Eccentric Cafe

Kalamazoo is where everything started and Comstock is where we’ve grown to where we are today. We love both communities deeply and would love to introduce them to you. There’s lot to do not only at our main brewery and at the Eccentric Cafe, but in the Kalamazoo area. Here’s your guide about planning your trip to our brewery and Eccentric Cafe. How to get here By car Bell’s Eccentric Cafe is located at 355 E. Kalamazoo Ave, Kalamazoo, MI 49007 (directions). Bell’s Comstock Brewery is located at 8938 Krum Ave, Comstock, MI 49053 (directions). By plane Kalamazoo’s airport is a short ride from the Cafe and brewery. Learn more about the Kalamazoo/Battle Creek International Airport. Also, Kalamazoo is about a two hour drive from both Chicago and Detroit. By train The Kalamazoo Amtrak station is a few blocks down the street from the Eccentric Cafe.   When to visit Eccentric Café Our Eccentric Café is the pub, restaurant and entertainment venue for Bell’s Brewery and offer all of our classic and new beers on tap, as well as some rarities. Our kitchen offers locally sourced, scratch made food, serving burgers, BBQ, salads and other imaginative dishes. Enjoy a beautiful day in our Beer Garden or catch one of the many weekly live music shows. Monday - Wednesday: 11 a.m. - Midnight Thursday - Saturday: 11 a.m. - 2 a.m. Sundays: 11 a.m. - Midnight Our kitchen closes daily at 11 p.m. General Store Our General Store offers our beer and merchandise, including t-shirts, hats and other items. It also has a wide selection of homebrewing supplies and a knowledgeable staff who can help you start brewing or tackle your next batch. Mondays - Thursdays: 10 a.m. - 9 p.m. Fridays - Saturdays: 10 a.m. - 10 p.m. Sundays: 11 a.m. - 7 p.m. Holidays The cafe, our General Store and brewery are closed: Memorial Day Independence Day Labor Day Thanksgiving Christmas (we also close early on Christmas Eve.) New Year's Day   Tours All guided tours are free. To schedule a private group tour for 10 or more, please email us directly at tours@bellsbeer.com. We have tours at our Comstock brewery on certain weekdays and during the weekend. Tours at our original downtown Kalamazoo brewery are on the weekend. For the latest on tour times, check out our tours page. RSVP for a tour of our Comstock Brewery RSVP for a tour of our original downtown Kalamazoo brewery   What to do There is always something happening in Kalamazoo. Check out the latest events at the Eccentric Cafe. We also have several annual events at the cafe, including Oberon Release Day (March), our Garden Opener (June), Eccentric Day (early December), All Stouts Day (the first Sunday in November). Check out our Events page or follow the Eccentric Cafe on Facebook for more details. There are several festivals in throughout the year, including Kalamazoo Pride (June), Blues Fest (July) and Rib Fest (August). Discover Kalamazoo has an exhaustive list of current events happening. If you’re interested in visiting more breweries, check out the Give A Craft Beer Trail passport program, with details about all the breweries in the Kalamazoo area. You’ll get a stamp for each brewery you visit and a prize when you complete them all. Both the Eccentric Cafe and our Comstock Brewery are included. If you visit all of the breweries and come visit us in Comstock, you get an extra credit prize.   Where to stay Kalamazoo’s Radisson Plaza Hotel is downtown, just blocks from the Eccentric Cafe. Near downtown is the Holiday Inn West. Check out the list our friends at Discover Kalamazoo have put together of hotels, campgrounds and bed and breakfasts. We also offer private events in our back room. How to get around Kalamazoo has Uber, Lyft, public transportation and several taxi services. There’s also the Big Banana Car.   Questions? If you have any questions about visiting Bell’s or Kalamazoo, please drop us a line on our contact page.

