Well I sure dropped the ball when it came to using this blog the past year while I brewed and biked in Woodbury, MN. In the past week I have moved to Farmington Hills, MI and am going to make a second attempt.
During a weekend getaway in South Haven, MI this past weekend, I was able to enjoy excellent craft beers in Kalamazoo.
The Olde Peninsula Brewpub and Restaurant is a historic venue with modern food faire and craft brewed beer. I enjoyed a "taster" of each beer on tap accompanied by an excellent personal pizza. My favorite was their sweet Rockin Raspberry Wheat 5.5% ABV and described as follows: "A blend of barley and wheat malts give it a rich golden color. Mildly hopped with a soft raspberry finish." The summer-appropriate beverage was definitely accurately described. They also had quite a list of seasonal brews which I included in my tasting flight but am unable to recall at this time. Overall, I recommend the gastrobrewery as a great stop in Kalamazoo!
http://oldepenkazoo.com/
The larger brewery in the area is definitely Bell's Brewery. In regards to food, Bell's has the Eccentric Cafe with an offering of appetizers and sandwiches. I was not overly impressed with the variety but everything is reasonably priced as a snack while enjoying the wide selection of beers. Pints of the Wedding Ale and Le Batteur were fantastic! If only there were more hours in the day, I would have stayed there to try all of their drafts. My favorite part about their very informative website is how they post the draft menu. The "Tap Cam" is updated daily as someone takes a picture of the blackboard behind the bar with the menu and posts it on the website.
http://www.bellsbeer.com/
