BREWERY TOUR: Bravo! Restaurant in Kalamazoo

by KalamaBrew Staff

Sunday October 05, 2008, 6:00 PM

KALAMAZOO -- One year ago this month, Bravo! Restaurant head chef Adam Stacey started brewing beer at the fine Italian restaurant.

Stacey converted a small office space in the kitchen area into his brewhouse featuring two, 27-gallon fermenters. He brews Sunday mornings and occasionally Wednesdays, depending on demand for his beers. Stacey said he makes a porter, chocolate stout, an Irish red, a holiday ale, an amber, a pale ale and pumpkin ale. In the first few months of brewing, restaurant patrons responded so well Stacey is talking about expanding his operation.

"It's doing a lot better than I would've thought," Stacey said. "I'm very happy it's taken off. It's a good problem to have."

Take a video tour of Stacey's compact but effective setup:

Brewery Tour - Bravo! Restaurant

New Holland's Beervangelist offers some advice on pairing cheese with beer

by Josh Smith and Anne Holcomb | KalamaBrew

Wednesday July 30, 2008, 4:30 PM

HOLLAND -- After touring the brewery and meeting the guys behind New Holland Brewing Company, KalamaBrew got the chance to sit at the table with Beervangelist, Fred Bueltmann and Brewmaster John Haggerty to talk not only about beer, but cheese as well, another one of our favorite fermentables.

Holding beer and cheese tastings combines with the overall mission of the brewery - improving people's quality of life, Bueltmann said.

These types of sessions are also held for chef's associations and specialty stores like D&W and according to Bueltmann, have been very successful.

Bueltmann said they hold the tastings to challenge the concept that beer has the reputation of being an "everyday" drink and not something people embrace on special occasions, like wine.

They also try to stress that beer is as much as, or more diverse, than wine.

He told us not to be too timid of the process.

Everyone's palate has a different level of sensitivity - find the pairings you enjoy the most for your taste.

Continue reading "New Holland's Beervangelist offers some advice on pairing cheese with beer" »

Inside Bell's Brewery Inc. with president Larry Bell

by KalamaBrew Staff

Tuesday June 24, 2008, 5:13 PM

KALAMAZOO -- Larry Bell, president of Bell's Brewery Inc., is a tough man to get a hold of, so the staff of KalamaBrew was psyched to get a detailed video tour from him earlier this month. And by detailed, we mean DETAILED. This sucker is more than 17 minutes long.

Get your pretzels out.

Bell, who turned 50 earlier this month, takes you inside the hop cooler, the new 10,000-square-foot, energy-efficient warehouse, the new keg line and more. As you'll hear in the video, there's a lot going down at Bell's in terms of expansion, including a cellar addition that will push their annual production to around 280,000 barrels, Bell said. Keep coming back to KalamaBrew for more on all that. For now, enjoy the tour.

Tour Bell's Brewery Inc.

Inside the Walldorff Brewpub & Bistro

by KalamaBrew Staff

Friday June 13, 2008, 5:14 PM

HASTINGS -- Fresh off seven awards at the World Expo of Beer in Frankenmuth, Walldorff Brewpub & Bistro brewer Samuel Adam Sherwood was more than happy to show off his work space to KalamaBrew on May 23.

Take a tour with Sherwood, 30, as he walks you through part of the Walldorff and its "staircase of death." Be sure to mark your calendars for the brewpub's two-year anniversary bash July 19 in downtown Hastings. Sherwood told us it will be a great time.

As you'll see in the video (click below), Sherwood mentions his Strawberry Rhubarb Cream Ale. KalamaBrew just got off the phone with him and it should be on tap next week, hopefully by Thursday, he said.

Continue reading "Inside the Walldorff Brewpub & Bistro" »

Inside The Old Hat in Lawton, MI

by KalamaBrew staff

Saturday April 12, 2008, 10:40 AM

On March 7th, we toured the brewing operation at the Old Hat in Lawton, MI. Head brewer Tom Fuller showed us around the cozy facilities and shared with us some of the quirks that come with brewing beer and wine in a historical building that's more than a century old. The KalamaBrew crew also saw some homespun ingenuity at work when we got a demonstration of Fuller's homemade bottling machine.

