Beer

We are proud to be approved as a Michigan Covid-19 Safer Dining Participant through the Michigan Department of Labor & Economic Opportunity.  what are the hours? General Store Mon: Closed Tues - Thurs: 11am - 6pm Fri & Sat: 11am - 8pm Sun: 11am - 6pm eccentric cafe Mon: Closed Tues - Thurs: 3pm - 9pm Fri & Sat: 12pm - 10pm Sun: 12pm - 7pm can i bring my kids? All ages are welcome. do i need to bring/wear a mask? Fully vaccinated individuals don't need to wear a mask at the Cafe or General Store. We highly recommend those who aren't vaccinated to wear a mask. can we sit at the bar? We apologize, but not at this time. Tables have been arranged to accommodate safe social distance – please do not combine or rearrange tables, even outdoors. For the safety of others, please do not wander or exchange tables inside the pub or outdoor in the garden and patio. How Can I order food and beer to go?  Give us a call or order online! Place your order by calling 269.382.2332 , and we will bring your order right out to your car in our parking lot. Online ordering for food & beer is only available during normal business hours:  what kind of food are you offering? Our menu can be viewed online at: bellsbeer.com/cafe-menu or by scanning our QR code found on tables and signs at the Eccentric Café.  can i order a crowler or growler? Yes! You may order crowlers and growlers at the time of your purchase as well. Please do not consume crowlers/growlers on the premises, but we highly encourage you to take fresh beer home with you. can i make a reservation? Sorry, reservations are not accepted at this time. are you open for events? Yes! We are now accepting bookings for events. Visit our Events Page for more details. Questions? Please reach out to us at eventinfo@bellsbeer.com.  are you hosting concerts? We are excited to welcome back live entertainment at the Eccentric Cafe in the Back Room and Beer Garden. Take a look at the full schedule and visit Etix.com to purchase tickets. Questions? Please reach out to us at concertinfo@bellsbeer.com.  Are you hosting brewery tours? Yes! At this time, we are reintroducing tours of our original brewery in downtown Kalamazoo.  Tours times are listed below.  12 pm 1:30 pm 3 pm Reservations are strongly encouraged as there's limited capacity.  We will be utilizing CLEAR Health App for all tours & all guests must wear masks. We look forward to reopening our Comstock Brewery later this spring. Please keep an eye here on our website and social media. We look forward to having you visit! To book a tour and download the CLEAR Health App please click HERE. Important information regarding indoor shows and large events at the Café: As part of the entry requirements for all Bell’s Eccentric Café shows (& some large events), all participants must provide proof of vaccination through the CLEAR Health app, or a negative COVID test within the last 72 hours (shown at the door) in order to attend. We have partnered with CLEAR Health Pass, to provide easy proof of COVID-19 vaccination status. Complete your Health Pass before arriving to the Eccentric Café for a seamless experience! To get started, download the CLEAR app. For the most efficient experience possible, all ticket holders should sign up for CLEAR and complete their COVID-19 proof of vaccination before arriving at the Cafe. Trust and transparency are CLEAR’s top priority, and with Health Pass, users are always in control of their health information. Personal information is only used to deliver a frictionless and secure experience with CLEAR and Bell's Brewery. You can read more details about this in CLEAR’s Privacy Policy here. If you have any questions about enrolling in CLEAR, please reach out to memberservices@clearme.com or tap “Get In Touch” in the app for assistance. HOW TO COMPLETE YOUR CLEAR HEALTH PASS: 1) Download the CLEAR app and tap the white Health Pass tile 2) Select ‘Have a code’ and enter the code BELLSBEER 3) Easily enroll or verify your identity with a quick selfie 4) Follow the prompts to verify your proof of vaccination 5) Before you arrive, reopen the Health Pass tile and produce your pass. Green is good to go! Be ready to show upon arrival. Answers to some commonly asked questions For those who have already purchased tickets to an upcoming indoor show and are unable to adhere to this policy, you may request a full refund by emailing concertinfo@bellsbeer.com. If you have lost your vaccination card, contact your local health department to obtain proof of your vaccination. If not able to show a clear health pass, you can show negative test results obtained within the last 72 hours at entry. For patrons who do not have a smartphone, we will be manually verifying vaccination status on the day of the show. If you cannot download the app we will manually verify your CDC immunization card or Michigan County Immunization Record (MCIR) at the door.

