Bells Brewery (2022)

I was there a few weeks ago and what was certainly missing were the Larry specials on the menu, which were usually very good.

 

Not much and a lot.

They're brewing a lot more beers from years past, while also tweaking old recipes and re releasing those as well.

The employee's have been given a lot of financial incentives, better benefits and discounts.

There is no longer a hard and fast release calendar for the year either (at least for 2022).

There will be a new unreleased as of yet variant of a barrel aged stout come Black Friday....but that is subject to change as well.

 

Are my sweet precious Expo and BA Expo safe for now? I would never forgive any "tweaking" done to that recipe.

 

Texas Corners.

 

Sunday is a tough day I guess. Looks like they’re closed, my bad, John. Cheers.

 

The taplist at HopCat is always a excellent. Good substitute if nothing else. Cheers.

 

HopCat is a good choice for a good beer list (100 of them but a few seltzers or ciders are likely included), but I was a little disappointed in how beat up the place was and the food was just okay when I was there a couple months ago.

One Well Brewing is a good choice and it's open until 10. It's just off I-94, but there's construction on I-94 right there and I think the exit is closed. South off of I-94 (same closed exit) in Portage about 2 miles is Latitude 42 Brewing, or it's other location just west of Kzoo on Main Street, a quarter mile off an exit west off US-131. Both are open until 9 o'clock.

Also downtown and just a block west of HopCat is The Beer Exchange, which is open until 2 am. It usually has a pretty good beer list, but it's kind of a fun place in that the price of beer fluctuates just like the stock market. If a beer isn't being ordered very often, it's price goes down. I've never seen a price exceed the posted normal price, so a popular beer's price just holds steady. During a lull period, they'll declare a market crash and lower the price on just about everything. Food is okay.

Shakespeare's Pub is also in that area (open until midnight). I haven't been there in years, and it's got a reputation of being a hangout for the college crowd. Old Dog Tavern (open until 10), is just across the street from Bell's. I think their tap list is around 20 beers and is usually good.

Depending on where you are staying, any of the choices should be convenient because Kalamazoo/Portage isn't that big.

Enjoy your visit.

 

I'm pretty surprised that there hasn't been any activity on here since May. Surely our insider, @TheeWarPig has something to say at this point.

 

Well, Hopslam will be out soon, so there's something. (not that I'm buying any)
https://help.bellsbeer.com/hc/en-us/articles/9338788854035-Hopslam-s-New-Release-Timeframe-

 

I've never really been one for Dryanuary but the couple of times that I thought about doing it Hopslam is the reason I didn't attempt it. Maybe I'll give it a shot next year

 

I find it hard to believe dry January had anything to really do with it, New ownership wanted that Hopslam revenue in 2022.

 

Everyone is entitled to their opinion but do you have anything to back up your belief or just a hunch?

 

Just a hunch.

 

I assume the thought process behind what @Cotton_27 is referring to is the fact that increasing sales in 2022 looks good for the new owners, even if it doesn’t really effect anything in the future, since it is just a sliding scale. Effectively, it boosts 2022 but including 2 seasons of hopslam in 1 year, but doesn’t affect future years. Makes them look good to stakeholders.

I am with you. I’m not believing that this was done strictly for this purpose. But, I’m not expert. Just seems silly, since they likely aren’t looking to sell. Not sure why it would matter to them.

 

It matters to management of the Mitsubishi Group, which owns Kirin, which owns New Belgium, Bell's and several other international breweries.

Anticipating Bell's Three Beer Lineup for 2023.

• Bell's Official
• Bell's Voodoo Ranger Oberon
• Bell's Voodoo Ranger Two Hearted

 

Was browsing the cellar and realized I haven’t bought any ‘22 Expedition. Based on older bottles, it usually bottles early September, but I can’t find any in the south suburbs of Cleveland. Couldn’t find any mention online either. Are they bottling and distributing it this year?