Southwest Michigan Craft Beer Tour

I've been meaning to share one of the highlights of our trip last month for awhile now. So without further ado...

If you spend much time in Michigan and you're at all the food-y, beverage-y sort, it quickly becomes apparent that the state has a thriving craft beer culture. In fact you don't even really have to spend much time there, because if you live anywhere in or around the midwest, chances are there's a distributor that would be happy to show you via your establishment or package store of choice. Having lived in Kalamazoo for five years, home to one of the best and brightest of them all, Bell's Brewery, I think it's safe to say that along with the namesake lake, the outstanding craft beer is one of the top things that give us warm fuzzies about Michigan.

So, being on vacation with beer-enthusiast friends (actually, we have no other kind), it seemed appropriate that we pilgrimage around to a trio of our favorite producers, plus one fab brewpub. (And it made up for the shame that we didn't do anything of the kind while we lived there). 

First stop was New Holland Brewing in Holland. We did some sampling, trying some of their more obscure or not-found-elsewhere-at-the-moment-brews, and had a little nosh too. The fav beer of the table was the Black Hatter (limited availability elsewhere in 22 ounce bottles), and The Dixie Luau pizza was quite tasty.

We visited their pub located in downtown Holland. They have a separate commercial brewery/distillery location at which they do the bulk of their production which you can tour on Saturdays at noon or 3:00. But it was Wednesday, so we were stuck with just the finished product. Darn.

Final note: they had some neat-o lighting fixtures throughout their space, like the one above running the length of the bar. Looks like something an intrepid diy-er could rig up perhaps.

Next it was on to Founders Brewing Co. in Grand Rapids.

They do actually brew on site here. Notice the big gleaming tanks behind the glass.

We arrived mid-afternoon and things were kind of quiet, but happy hour was definitely hitting stride by the time we left around 4:30 and there was hardly a seat to be had indoors or out. Quite popular with the locals.

Out is where we decided to sit. They have quite a nice covered patio. Adorned with, what else, hops. One of Greg's favorite beers is Founder's Red's Rye, a Rye P.A.

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And speaking of hops, next stop was HopCat. We had heard nothing but good things about this brewpub, and they were all true. Their beer list is absolutely humong-o, and they brew their own too (only available onsite) of which we definitely liked what we tried.

Lovely bar, huh? Oh and we had wings for a munchy and they were quite good.

We then headed south to conclude the tour at Bell's. They have done some pretty major renovations over the last year to the Eccentric Café, their pub at the brewery's original location in downtown Kalamazoo. They still brew small batches here that are available exclusively at the Café, but the majority of their production is done at a separate commercial location. Tours of the original brewery are on Saturdays at 11:30 or 1:30 and Sundays at 2:30. There's also a General Store adjacent to the Café with all sorts of Bell's merchandise, brewing supplies, and, of course, beer on offer. 

It was a bit odd to go back to a place we were once so familiar with and have it be quite different. The Bell's we knew definitely had a hippie-esque, grassroots vibe, and it's now shinier and more sterile. But oh well, that's progress I suppose. The main part of Café was largely similar to before. These stained glass windows were previously present, but had moved around a bit. Good to see they made it safely to their new location. Aren't they gorgeous?

Bell's had and still has probably the best beer garden I've ever had the pleasure of whiling away the hours in. (And I've whiled away quite a few here.) It's huge. The new main entrance hall opens to a large paved courtyard that was redone as part of the remodel this last year (sorry, I failed to photo it) and that leads to the garden and lawn (above and below). And there's a big lot of space in the middle and off to the side that I didn't capture with various seating options. They have live music every Thursday, Friday, and Saturday and in good weather the bigger acts play on the stage (below) while smaller acts play in the courtyard. At least that's how it used to be. In exploring round their website I just learned that the renovations included construction of a new indoor music hall. (Michigan winters are far longer than Michigan summers.) Now I'm quite jealous of all the Kalamazooans who still get to go here on a regular basis. It was a really good place to see live music before, though I admit it could get quite jam-packed inside. Now I bet it'll be stellar. See more pics on their site here. Amazing to see how the place has come along.

And then the sun set on our little outing. These are the tracks just north of Bell's. The fence on the left is the one right behind the stage in the pic above. I've always really like the way train tracks look at dusk. See the tiny little moon?

If you ever find yourself in Michigan, southwest or otherwise, thirsty, with time to kill, do try to go exploring. The state is not want for watering holes with excellent water. And be on the lookout for Michigan brews in your neck of the woods. Among them really are some of the best to be had.

♡,

Erin