Bell's Brewery

Infobox Brewery
name = Bell's Brewery, Inc.


caption =
location = Kalamazoo, Michigan
owner =
opened = 1983
production = 91,000 Barrels (as of 2007)
active_beers = brewbox_beer|name=Third Coast Beer|style= Golden Lager brewbox_beer|name=Amber Ale|style= Amber ale brewbox_beer|name=Oberon (formerly Solsun)|style=Wheat Ale brewbox_beer|name=Pale Ale|style=Pale Ale brewbox_beer|name=Two Hearted Ale|style=India Pale ale brewbox_beer|name=Porter|style=Porter brewbox_beer|name=Kalamazoo Stout|style=Stout brewbox_beer|name=Best Brown Ale|style=Brown Ale brewbox_beer|name=Winter White Ale|style=Wheat Ale brewbox_beer|name=Bell's Special Double Cream Stout|style=Stout brewbox_beer|name=Cherry Stout|style=Stout brewbox_beer|name=Java Stout|style=Stout brewbox_beer|name=Third Coast Old Ale|style=Barley Wine brewbox_beer|name=Expedition Stout|style=Imperial stout brewbox_beer|name=Bell's Beer|style=Pilsner brewbox_beer|name=Consecrator Doppelbock|style=Doppelbock brewbox_beer|name=Sparkling Ale|style= American tripel brewbox_beer|name=Twentieth Anniversary Ale|style= Amber ale brewbox_beer|name=Batch 7,000 Ale|style= Stout

seasonal_beers =
other_beers =

Bell's Brewery, Inc. is a brewery located in Kalamazoo, Michigan, which produces the Bell's brand of beers.

History

Larry Bell founded Kalamazoo Brewing Company in 1983 as a home-brewing supply shop. In 1985, it began to sell its own beer, producing 135 barrels in its first year. These first batches of beer were brewed in a 15 gallon soup kettle and fermented in open fermenters covered with Saran Wrap.

The brewery today consists of two separate brewing facilities, the original Kalamazoo Avenue facility, and the state-of-the-art Krum Avenue Plant, in Comstock Township, Michigan, which opened in 2002. The Kalamazoo Avenue brewery contains an attached pub – Bell's Eccentric Cafe – and a store which sells Bell's beer and apparel, as well as homebrewing supplies. Former Bell's brewer Tom "Elvis" Fuller now owns the formerly Bell-owned Old Hat Brewery in Lawton, Michigan.

As of 2005, Kalamazoo Brewing Company changed their name to Bell's Brewery, Inc., reflecting the name by which most people refer to the brewery.

Availability

While the Pale Ale, Porter, Kalamazoo Stout, Third Coast Beer, Amber Ale and Two Hearted Ale are available year round, the majority of Bell's beers are seasonal. For example, Oberon Ale is available from late March through October and Best Brown Ale from October through March. The Stouts are available on a schedule similar to that for the Best Brown. Others like the Consecrator Doppelbock and the Sparkling Ale are single batches released once a year.

Bell's beer is currently distributed through a thirteen state region. The states included in the region are Michigan, Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Kentucky, Missouri, Wisconsin, Minnesota, North Carolina, North Dakota, Florida, Virginia and Iowa. Distribution to Virginia and North Carolina were added on November 1 2006. Distribution to Iowa was added in late 2006/early 2007, although on a smaller scale due to Iowa's restrictive liquor laws. Distribution to Florida was added in 2007.

Bell's was formerly available in Illinois, but was pulled from the market on October 12 2006. In accordance with a 1982 Illinois law which protects the interests of beer distributors (the Beer Industry Fair Dealing Act), the Chicago distributor (Union Beverage) attempted to sell its Bell's distribution rights to a competitor, Chicago Beverage Systems (CBS). In meeting with CBS executives, owner Larry Bell became concerned that his full product line would not be adequately represented by CBS. Having no legal ability to prevent Union from selling its distribution rights, Bell chose what he saw as his only recourse — to pull his products from the entire Illinois market, which represented over USD $1.3 million per year for Bell's Brewery. Due to the vagueness of the law, which does not specify a "lapse period," it is likely that if Bell's ever attempts to return to Illinois distribution, Union Beverage's parent company (National Wine and Spirits) will have the right to demand substantial compensation from the distributor. [cite news | last = Day | first = Nicholas | title = Bye-Bye Bell's — How Illinois beer distribution laws, fiercely protected by a powerful industry, drove away one of Chicago’s favorite small brewers. | publisher = Chicago Reader | date = 2006-12-15 | url = http://www.chicagoreader.com/features/stories/bells/ | accessdate = 2006-12-18 ]

In early December 2007, Bell's re-entered the Chicago market via two new distributors by creating three new beer brands, Kalamazoo Porter, Kalamazoo Royal Amber Ale, and Kalamazoo IPA. This was done for legal reasons: since each beer avoids the use of the "Bell's" name and logo, and uses a different recipe from previous Bell's brands, Larry Bell contends that these are not the same beers that were assigned to his former distributor. Nevertheless, Bell says he "expects to be sued by his former distributor, National Wine & Spirits." [cite news | title = Bell's beer is coming back to Chicago | publisher = Crain's Chicago Business | date = 2007-11-19 | url = http://www.chicagobusiness.com/cgi-bin/news.pl?id=27171 | accessdate = 2007-12-16 ] [cite news | title = Bell's Brouhaha | publisher = Chicago Tribune | date = 2007-12-15 | url = http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/chi-mxa121507bellsp23dec15,1,3508030.story | accessdate = 2007-12-16 ] Initially, only the Royal Amber Ale was made available, in draft only, at about a dozen Chicago-area locations. [cite news | title = Interview: Larry Bell, Bell's Brewery | publisher = Chicagoist.com | date = 2007-12-04 | url = http://chicagoist.com/2007/12/04/interview_larry.php | accessdate = 2007-12-16 ]

As of June 2008 Bell's Oberon -- branded as such -- was found on tap in Chicago at [http://www.hideoutchicago.com The Hideout] .

As of August 1, 2008, Bell's has returned to the Chicago area, due to distributor National Wine & Spirits having left Illinois. [cite news | title = Bell's brings beer back to area | publisher = Chicago Tribune | date = 2008-08-01 | url = http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/chi-all.hd.bizp3-3aug01,0,7474563.story | accessdate = 2008-08-01 ]

Notes

External links

* [http://www.bellsbeer.com/ Company website]