Bell's Lineup - Time to Retool?

You know, I trust that Bell's has a method to their incredibly successful madness, so I'm not sure how useful my personal opinion about how they should modify their lineup would be. It's not my intent to criticize the OP, as this can be a fun thought exercise, but to me it's a riff on the age old question of which beers you like/don't like from a particular brewer's lineup.

That said, the marketer in me hates the fact that Bell's has two beers with the same name. You know it's bad when people on a website that has a population of fairly well-educated beer consumers still get them mixed up.

So I guess what I would "retool" about their lineup involves renaming Third Coast Beer to something that doesn't have the words "Third Coast" in it (since it seems like most people associate "Third Coast" with the old ale).

 

I agree op. I am a huge fan of bells and have been there a number of times. They always have incredible beers on at the taproom, but its hard to get excited for the release of best brown or winter white ale. I wish they would take the approach of shorts or oddside having multiple beers released for every month, then rotate what comes out every year.

 

I wonder why they decided to use Third Coast twice in their line-up. There must be a story behind it.

 

The Great Lakes region is considered by some to be the "third coast" of the US.

 

A lot of beer tickers on this sight. Bells has plenty of fantastic beers I can get without jumping through hoops or winning a raffle or standing in line for hours to buy. Most successful brewery in Michigan doesn't need to retool. The OP needs to de-tool.

 

Right, I understand why they chose the name, but I'm wondering why they used the same name for 2 completely different beers in their line-up.

 

Gotcha

 

One small suggestion for Bell's... More limited releases. Would wouldn't go apeshit for a fresh sixer of double two hearted right about now?

 

This isn't just an issue with Bell's! There is so much mediocre beer these days and it just sits on the shelf.

 

Unless you are a brewery, distributor or a store, how would you know exactly what is "sitting on the shelf"? So you are saying Bell's makes a lot of beer and it just sits at the store, there is no demand for their product? I highly doubt this.

 

Maybe an unpopular opinion, but I would retool hopslam before any of those.

 

I only buy 2 Bells brews.. 2Hearted and Black Note when on tap @ special releases used to buy more of the line up.

 

Larry has said on the Great Lakes Forum that Amber is number 3, after Two Hearted and Oberon. I like the Amber now and then.

There was a new beer on a week ago, Andrews ale. ~5%, brewed in the 100 year old Stroh's Cypress open fermenters, with Chevallier malt from Crisp Maltings. This was a malt focused beer with a bready and slightly nutty character. I loved it, but 90% here would write crap about it, as they have not gotten the memo -"Malt is the new hops".

 

That beer sounds damn good and makes me very jealous I don't live closer to Bell's. I knew I read that statistic somewhere, It's shocking numbers if you consider how much Oberon they go through in such a relatively small window.
Good for Bell's, Love em!

 

Kinda like the planet series and hopslam

 

The same argument can be said for just about any brewery with a medium to large selection. I do however wish some of their seasonals and brewed once beers would become more than just that. What if you could get Hopslam, Oracle, and Expo for more than just a few weeks out of the year? Also, would love to see them bring back a few of the plant series (Mars, Saturn, Uranus), and some of the brewed once beers. 30th anniversary might be the best Bells beer I've ever had.

 

I have no issues with their lineup.

 

As someone who lives in West Michigan, I completely agree. Bell's offerings and Founders' offerings are displayed side by side each other when I visit the local grocery stores. I find myself buying Founders at a rate of about 10 to 1.

Only exciting thing Bell's puts on the shelf is their Expedition Stout. Founders is killing them in terms of MUST HAVE/TRY with their Breakfast Stout, Harvest Ale, Devil Dancer, Old C, Dirty Bastard, Art Prize beers, Dark Penance, RIS, Backstage Series, Rubaeus, as well as their everyday offerings of Centennial IPA, Dirty Bastard, Porter and Pale Ale.

I'm not trying to compare Bell's to Founders, BUT Bell's has become an afterthought to me. I did enjoy some of their Planet Series of beers they came out with over the past year. Maybe that's the direction they need to go and trim some of their everyday offerings that don't draw my attention.

 

Bell's just hit distribution in southern CA, so we are not at the point where others are, we have not been drinking Bell's for years. I enjoy their beers, especially Expedition Stout and Bell's Best Brown Ale, so while the "magic" might be wearing off for some, we in southern CA are just getting to taste it. So I disagree with OP about Bell's retooling.