Bell's Brewery, Inc.

Urbancaver

Ohio

4.58/5  rDev +12.3%
vibe: 5 | quality: 4.5 | service: 4.5 | selection: 5 | food: 3.5 | $$

Bells eccentric cafe is an amazing atmosphere with q top notch selection of beers (duh) ... Pretty much the only reason i wished i still lived in Kalamazoo. Pre expansion the cafe was far too packed any evening or weekend for my tast but with the new expansion the place is perfect! During the summer there is an amazing beer garden that's fun to hang out in. The original cafe has an amazing charm and the food (at least the old food) was very tasty. Overall a must stop for any beer lover in the area

01-18-2011 03:05:28 | More by Urbancaver

cagocubs

Illinois

4.58/5  rDev +12.3%
vibe: 4.5 | quality: 4.5 | service: 5 | selection: 4.5 | food: 4 | $$

Popped in Bells while on a business trip to Kzoo. Finding this place is easy enough as it is off the main street near the Amtrak line running through town. Don't make the mistake of being rerouted by your GPS to their Corporate office-factory in nearby Comstock/Galesburg.

The atmosphere of this place is great. A nice exclusive feel as you walk into a long hallway to get in. There is a fountain and a nice area to stand to enjoy a beer if you want to escape the main cafe section. The place is cozy with wood ceilings and walls. Decorated with cool nick knacks. There is a decent size bartop with plenty of seating and an upstairs area as well.

S: I was at the bar so service was quick and friendly.

Sl: I love how Bells has their taps set up. All the same design and shape minus the unique decal of the specific beer. All the current tapped beers are located on the giant chalkboard above the taps. The bartender offered samples so you could taste different beers. They carry exclusive beers to the Eccentric Cafe as well as their more popular beers.

Food: I had dinner and had no complaints. Not a massive or great menu, but you can definitely find something that you enjoy eating. The Bells porter sauce with the soft pretzels was worth noting.

If you are passing through kzoo, this is def. worth stopping in.

03-08-2012 21:22:37 | More by cagocubs

se7enchurches

Georgia

4.55/5  rDev +11.5%
vibe: 5 | quality: 4.5 | service: 4 | selection: 5 | food: 4.5 | $

Visited here last month with the same friend I mentioned in my New Holland review. I *love* this place. The atmosphere just about couldn't be better for a brewpub... spacious, open bar area inside and a huge biergarten outside. The food was interesting; sandwiches and burgers with some oddball choices. I got an ostrich burger which was quite tasty. They keep about 15 beers on tap at a time, and they have many more of their beers handy in the bottle. They don't have a sampler as an option, but the bartender there said I could have free tasters of anything I wanted. In addition to a couple of those, I had a Wedding Ale and a Rye Stout, both of which were excellent on tap. The Bell's Store across the way has just about every beer of theirs that hasn't been retired ready for purchase. They said they were looking into further distribution and may be heading into Georgia soon; I cannot wait for this if it's true. This was a fantastic beer experience, and a must stop for anyone in the Kalamazoo area.

07-18-2006 15:50:32 | More by se7enchurches

orbitalr0x

Illinois

4.5/5  rDev +10.3%
vibe: 4.5 | quality: 4.5 | service: 4.5 | selection: 4.5 | $

Stopped by the Eccentric Cafe on my way home from the Michigan Summer Beer Festival. Being a long time lover of Bell's brews I was excited to finally get out here. The outside of the building is sorta like a colorful warehouse with a tower in the middle featuring a big American flag. Signage is a little unassuming and it took us a bit to figure out where to park and enter. Once inside you walk into a big room with the bar staring you in the face and a loft area overhead. The fishtank catches your eye right off the bat with some really big, cool fish swimming around. Interesting artifacts can be found all over the walls, along with some wonderful stained glass work on the wall to the left of the bar. Quite eccentric indeed!!

Our bartender greeted us as soon as we sat down at the bar. I looked up at the chalkboard and marvelled at the selection of 12, yes 12, fresh Bell's brews on tap. From the Pale Ale to Two Hearted to Hell Hath No Fury to Bell's Beer to the Porter and on and on. 12oz pours ranged from $1.75 to at most $3.50...cheap! They also had cellar temperature bottles of Batch 7000, Cherry Stout, Expedition and Third Coast Old Ale. Basically, any Bell's beer you could want to drink at that moment was available. Bartender was very nice and chatted us up about the Michigan fest and beer in general. Our glasses were always kept full as soon as they were empty.

If you go outside to the big, lovely beer garden, you'll be forced to use a plastic cup. But really, this is a small inconvience in the grand scheme of keeping broken glass off the ground. I like the 3 tiered pricing that let's you choose between 12oz glass, 16oz plastic and 24oz glass. I enjoyed the Bell's Beer and then moved onto some wonderfully fresh Two Hearted. We didn't try the food at all, but that just gives me a reason to make a trip back to the Eccentric Cafe before too long. If you love Bell's beer then you must venture out here. Good music on the stereo, cool people, laid back ambiance and some of the best fresh brew you can get. Overall I had a great time here.

07-26-2006 03:29:01 | More by orbitalr0x

thanatos2948

Colorado

4.5/5  rDev +10.3%
vibe: 4.5 | quality: 4.5 | service: 4 | selection: 5 | $$

This was a favorite college hangout. Great atmosphere in which to enjoy Bell's quality brews. A dark, woodsy type of place that reminds me of an old church with the stain glass windows. Nothing fancy, just a lowkey place where you can enjoy beer and converse, or do as I did and study in the loft with a two-hearted ale. They have an eclectic variety of music most nights of the week. Sometimes good, sometimes not so good but always interesting. Also, great beer garden for enjoying Oberon on a muggy, summer afternoon in Michigan.

