Beer and Bacon at Reo Town Pub

South West Michigan is becoming a destination for beer lovers. In 2012 Grand Rapids made its mark when it when it was voted Beer City USA. And then lightning struck twice in Michigan.

There are two things that March brings us that mark the coming of Spring. The first of course is March Madness, the games leading up to the end of college basketball season. The other is the release of Oberon. Though there is quite a bit of hoopla associated with March Madness, it is possible that the fans are not nearly as ravenous as the fans of Bell's Brewery's biggest hit beer.

In a building on E Patterson in the North side of Kalamazoo, we find a building that not too long ago had been a glass blowing studio. While parts of the building are still reserved for other artists, Boatyard Brewing has been working diligently to set up their new home. Through the process of cleaning out and then setting up the space there have been a mishap or two. They had originally hoped to go into production toward the end of 2012 but through a mishap with the filing of background check paperwork, their licensing hearing has been moved to the middle of February.

Kalamazoo Beer Week (Jan 12-19) started off with a bang. That is after a slight misfire. My original plans had been to take the Gallagher's party bus and do the kick off pub crawl in its entirety. The only issue was when I arrived at Gallagher's at about 5:30pm the bus was dead in the water, not the best place to be when you have so many people ready to go and explore the festivities of the start of beer week. I hung around till closer to 6 when the driver mentioned that they would need to get a wrecker out to jump start the bus. Minor setback but we soldier on. This is Kalamazoo Beer Week, anything can happen. They did finally get the bus working around 7pm but it took 4 wreckers to get it started. This is one I wish I had had the time to stick around and see.

Sometimes Kalamazoo gets a bit well, odd, for lack of a better word right now. One day a year those over the age of 21 are encouraged to “come as you aren’t.” December 7^th was Eccentric Day at Bell’s Eccentric Café. The idea is, come out to the pub and spend time with like-minded (or maybe not so like-minded) individuals.

In 1786 Robert Burns wrote a poem entitled Address to a Haggis. This poem is far from simple. It goes to great lengths to share the simple joys and love for something complex and life enriching yet completely misunderstood, the simple haggis. Haggis quite simply is sheep's stomach stuffed with meat and barley. It is a dish that transcends time and culture, something we know and love about beer as well. Simple yet complex foods go hand in hand with simple yet complex drinks.

Kalamazoo has many historical buildings, something not uncommon for many of the down town portions of cities across the United States. Back in 1874 on the corner of Portage Street and Michigan Avenue the Peninsula building was built. The next historic moment came in 1980 when a F3 tornado tore through Kalamazoo County. This tornado did not destroy the building but it was damaged severely, requiring massive repairs. This was true for much of the area.

When you look at where Michigan is today, you find that there is hope just creeping over the horizon. There was a time roughly twenty years ago where changes were happening. Most were not ready and were caught a bit off guard. At that time the great monoliths of the auto industry were starting into a decline. For most it isn’t necessarily a big part of their life, but in Michigan that was life.

Brewing startups take many forms. The most common being a pretty shiny place with a happening pub. But that isn’t always the case. Sometimes a new brewery will take a bit more humble approach. When you look at the history of breweries in Michigan you will find that the biggest brewery in Michigan took that approach. Bell’s started as a home brew shop and throughhard work and a bit of luck (face it luck is always important and sometimes you have to make your own), but this isn’t who we are talking about right now.