Where To Buy Bells Beer

The move will ultimately combine Bell's, the 16th-largest overall brewer in America by sales volume in 2020, and New Belgium, the 11th-largest, into a "new American craft beer leader," though both will retain their brands and beers.

where to buy bells beer

While the leadership team at Bell's will not change and neither will day-to-day operations at its Comstock-based facility and Kalamazoo-based Eccentric Café and Shop, the craft brewing titan will move forward without Bell, the pioneer of craft beer in Michigan and as influential a figure as any in what has blossomed into one of America's richest beer states, with more than 400 operating breweries. He announced his retirement at the company's annual all-employee event and said he plans to stay active in the Kalamazoo community.

"I first incorporated the company when I was 25 in 1983," Bell, 63, told the Free Press, referring to what was originally The Kalamazoo Brewing Company Inc., a homebrewing supply store that began selling its own beer two years later. "I've been CEO of the company for 38 years. That's a long time. It's a great career.

New Belgium was founded in 1991 by Kim Jordan and Jeff Lebesch in Fort Collins, Colorado, and expanded to Asheville, North Carolina, in 2016, Denver in 2018 and San Francisco in 2020. Its beer can be found in all 50 states; it's best known for its Fat Tire amber ale and Voodoo Ranger IPA. It staffs roughly 700 employees.

Bell said the sale will not change the way these beers, or others, will be brewed or housed. And other company initiatives, such as 100% carbon neutrality by 2023, $1-per-barrel philanthropy and a 100% score on the Human Rights Campaign Corporate Equality Index, will remain intact, as well as the company's support of events such as Kalamazoo Pride.

Since its founding, Bell's held the distinction as Michigan's largest brewer by volume of beer until 2018, when it was surpassed by Founders Brewing Co. in Grand Rapids. Founders, long considered Bell's counterpart as a Michigan craft brewing giant, sold a 90% majority stake to Spanish company Mahou San Miguel in 2019. Both moves mean Holland-based New Holland Brewing Co. is now the largest fully independent craft brewery in Michigan, based on sales volume, according to the Brewers Association's Top 50 list (New Holland is No. 50).

And it's the latest move in an embattled American craft beer industry facing all kinds of challenges, ranging from market saturation to an aluminum can shortage to the COVID-19 pandemic, which shuttered indoor dining for many breweries and forced them to find alternative strategies for selling their beer, such as curbside pickup. And then there's the introduction of hard seltzer and canned cocktails, which have put a dent in overall beer sales the past few years.

1. Place your beer & food or homebrew & merch order online. Sorry, beer & food orders must be placed separately from homebrew and merch. Online ordering for food & beer is only available during normal business hours. You must be 21+ years of age to place or pickup any orders containing alcohol.

Australian-based beer company Lion will purchase pioneering Michigan beer brand Bell's Brewery as owner Larry Bell looks to retire from the 36-year-old company. The sale puts Bell's in alignment with Colorado's New Belgium Brewery, which was acquired by Lion in 2019.

"I think what people can expect is more of the same," Bell told The Detroit News. "More great beer, more of the values that we cherish in our culture here at Bell's and bigger and better things. We're still going to be making great beer in Comstock, Kalamazoo and Escanaba, our breweries here in Michigan."

"New Belgium has been very successful the last couple years since Lion acquired them. They've had incredible growth, they've hired people, they're making more beer and this makes a lot of sense for all of us," Bell said.

Speaking together from Kalamazoo on Wednesday morning, Bell and New Belgium CEO Steve Fechheimer, a Michigan native, argued the move positions the two companies at the top of the United States craft beer market.

Bell founded Bell's Brewery in 1985. The company's first few products were Amber Ale, Third Coast Beer, Bell's Porter, Kalamazoo Stout and Best Brown Ale. Today, Bell's makes more than 20 beers that are distributed out of Comstock, including some of the most popular craft labels in the country like Two Hearted Ale and the seasonal wheat beer Oberon.

"I've had the opportunity to make all these great beers, and we've been able to do great things in our community," he said. "Heck, I've happened to commission pieces of music and pieces of art and I got to help change the laws in the Legislature that brought on, really, the craft revolution that Michigan has gone through.

Several of Michigan's top craft beer makers have also been sold or partially sold over the past few years. In 2017, Short's sold nearly 20% of its equity stake to Lagunitas Brewing Co., a subsidiary of Heineken International. Founders Brewing Co. sold a majority stake to Mahou San Miguel Group and in early 2020, Detroit's Atwater Beer announced it would sell to Molson Coors' U.S. craft beer division.