Who says Halloween is just about candy? Beer, believe it or not, pairs great with several sweets. Here are just a few beer and candy pairing ideas to get you started.  Bell's beer and candy Pairings Rind Over Matter with Lemonheads, Tropical Skittles, Swedish Fish, Starbursts, Smarties or sour worms Two Hearted with Sour Gummy Worms or Sour Skittles Best Brown with milk chocolate peanut clusters, Pay Day or Peanut M&Ms Special Double Cream Stout with dark chocolate pretzels Amber Ale with Candy Corn or Milk Duds Kalamazoo Stout with Tootsie Rolls, Black Licorice Expedition Stout with a Take 5 Third Coast Old Ale and chocolate-covered cherries What kind of candies do you pair with beer? Let us know on Facebook or Twitter.

Oats can be used in a lot of different ways, not just with stouts, which is what most people associate with this incredibly versatile ingredient. The oats in Oatsmobile lend a lighter, wonderful body, We actually use two kinds of oats in our Session Pale Ale.  They keep the alcohol moderate and lend great body and flavor. Combined with bright and zippy characteristics from dry hopping, Oatsmobile is approachable, unique, aromatic and sessionable. Let John Mallett, our Director of Production, tell you more below. Also, what is an Oatsmobile? Where did they name come from anyway?

We are again proud to work with Pints for Prostates. Craft breweries across the U.S. are using special Pints for Prostates crowns to help encourage men to talk with their doctors about scheduling health screenings.  This nationwide effort coincides with National Prostate Cancer Awareness Month in September.  “The craft beer community has been incredibly supportive of the Pints for Prostates mission and generously assisted us in getting our message to millions of men,” said Rick Lyke.  Lyke is a prostate cancer survivor who started Pints for Prostates in 2008 after successful treatment for the disease. “If Pints for Prostates Crowns for as Cure reaches just one guy who benefits from a prostate health screening, then the effort will be a huge success," he continued. We will be spreading our supply of crowns across as many brands and bottling runs as possible in order to help reach as many people as we can.  If you spot one of these special crowns, help us continue the conversation by sharing a photo on social media and use the hashtag #CrownsforaCure and tag @pints4prostates. Include the brewery name too (we are @bellsbrewery on Twitter and Instagram) along with the location where you found it. Below is a video from Larry Bell, a prostate cancer survivor.

Our fall seasonal and specialty beers have started shipping! For the first time in 5 years, Octoberfest will be bottled. Twelve-packs are also debuting this year.  Along with Octoberfest, Best Brown and Special Double Cream Stout are also heading out to your local stores, restaurants and bars.  All three will feature our refreshed Bell's logo and new packaging look.  For help locating these and your other favorite Bell's beers, please take a look at our Beer Finder (remember to call ahead before you head out). 

We sometimes get the question: "What's that stuff in my Oberon?"  It's actually yeast and protein. It a big part of what makes Oberon taste like it does. John Mallett, our director of operations, explains why it's there and how to redistribute it.             [[{"fid":"1980","view_mode":"default","fields":{"format":"default"},"type":"media","field_deltas":{"1":{"format":"default"}},"link_text":null,"attributes":{"class":"media-element file-default","data-delta":"1"}}]]  

Last week, we announced that Quinannan Falls Special Lager will head to the canning line. It was the first of a few new additions to our specialty release lineup for 2016. We started with a photo clue and followed it up with a few additional hints on social media before revealing all later in the week. Now it’s time to reveal the first clue for our second announcement: Tame your thirst for hoppiness between January and July. Think you know what it is? Guess correctly and be entered for the chance to win some Bell’s swag. Look for additional clues on Twitter and Facebook. Cheers!

