Bell's Brewery, Inc.

mdm46410

Indiana

4.03/5  rDev -1.2%
vibe: 4.5 | quality: 4.5 | service: 3 | selection: 4.5 | food: 3.5 | $$

This is a great place to come and try some excellent beers. The bar has lots of cool decorations and very high ceilings. Some staind glass windows overlook the seating area. There is also a huge beer garden out back with lots of shade and picnic tables. The music being played was a good mix of reggae and rock. The service is kind of self serve. They have a window you walk up to order food. You get your own beer right from the bar. No wait staff. The beer selection was excellent. Pretty much anything Bells brews was available on tap along with plenty of bottled beers. Also some stuff that is only available at the Cafe.

06-17-2007 16:07:45 | More by mdm46410

KC8LTL

Michigan

4.3/5  rDev +5.4%
vibe: 4 | quality: 4.5 | service: 4 | selection: 4.5 | $$

Went beer touring and had to visit Bells. The name of the café is “Eccentric” but I actually found the decorations to be, well, not that eccentric. Probably the most Eccentric thing about the place is that they are a cash only establishment. An ATM is available on site, but I was glad I had paper money instead of just plastic.

Place was quite quiet. I guess not many people go their for lunch.

Eleven of their beers were on tap, as well as some others available by bottle. They had two beers on tap of which I was not aware of, a Cherry Ale and a Dark Wheat. Tried the Cherry Ale. It hardly rocked my world, but it was well crafted beer that let you taste the cherries without the cherry taste overwhelming everything else.

Prices were quite good, actually and the beers were available in multiple sizes instead of just a standard pint glass.

09-23-2007 00:57:23 | More by KC8LTL

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

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

Docrock

Illinois

4.08/5  rDev 0%
vibe: 4 | quality: 4.25 | service: 4.25 | selection: 3.75 | food: 4 | $$

Decided to stop in after passing by on I- 94 for years...got there just before noon but already most seats were taken, a few small tables by the street. Ordered food and a 12oz snifter of Hopslam at the bar. Didn't seem like the beer selection was all that great but had to drive anyway so probably a good thing. Food came out quickly ( pulled pork sandwich) and was pretty good, average to slightly better. Not a big menu, but several item that look interesting. The atmosphere is nothing unusual with a few families mixed into the patrons and few business types.

Next door at the general store, nice selection of Swag at decent prices. Beer coolers well stocked and nice selection oh home brewing supplies..

Will visit again to see what the vibe is on a non- weekday lunchtime crowd.

Overall a pleasant experience.

01-12-2013 21:45:06 | More by Docrock

Tetano

Indiana

3.2/5  rDev -21.6%
vibe: 4 | quality: 3 | service: 1 | selection: 5 | food: 4 | $$

Visited there just this past Sunday. The beer selection was very good as there is a wide variety of Bell's products to sample. They had a few specialty brews on tap so the trip there was some what special, though I must admit that Founder's really treats those who visit with more specialty stuff.

The food was good, however it seemed like an after thought. Only chips are available with your sandwich and they are peppery chips so if you do not like them then tough.

The service on the other hand was terrible. Water served out of igloo coolers with self serve in the corner. No glass outside on the patio and no credit cards excepted, however they have an atm in the lobby that will charge you 2 bucks to use, which Bell's gets the 2 bucks from. That automatically pissed me off. Will I visit again, maybe with my friend who has never gone, otherwise when I visit a brewery it will be Founders first and Three Floyds second.

07-16-2009 19:16:36 | More by Tetano

PhineasGage

Iowa

3.33/5  rDev -18.4%
vibe: 3 | quality: 4 | service: 1 | selection: 5 | $$

The cafe is pretty darn cool looking. You can tell they put a lot of thought in the remodel and beer list. Every beer we had was perfect! The food looked okay, but we planned on food dance instead (which is like foodgasmic good) They need to get a better staff...I've had bad service, but this is the new standard. the tour was okay...I thought I set something up with my regional sales manager that'd be more in depth, and full of history. Overall the beer was great, but the service made our 6 hour drive not seem worth it.

07-18-2011 12:41:34 | More by PhineasGage

Ehrnstrom

Michigan

4.13/5  rDev +1.2%
vibe: 4 | quality: 5 | service: 4 | selection: 3.5 | food: 3.5 | $$

Bell's has a great atmosphere, emphasizing an old beer-hall feel, while adding modern touches via excellent music and plenty of space. The beers on tap have consistently far exceeded their bottle quality. Being from Kalamazoo, I can't stress enough that grabbing a Bell's beer at Bell's is an excellent experience. The food prices are a little high and it's usually busy, but this is Bell's. The most recent time I was at Bell's I tried Third Coast Beer. I was skeptical because I think Third Coast Beer is mediocre from a bottle, but the beer I had on tap was nothing short of outstanding. Just goes to show what a great tap-room can do for even modest beers.

10-20-2011 00:51:28 | More by Ehrnstrom

sapples

Michigan

3.91/5  rDev -4.2%
vibe: 4.5 | quality: 4.5 | service: 2.5 | selection: 4.25 | food: 4.25 | $$

Great tap selection. They had black note, a really tasty mead, and lots of great exclusives. However they waited a half an hour to inform me what I ordered to eat was out for the night, then there was no bar tender to be found for the same amount of time. Everything was great but the service didn't match.

02-11-2013 01:35:33 | More by sapples