While the leadership team at Bell's will not change and neither will day-to-day operations at its Comstock, Michigan-based facility and Kalamazoo, Michigan-based Eccentric Café and Shop, the craft brewing titan will move forward without Bell, the pioneer of craft beer in Michigan and as influential of a figure as any in what has blossomed into one of America's richest beer states, with more than 400 operating breweries. He announced his retirement at the company's annual all-employee event and said he plans to stay active in the Kalamazoo community.

"I first incorporated the company when I was 25 in 1983," Bell, 63, told the Free Press, referring to what was originally The Kalamazoo Brewing Company, Inc., a homebrewing supply store that began selling its own beer two years later. "I've been CEO of the company for 38 years. That's a long time. It's a great career.

New Belgium was founded in 1991 by Kim Jordan and Jeff Lebesch in Fort Collins, Colo., and expanded to Asheville, North Carolina, in 2016, Denver in 2018 and San Francisco in 2020. Its beer can be found in all 50 states; it's best known for its Fat Tire amber ale and Voodoo Ranger IPA. It staffs roughly 700 employees.

Bell said the sale will not change the way these beers, or others, will be brewed or housed. And other company initiatives, such as 100% carbon neutrality by 2023, $1-per-barrel philanthropy and a 100% score on the Human Rights Campaign Corporate Equality Index, will remain intact, as well as the company's support with events such as Kalamazoo Pride.

Since its founding, Bell's held the distinction as Michigan's largest brewer by volume of beer until 2018, when it was surpassed by Founders Brewing Co. in Grand Rapids. Founders, long considered Bell's' counterpart as a Michigan craft brewing giant, sold a 90% majority stake to Spanish company Mahou San Miguel in 2019. Both moves mean Holland-based New Holland Brewing Co. is now the largest fully independent craft brewery in Michigan, based on sales volume, according to the Brewers Association's Top 50 list (New Holland is No. 50).

Bell's Brewery, Inc.[3] is an American craft brewing company,[4] with operations in Comstock and Kalamazoo, Michigan. Bell's brews acclaimed beers such as Hopslam Ale, Oberon Ale, and Two Hearted Ale. It operates a brewpub and a store selling merchandise and homebrewing supplies at its Kalamazoo location. Begun as a homebrewing store in 1983, and producing beer since 1985, it is the oldest existing craft brewery in Michigan and the oldest craft brewery east of Colorado.[4][5] As of 2021, it was the 6th largest craft brewery in the United States,[6] and was the largest independently owned brewery in Michigan when founder Larry Bell sold the company to Lion Little World Beverages - an Australian subsidiary of the Japanese Kirin beverage group at the end of 2021.[7] The company also owns Upper Hand Brewery, a separately operated division in Escanaba, Michigan.

Larry Bell incorporated The Kalamazoo Brewing Company, Inc., in 1983 as a homebrewing supply shop in Kalamazoo, Michigan.[8] In September 1985, the company began to sell its own beer, brewed in a 15-US-gallon (57 L) soup kettle and fermented in open fermenters covered with plastic wrap. The company produced 135 barrels in its first year. In 1993 the company opened an adjacent brewpub, the Eccentric Café.[9]

Two Hearted Ale (an India Pale Ale named for the Two Hearted River in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan) has been ranked by the American Homebrewers Association as one of the best beers in the United States, in its magazine Zymurgy.[17] They rated it #2 from 2010 to 2016, and #1 from 2017 to 2019.[18][19] Hopslam, a double IPA, is very popular among craft beer drinkers and sparks a backlog of demand at its yearly seasonal release; it has also placed within the Top 10.[20][21][22]

Bell's brews its Porter, Kalamazoo Stout, Lager of the Lakes, Light Hearted Ale, Amber Ale, Two Hearted Ale, Hopsoulution Ale, and Official year-round. Several other beers are sold seasonally: Oberon Ale from late March through September (year-round in Florida, Arizona, and Puerto Rico), Best Brown Ale in September and October, Christmas Ale in November and December, and Bright White Ale (formerly Winter White Ale) from November through January. Specialty stouts such as Expedition Stout and Special Double Cream Stout, are released in autumn. Consecrator Doppelbock is released once a year. Additional beers are sold on tap at its brewpub. 041b061a72