion Construction and Studio Wise Design in the $3 million renovation project, which converted two defunct buildings into a 5,000-sq. ft. brewing facility and a 120-seat taproom. Outside, a Euro-style beer garden will provide seating for an additional 65 patrons in warm weather.

Though Brewery Vivant beer is currently available on draft, when it’s ready to pump out the suds for the retail market, it will appear in the form of 16 oz. cans. The first two to get approval are an Abbey ale called Solitude and a Belgian-style IPA called Triomphe. The brewery hasn’t announced when these will be available on shelves.

Perhaps the most interesting feature about these labels is the “quick response” (QR) code right on the packaging. I wrote briefly at the end of 2010 about new technology coming to beer and this is especially true with the rapid adoption of smartphones. With a free barcode scanner app installed on your phone, you can point your phone’s camera to the code (the box with the squiggly lines/dots) and a link to a page will pop up on the screen. The link can point to anything on the web…the brewery’s website page about the beer, a Youtube video, a Facebook account, etc. Expect to see more breweries add these QR codes right on the packaging.

Note: (I believe) Weston Brewing was the first in the U.S. to add a QR code with its Prototype Stout which may or may not yet be available. Muskoka Brewery out of Canada was the first that I have ever seen do it though.