Old Hat Brewery

Video produced by Jonathon Gruenke

UPDATED: Get out and go guides

by KalamaBrew Staff

Thursday April 03, 2008, 11:00 PM

Because reading about these breweries can only make you thirstier, we've put together some more handy guides for you to download and take with you. They're full of all that basic but useful info that you usually only need once you don't have it. And its always nice not to have to take notes.

What they have on them: Directions, hours, features, a map and a list of some of their beers.

Here's what's new

Get out and go: Arcadia Brewing Company

Get out and go: Dark Horse Brewing Co.

Get out and go: Grand Rapids Brewing Company

Get out and go: New Holland Brewing Company

Get out and go: Old Hat Brewery & Grill

Get out and go: Schmohz Brewing Company

Get out and go: The Hideout Brewing Company

Continue reading "UPDATED: Get out and go guides" »

Inside the Dark Horse Brewery in Marshall

by KalamaBrew Staff

Tuesday April 01, 2008, 12:00 PM

MARSHALL -- The Dark Horse Brewery in Marshall can't keep up with the demand for its product. That's a good problem to have.

Dark Horse has gone from producing 400 barrels in 2000 to an estimated 3,000 barrels this year. Head brewer and owner Aaron Morse showed KalamaBrew around the brewery in mid-February as it prepared to install new chillers, water tanks, packaging equipment and more in an effort to keep up with its growth. The installation is still ongoing, but Morse, 33, said he hopes to be up and running with the new gear soon.

He also said today he will be expanding the beer garden, hoping to open it in May. Be sure to get out and see one of the best hole-in-the-wall pubs in the area.

Dark Horse Brewing Company

Inside Arcadia Brewing Company in Battle Creek

by KalamaBrew Staff

Friday March 07, 2008, 6:14 PM

BATTLE CREEK -- In early February, Josh Davies, assistant brewer at Arcadia Brewing Company, gave us a tour inside the almost 80-year-old building that was originally a Chevy dealership and now produces some of the area's tastiest British-style ales.

Davies, who has been with company since May, shows you around Arcadia's brewing facility from the hop percolator to the open-top fermenters to the "dinosaur" bottling machine, known affectionately as "Bertha."

Download the video podcast, subscribe via iTunes or watch here:

Arcadia Brewing Company

Inside Founders Brewing Company in Grand Rapids

by John Liberty | Kalamazoo Gazette

Thursday February 28, 2008, 5:35 PM

GRAND RAPIDS -- In mid-November, Founders Brewing Company opened in its new spacious home at Grandville Avenue in downtown Grand Rapids. With the move from Monroe Avenue, the brewery went from an annual capacity of about 5,000 barrels to being able to produce 25,000 barrels a year.

There's room to expand to produce around 40,000 barrels a year. The project cost around $4 million. In addition to expanding it brewing ability, the new tap room can hold about 225 people, about 100 more than the old building. Head brewer Jeremy Kosmicki showed us around the new digs, so strap in and take this KalamaBrew brewery tour. Next time your in G.R., stop by.

Come back tomorrow and see our Founders Brewing Company photo gallery from Kalamazoo Gazette photographer Jonathon Gruenke.

Founders Brewing Company Tour

Inside the construction of Saugatuck Brewing Company

by Kalamabrew Staff

Wednesday February 20, 2008, 5:00 PM

SAUGATUCK -- Barry Johnson, the owner and brewer of Saugatuck Brewing Company, agreed to give KalamaBrew an inside peek of his new 25,000-square-foot facility on Jan. 27. The place will be a monster.

After two years, SBC started to outgrow its old home in an industrial park down the street from its new digs. Johnson bought the massive space, which used to be a stamping plant. The new brewery, tentatively scheduled to open in late March, will have a 2,300-square-foot pub, a full kitchen, a 3,000-square-foot "beer hall" with a large stage for live music acts and a 10-barrel brewing system. The project is expected to cost about $500,000, Johnson said.

Take the video tour and see for yourself:

Saugatuck Brewing Comapny - Brewery Tour

video by Jonathon Gruenke

Get out and go: Kalamazoo brew tour

by Josh Smith | Kalamazoo Gazette

Tuesday February 19, 2008, 12:00 PM

Feeling in the mood to explore Kalamazoo's brews? Download a guide to four locations in town that brew or serve their own beer. It's a local tour of Olde Peninsula, Shakespeare's Pub, Bell's and Bilbo's. Just helping you find your way to some great beer.