Bell’s General Store

It’s nice to have Bell’s General Store in Kalamazoo. It captures all things home brewing + a little extra! The store has brewing equipment, grain, beer accessories, beer itself, and plenty of cool Bell’s swag. Unfortunately, they no longer sell disc golfing discs.
I’m a bargain hunter, and often, Bell’s will have a small clearance section on clothes and miscellaneous goods. I like to start there and work my way around. The non-Bell’s brewing equipment can land on the pricey side, but their grains are a fairly priced.
I also think it’s pretty cool that they have a fancy schmancy growler fill station if your well is dry!

What is not to live about Bell’s and their general store. I have bought kegs of specialty beer from them over the years and I have never been disappointed in quality or quantity of what hey have in stock. If they don’t have it, they can get it for you in a short period of time.
I have also bought some of my kegerator supplies and they had exactly what I needed. The staff is typically knowledgable about everything they sell and I’ve it stumped them a couple of times.
Merchandise is plentiful but is a bit on the pricey side but if you are into logo items then this is the place to go. They even have some small logo items near the register that they give away at no cost for the cheapest of their patrons.

Bell’s is an incredible brewery, but the way they distribute their growlers is draconian tomfoolery. I brought my own growler, but unfortunately they will only sell you beer in a growler that costs $ 18. the rest of their 6 packs are basically the same price you will get anywhere else. Also, they cannot let you taste anything.
The café next door has a wide selection, but the policy is they can’t sell you those.
Saying this is a quality control issue is ridiculous. Many breweries, bars, and stores have the ability to sanitize and fill growler.
The store sells empty growlers for $ 4 but they can’t fill them because they don’t have a sticker with the brewery label and surgeon generals warning. GET IT TOGETHER BELL’S. Print the sticker. Quit charging people $ 18 for bottles and sell what you are good at… BEER!
At least they helped us carry out the $ 90 of beer we bought…
Come here if you are looking for brewing supplies. Go next door if you want to drink a beer. If you want to buy beer, TAKE YOUR BUSINESS ELSEWHERE.

Have you ever had a dream where you’re in a public space and you’re completely naked? Here’s how it usually goes for me:
I start panicking and start frantically looking for anything that can cover up my ugly bits. People are pointing and laughing as I run across the street. I see a familiar sign, and have a realization that I’m in Kalamazoo. The Bell’s General store is in front of me! A safe haven of tasty suds and merch! I run inside and grab the first Oberon Beach Towel I see. Relaxed that I’m no longer in my birthday suit, I saunter around and look at the wares. Pint glasses! Frisbees! Tappers! Specialty beers! Mini kegs! Even brewing supplies! I grab a bunch of things and bring it all the counter. The man rings it up and tells me the total. I realize I don’t have any money on me, as I was just naked. Then I wake up.
Anyone else have this dream? No?

I really liked this little store/​brewery shop. It was neat being able to buy ingredients at one of my favourite breweries. I do wish that the store sold more «exclusive» beer– something that you could only get at Bell’s.

I love Bell’s beer, but their store… meh. It has a good collection of random merchandise with the Bells logo, but some is quite pricey. I recommend going during a season change for some cheaper clearance rack prices.
No growlers!!! The growler law in MI has changed, but you have not. What’s up with that? And, our local grocery store has Bell’s 6-​packs for the same price or less when on sale, so that’s a disappointment too. The plus side is, once in a blue moon, you can find a 6 pack or single bottles of beer you can’t find anywhere except at the Café in a pint glass. So for that, I like you.

Bell’s general store is decent. I stopped in to buy some Bell’s brews. They had some miscellaneous shirts, bumper stickers, and knick knacks to buy. I wish they discounted their brews a bit more. $ 10 for a sixer is still steep!

This place has a strange mix of souvenirs. Seriously. You can get an 80’s style string bikini with the Bell’s logo on it. You can get frisbee golf discs with the logo. I got a pair of cheap blue Ray Ban knockoffs with the Bell’s logo on the side. I mean seriously, a lot of crap, in addition to home brewing supplies and beer o plenty.
My only qualm is the prices. They were selling used mini kegs for $ 7. How about I buy a full one for $ 20 and keep the keg and beer? And my knockoff glasses were $ 7, when I’m fairly confident that they were made for $.10 in Taiwan. And the bottle opener keychain I bought for my husband was not worth $ 7, but that’s what I paid for it. Other than that, it’s a plentiful brewery gift shop/​general store, I was impressed by the selection of Bell’s-themed things.

Not only does Bell’s deliver quality but they also deliver amazing customer service! I made an online purchase for a couple of stickers two days ago. Not only was it free shipping but I received, not just the two stickers that I ordered, but stickers for all the beers that they brew this morning!
Thank you Bell’s for bringing Two Hearted into my life, the great hospitality last spring, and for allowing me to advertise to the best extreme possible here in Indy!