As part of our continued sustainability efforts, the Eccentric Café has resumed composting and is offering one of the few customer-facing composting options in the Kalamazoo area. Now when you’re at the Café you’ll have three choices: regular trash, plastic cups and compost. The new composting coincides food service in the garden and patio. We have composted in the past, but with the expansion of our kitchen, we needed a bigger system. Everything served with food at the Eccentric Café will be compostable, including the plastic silverware and even its clear plastic wrapping - all of which are made from plants. The plastic cups remain fully recyclable through a local plastic recycling system. [[{"fid":"4314","view_mode":"default","fields":{"format":"default","field_file_image_alt_text[und][0][value]":"Compostable food waste from our kitchen","field_file_image_title_text[und][0][value]":"Compostable food waste from our kitchen"},"type":"media","field_deltas":{"1":{"format":"default","field_file_image_alt_text[und][0][value]":"Compostable food waste from our kitchen","field_file_image_title_text[und][0][value]":"Compostable food waste from our kitchen"}},"attributes":{"alt":"Compostable food waste from our kitchen","title":"Compostable food waste from our kitchen","height":"4480","width":"6720","style":"width: 480px; height: 320px; float: right; margin: 10px;","class":"media-element file-default","data-delta":"1"}}]]All food scraps from our kitchen and what’s left on plates, along with the plant-based plastics will be composted at Hammond Farms, south of Lansing. That composted soil is then sold for a variety of uses, including growing vegetables. Here’s a checklist to help you. What’s compostable Any leftover food Any bones Disposable flatware (and its packaging) Napkins Deli sheets Paper towels Greasy items Toothpicks Straws and their wrappers What’s recyclable Plastic beer cups What’s trash Wristbands Anything that may be brought in from outside Composting is part of our overall commitment to sustainability. That commitment extends to all of our buildings. Examples at our Comstock Brewery include a bio digester to clean waste water and regain energy, scrap material recycling, Big Ass Fans to maintain temperatures and a green roof. If you have any questions about our compost and recycling programs or where to put what at the Café, please ask one of our downtown staff members. Also, you can contact us via our online form on or social media.

April 13, 2017: Lane closures will begin April 14 at Michigan Avenue and Harrison Street, just east of the Café (read more) Spring is here and construction is underway out front of the Eccentric Café and in the Beer Garden. The city of Kalamazoo is doing construction work outside of the Café on Kalamazoo Avenue and M-43 throughout the summer. Entrances and some parking may be blocked during the construction period. Kalamazoo Ave. may go down to one lane and there may be posted detours if you're traveling to the Café.  The construction outside of the Café should last for a few weeks. The Beer Garden will open in about a week or so.  If you have any questions, please let us know. We'll post updates here as we get them.

This post is part of an occasional series looking at the beers we develop at our original brewery, or B1. Tasting notes: Rich and malty, excellent hop, malt balance This recipe is the latest version of a Double Brown Ale to be brewed here at Bell’s. Another great beer to enjoy in the fall, this Double Brown Ale has a higher ABV, 8.5%. Best Brown Ale to compare, has an ABV of 5.8%. Rich malt, along with sweet milk chocolate notes, are balanced with a nicely integrated hop bitterness. Double Brown Ale was brewed in downtown Kalamazoo at our original brewery and firkins are going to see some limited distribution. The Eccentric Café is the only place where you can sample both the firkin version and the draught version side by side. Keep an eye on our Event Calendar to see if firkins are coming to a bar or restaurant near you. WHAT IS A B1 BEER? B1 is how we affectionately refer to our original brewery in downtown Kalamazoo, located adjacent to our pub, the Eccentric Cafe. This is where we got our start and where we still develop new recipes, experiment with new varieties of hops and brew small batches of specialty beers like The Wild One and Mango Habanero Oberon today. Most of the beers brewed there are typically only available on draught at the Cafe, but from time to time they do make their way to special events.

This post is part of an occasional series looking at the beers we develop at our original brewery, or B1. Tasting notes: Tropical, dank and stone fruit hop aroma, caramel malt Dry-hopped at a rate that is twice that of Hopslam, Imperial Red is brewed with 11 different types of hops. Much like a double IPA, it has a higher ABV and higher hop intensity than a red or Amber Ale. All of this clocks in to a 10.9% ABV. This beer was first brewed in 2014 and every year since then at our original brewery in downtown Kalamazoo. It is going to see some limited distribution this year. Keep an eye on our Events Calendar and Beer Finder to see if it's coming to a bar or restaurant near you. WHAT IS A B1 BEER? B1 is how we affectionately refer to our original brewery in downtown Kalamazoo, located adjacent to our pub, the Eccentric Cafe. This is where we got our start and where we still develop new recipes, experiment with new varieties of hops and brew small batches of specialty beers like The Wild One and our experimental hop series (EXP) today. Most of the beers brewed there are typically only available on draught at the Cafe, but from time to time they do make their way to special events.

