Homebrewing is a part of our roots at Bell's, and we continue to honor that tradition by promoting it both with our fans and within our brewery.

Every year, we host a homebrew competition for our employees, and this year's winning beer is Leaf Peeper, an IPA with big dank and tropical fruit aromas. It was dry-hopped five times over five days and comes in at 6.8 percent ABV.

This year, 56 employees in 12 teams took part, coming up with new recipes and brewing them. The winning team team consisted of Kevin Ahn, Matt Moberly, Sarah Bauman, Anne Moore and Josh Vigansky, who work in a variety of departments including the General Store, Safety, Marketing, Logistics and Sales.

This is the fourth annual employee competition. Homebrewing is an important part of Bell’s culture and we want to make sure every employee has a chance to experience what sparked the love for brewing for so many, including our Founder and President Larry Bell, more than 30 years ago. The teams brew their beers over the summer and submit them during Skills Week, our annual company meeting.

The beers are judged by other employees. The winning team brewed their beer at our original downtown Kalamazoo brewery and had the first pints from the Eccentric Café.

Check to see if Leaf Peeper is on tap using our tap cam and growler list.