At last years Pliny the Younger release Vinnie {owner + brewer} shared with us and others the latest Hop Slam from Bell’s Brewing that was sent to him and Natalie to chug on younger’s opening day. It was amazing. My husband and I were going to be near there {within a few hundred miles anyway} in April so we put Bell’s at the top of our list! We went to Chicago and rented a car one of the rainy days and headed for Bell’s. Kalamazoo was a long, long drive from Chicago. Thankfully there were a few breweries along the way to stop but other than that, there was not much else to see.

Bell’s has a huge outdoor space that was not being used at the time because of the time of year, but the inside was spacious as well. Tables filled with people playing cards, reading  books, doing computer work, and me on my ipad: blogging. Nothing was out of place. It was like the “coffee shop” of the brewery scene.

They do samplers and provide food. Their samplers come in groups of four but you can certainly try them all; we did! Sharing of course. The hop slam was great in bottle and tasty on draft but even better at the source.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Order your food at the counter next to the bar {they are separate}, enjoy the different tastes, and relax because there really is nothing nearby.

Their store right next to the brewery has all of the cool Bell’s swag you could want. They sell bottles but definitely not the Hop Slam because they run out and everybody wants it. The guys in the shop said that they cannot even buy it sometimes.

Bell’s Brewing was worth the drive. A must go.