More than 20 men and six women braved the challenge that is the Bell's Hot Dog Eating Competition on Sept. 10! Now in its 10th year at the Eccentric Cafe, the winner of this annual event takes home a trophy and Bell's gift card.  This year's men's division winner, Frank the Tank, ate 17 hot dogs, shattering the previous record of 13.  The record for our women's division was also broken this year. Tara ate 7 3/4! Keep an eye out for details for our 11th competition next summer!

The Eccentric Café and our General Store will be closed on Sept. 19, with our brewery closed Sept. 19-21. Why is that? Every year, we shut down our brewery for three days and our pub for one day, so we can take some time to regroup as a family. Those three days will consist of meetings, professional development, presentations, activities and fun events in the evening. We also gather together to celebrate our successes over the past year and to get to know one another better. It’s a time for us to reflect, learn and help ensure we continue to deliver the quality you expect from all of us. The Café and General Store will resume normal business hours on Tuesday, Sept. 20. The Store will open at 10 a.m. and the Cafe will open at 11 a.m. Our Comstock Brewery will return to normal hours on Thursday, Sept. 22 (including brewery tours).

What happens when you take some of your favorite brews and age them in a barrel? You end up with an eclectic list of beers truly deserving of Bell’s Eccentric Café.  On Sunday. Oct 4 at 11 a.m., we’ll be rolling out over 20 barrel-aged beers at the Café for our Third Annual Roll Out the Barrel Celebration. Tickets are not required for this event, but quantities of these specialty brews are limited. We'll have both new and old barrel aged favorites, including: Le Pianiste (5.6%) Rustic Amber Ale w/Brettanomyces , Funky, bright tart finish Le Contrebassiste (7.0%) Brown Ale w/Brettanomyces, funky, fruity, light tart finish Wild One (6.1%) Tart, fragrant, vinous, wild fermented brown ale Tawny Port Baltic Porter (9.9%) Smooth chocolate, grape and complex dried berry notes Sherry Barrel BIACS (10.0%) Nutty w/ herbal hops. Barleywine aged in sherry barrels Mrs Castries (7.7%) Tart Brown ale aged in rum barrels. Molasses and caramel Heaven Hills BBA Expo Stout (12.5%) Expedition Stout aged in Heaven Hills Whiskey Barrels Two James BBA Expo Stout (12.8%) Expedition Stout aged in Two James Whiskey Barrels Larry's Magical Ale (13.7%) Dark ale, aged in a bourbon barrel for 5 years Le Bretteur (6.3%) Bright, citrus zest, vinous Uberon (9.7%) Whiskey character, spicy, toffee, warming T.C Whiskey BBL Porter (11.7%)    Vanilla, milk chocolate, oak, whiskey, warming Pecan Pie Porter (6.6%) Nutty, mild wood notes, chocolate, sweet Wildberry Rye (10.2%) Berry, tart, dry, vinous, tannic, barrel aged Sauternes Mead (11.1%) Ripe white grapes and stone fruit aromas, bright honey flavors Tequila Barrel-aged Mead (12.5%) Honey, oaky vanilla, citrus and agave notes  Mr Castries Vilnius (11.3%) Baltic Porter aged in Jamacian rum barrels T.C. Cherry Third Coast Old Ale (12.6%) Warming, Oaky, Light Vanilla, Maraschino Cherry. Smoked Applewood Porter (7.1%) Light smoke, Chocolate, Woody, Subtle Vanilla 2010 Third Coast Old Ale Reserve (10.9%) Aged in bourbon barrels for 2 years  L'Appel Du Vide- Saskatoon (3.6%) Session Sour w/Saskatoon Berries