09-23-2006 18:39:55 | More by thanatos2948

BertSugar

Indiana

4.5/5  rDev +10.3%
vibe: 5 | quality: 4.5 | service: 4.5 | selection: 4.5 | food: 4 | $$

I haven't been here in a while, and had not yet seen the new additions to the cafe. Wow! Even nicer than before. When they spend money on the facility, they go first class and it shows. And they finally redid the bathrooms.

Bell's quality is what you would expect from an operation this big: Consistent and good. The service is always friendly, helpful and timed just right. The selection this time seemed a bit more extensive than I remember...good. I always try to get stuff I can't buy in the bottle elsewhere, and the smaller glasses help try a bunch of different beers efficiently. This time around I had a nicely balanced Mild (with that characteristic Bell's yeast), an oddly hopped pale called All Fours, a sort-of-spiced French "farmhouse brown", the Oarsman is nicely sour too. The sandwiches and other food are excellent too.

My only complaint is one of geography: I usually stop here on the way home after visiting Grand Rapids and all of its beer-y goodness. Therefore, I unfortunately give Bell's short shrift due to a little sluggishness. I MUST rethink that strategy from now on.

06-06-2011 00:02:35 | More by BertSugar

tat2matt

North Carolina

4.5/5  rDev +10.3%
vibe: 4.5 | quality: 4.5 | service: 5 | selection: 4 | food: 4.5 | $$

I have loved Bell's beer since the first Best Brown I tasted, and with one notable exception (which I won't name because...why?), I have loved every Bell's I've had since. When we started to plan breweries/pubs to hit on our trip to MI, Bell's was naturally on the top of the list. It did not disappoint.

The atmosphere was great, an old building with a ton of weird, eccentric stuff that either inspired the name or resulted from the name all over the place. Nothing too fancy, but perfectly interesting.

The barkeep was awesome, friendly and knowledgeable and very accommodating to my girlfriend's hangover from our adventures in Grand Rapids the day before. We had spinach and artichoke dip that was delicious. Their nan bread is excellent.

My only very minute "complaint" is one of preference. Stout is not my favorite style, but we hit town just after some sort of stout extravaganza, so the selection was very stout heavy. I prefer to try things at the brewery that I cannot get in stores, and would have liked to see a more unique variety, but there was something for me to choose regardless. I had the Bourbon Barrel Batch 9000 American Strong Ale and it was very smooth, very tasty. And very heavy. My girl had the Two Hearted, which I finished because of the aforementioned adventures.

The overall experience was great, the prices were reasonable, the appetizer was tasty, and the unique beer I had was worth the trip. It's a no-brainer that any beer fan has to hit this place when visiting MI.

11-07-2012 14:58:00 | More by tat2matt

sweemzander

Illinois

4.46/5  rDev +9.3%
vibe: 4 | quality: 5 | service: 4 | selection: 4.5 | $$

Finally, I got to visit Bells on my way up to the 6th Annual MI Winter Beerfest!

In general, it really is not much to look at from the outside, however once inside the bar was really nicely made with an excellent tap selection of everything Bells. Some were your average choices you can get in bottles, but there were several tap only offerings that were very enticing. It was relatively quiet and chill in there (it was only like 2pm at the time). Overall it was a good experience stopping in to try a beer and scope out the place. It had a huge stage in there that could house just about any sized band. Clean and nearby bathrooms. The food looked good as well.

03-03-2011 22:48:03 | More by sweemzander

timmlimestone

Wisconsin

4.45/5  rDev +9.1%
vibe: 5 | quality: 5 | service: 3 | selection: 5 | food: 4.5 | $

I loved this place. i had to give hem an average for service because there is none. This is a testament to the beers. I loved the fact that when you walk in there is a sign telling you to get cash as this is a cash only establishment. We stopped here on the way back from Ottawa ON and had only a hour or two to get through a sampler a couple of pints and an amazing wrap up sandwich that seemed to cost less than a gallon of gas on this trip. The sampler was amazing as you merely picked 8 beers off their extensive tap list and they served them to you on a tray cut out to mimic the shape of the Upper Penninsula of Michigan. The selection wowed us. Quite often you only get a couple of off brews when you go to a brewery, but here there were literally dozens of tastes we hadn't encountered in aour local liquor store, which usually has 5-10 Bells brews on hand.
The Ceyser was amazing.

03-09-2008 20:16:04 | More by timmlimestone

C2H5

Illinois

4.45/5  rDev +9.1%
vibe: 4 | quality: 5 | service: 4 | selection: 5 | food: 3 | $$

Bells Brewery is a beautiful building and a very nice large courtyard/bear garden.
The staff was very friendly and informative. The food was pretty good, your everyday bar food; sanwiches and stuff like that. But who goes to a brewery for the food!?
Its all about the beer here and they have a large selection beers including some cool small batch Bells beers that you wont/can't find anywhere else. Prices are very resonable and they write them all on a very large blackboard in the bar, it's sure to make any Bells fan smile from ear to ear!
I love this place and I plan on going back in the summer!

01-19-2012 04:28:35 | More by C2H5