We have teamed up with the Kalamazoo Coffee Co. to create a brand new specialty stout.  Bell’s Milchkaffee (5.5% ABV) is a sweet, milk stout brewed with a blend of two coffee beans, Pressed for Success, a medium roasted Nicaraguan coffee and Killer Beanz, a dark roasted Papua New Guinea coffee, roasted just a block away from our original brewery, next to our pub, the Eccentric Café, in downtown Kalamazoo. “It’s exciting to work with another local Kalamazoo business and create something new that combines both of our passions,” said Bell’s Vice President, Laura Bell. “This collaboration is another great example of what makes our hometown special and unique,” she added. Milchkaffee is a German phrase which translates to “milk coffee” and refers to a drink similar to a Café au lait. The coffee used in the brewing process was made using a cold brewing technique which extracts the coffee aroma and flavor without any acidic or acrid notes. Combined with lactose, this technique gives the beer a smooth, gentle coffee character. Lactose also lends a silky, slightly sweet note to Milchkaffee. “We are proud to work with Bell's. There is nothing better than to have local businesses working together to create something special for their community, that in itself is what helps create community," Garrett Krugh, owner of the Kalamazoo Coffee Co. said. Only available on draught, this beer will be part of a special celebration at the Café on Nov. 11 featuring live performances from Kalamazoo’s Ghost Bunnies and Saxsquatch & Bridge Band. Coffee samples from the beans used to brew this stout will also be available to taste alongside the beer. Doors will open at 7 p.m. and music will start at 8 p.m. There is no cover (this event is 21 and up with valid ID). A limited amount of this collaborative beer will also head to some events outside of Kalamazoo later this year. Details will be posted at on our Events Calendar as they become available.

Bell’s Brewery is releasing its first beer fermented in 100-year-old wooden cypress tanks that were used by Stroh Brewing Company in Detroit. Andrews’ Ale is inspired by the traditional English style Extra Special Bitter and uses a semi-retired malt variety, Chevallier, that was popular during the 19th Century in England. The tanks came to Bell’s from Detroit, where they were sitting in a warehouse for more than 50 years. They were transferred in pieces and reassembled by local carpenters at Bell’s. Each tank is about 12 feet in diameter and stands about 8 feet tall. Bell’s Director of Operations John Mallett’s idea for Andrews’ Ale was to make a beer with a heritage barley malt. The wooden tanks were used because it was the material used in fermenters when the style was popular. Chevallier was the primary barley grown in England through the 19th century. By the late 1880s, it made up 80 to 90 percent of all the barley grown there. Today, it has all but disappeared. In 2012, it was grown in small quantities in England where it was malted as a test plot. Our friends at Brewers Supply Group had some of the malt available this year but in limited supply. Bell’s was one of the few breweries that were offered some to brew with.  The name “Andrews’ Ale” is derived from one of the laborers of the Reverend John Chevallier whose surname was Andrews. In “Malt: A Practical Guide from Field to Brewhouse” Mallet writes that the barley originated from a laborer named Andrews. While walking through a field of barley, Andrews plucked a couple of ears out of the ground. Upon returning to his cottage, he tossed a few kernels into his garden to feed the chickens. The barley grew quite fine and well, so much so that Chevallier decided to try and cultivate it. The beer is 5% ABV and is toasty, biscuity, with notes of caramel and a grassy hoppy flavor. Andrews’ Ale is on tap at the Eccentric Café. You can see the wooden tanks from our brewery gallery. See them during public museum hours or during a tour. Learn more about visiting Bell’s.

Bell’s Brewery is again participating in Ales for ALS, a program that brews beer to raise money for ALS, also known as Lou Gehrig's Disease. The program started in 2013 by Loftus Ranches and Hop Union, and Bell’s has been involved since the beginning. The farm donates a special hop blend to breweries to make a special beer. A dollar from each beer sold will go to the ALS Therapy Development Institute. The 2015 Bell’s Ales for ALS IPA has tropical, grapefruit, silky and oatmeal notes. It comes in at 6.5 percent ABV and is now exclusively available at the Eccentric Cafe. “It’s important that the brewing industry gives back,” said John Mallett, Bell’s director of operations and one of the designers of the hop blend. “It’s a pretty fun program. Good hops, great beer, great cause.” It was brewed with the same hop blend, which includes Equinox, Mosaic and experimental hops. (See the full blend here). The blend was designed by Bell’s Mallett, as well as Bear Republic's Rob Kent, Sierra Nevada's Ken Grossman & Brian Grossman and Beachwood BBQ and Brewing's Julian Schrago. Learn more about the Ales for ALS program on their website.