Beer: absolutely amazing.
Food: delicious.
Service: outstanding!
This review is about the service. True story: we stopped in Kalamazoo after a week on the Leelenau peninsula. After a great and relaxing vacation, we had a 6+ hour drive back to Chicago with a 4 year old. Yummy food, beautiful outside garden space to run around and fantastic beer? Absolutely worth the slight detour, we decided.
So we did our running around, ate the yummy food, and had a few of the fantastic beers. Quick bathroom break, and out the door and back on the road to Chicago. Which is when we realized… I had left my son’s VERY special little teddy bear and coloring book in the bathroom! Two double IPAs will do that to you I guess…
Long story short, I called Bell’s two days later. Everyone was so understanding and helpful. Manager, Jason, called me promptly and offered to mail our stuff back. And he did – didn’t delay, didn’t ask me to pay for postage, didn’t make me feel annoying. For a relatively large and somewhat corporate brewery, this was the personal touch that will keep me coming back! Well, and the double IPAs of course.

Good selection from your favorite Kalamazoo brewer, no gouge-​your eyes-​out prices, and a friendly staff. You can buy an off the shelf 6-​er, build your own 6 pack, or pick up a mini-​keg. They even have nifty stuff like beer flavored chap-​stick, hoodies, very cool Bell’s glasses, and disc golf discs!
More important than all of these for the snobs are the awesome set of home-​brew supplies. Hops, liquid yeast, and grains in many varieties. I didn’t peruse this section too deeply since I was out of space and refrigeration, but I imagine they have some other supplies and tools for home brewing as well.
Stop in and grab a tulip glass so your newb friends can laugh at you while your beer snob friends get all jelly.

One word. Fabulous. We drove to Bell’s for an afternoon of beer and food as well as the tour. It was very enjoyable. We then went to the General Store. It has something for everyone. Home brewing supplies, merchandise, beer… What more could you ask for. The lip balm is awesome. Buy a few tubes.

Bell’s General store is adjacent to Bell’s Eccentric Café. After you are done sampling some of their fine brews you can just walk next door and pick up some merchandise or beer to take home with you. They have a wide selection of your standard brewery memorabilia. Shirts, signs, key chains, glass ware, etc. Are you from out of state and want to try different yeasts for your own homebrew? Here ya go! They sell homebrew supplies as well.
The thing you want to look for is the Bell’s only beers. The Bell’s doesn’t sell growlers, but they will take some of their limited edition, «only available here» beers and put them in 22 oz bombers. So if you can get Bell’s back home, you might want to stick to the bombers. You may not be able to find those, but everything else you probably will.

Great selection of Bell’s brews… all the bottles they currently have out. This is my second visit and it’s nice to pick up a few of the seasonal varieties to take home.
They also have a bunch of knick knacks and items with Bell’s name stamped on them. Some are good, some are fun, some are sad… depends on what you are interested in. Picked up a 6 pack (you can mix and match) and some glasses.
Also has a great selection of brewing supplies. If you are local and looking to brew your own beer, the selection and knowledgeable staff are a good resource.

You can get your brewing supplies here: malts, yeasts, etc. There’s a walk-​in cooler with the best prices you’ll find anywhere on bottled Bell’s beer. Trivia fact #1: In the late 80s, John H. regularly drove by an early version of this store, and didn’t know it existed. Trivia Fact #2: this week, on the way from home to A2, John H. purchased the last six pack of 2010-​11 Winter White, still tasty and half-​price.

Stopped in to the Bell’s General Store after tasting some beers at their café. We weren’t planning on visiting the store, but the bartender mentioned it so we figured, why not?
I have to say I was pleasantly surprised when we walked in. They have the usual shirts/​glassware/​etc that you find at any brewery gift shop. But they also had a large selection of bottled Bell’s beer. Even more impressive was that they allowed you to purchase individual bottles and mix/​match to create your own six-​pack if you want. I love any beer store that lets you do this, and if you’re new to Bell’s beer, this is probably the best place to go in order to put together a variety pack.
Continuing our tour of the store, I was again taken by surprise to discover that they had an actual homebrew supply store. If you’re in to home brewing your own beer, this place has just about everything you need. I thought it was a very unique aspect for a brewery to maintain a homebrew supply. Definitely goes to show they care about their beer and their customers.
We ended up buying a souvenir bottle opener and a few bottles of hard-​to-​find beer to take back to the hotel.
If you’re at the Bell’s café, definitely take the time to look around the store.

Bell’s General Store has a great selection of brewing supplies, after all Larry Bell did start out as a HBS store! :) They can also order supplies for you, if they do not have what you need.
Great selection of bottled and keg beer. :)
They have clothing, smokes, cigars, and specialty foodstuffs from around Michigan, but never mind because you came for the beer!
Knowledgeable staff and friendly customer service. Do yourself a favor, and go there.

I love you, Bell’s Beer. I was informed by the ever-​awesome and vigilant Unilocal community that I had reviewed the wrong place and put it here! So I’ve changed everything around and now I’m actually reviewing the General Store.
This place is great. It’s a store that sells all things Bell’s — beer, food, t-​shirts, keychains — everything! My boyfriend and I bought a bunch of beer here on our way back to Chicago because — at that time — there was no Bell’s in Illinois (boo!) so we decided we needed to stock up because it’s so delicious. We were able to take some six pack containers and do a mix-​and-​match of all the different Bell’s beers so we could sample as much as possible. I like that policy — I love sampling!
My favorite will always be Oberon which is sold in high volumes at the store. Prices are cheap (well, cheaper than they are in Chicago) so I was satisfied after our large purchase. We also bought a great keychain bottle opener that has come in handy many-​a-​time. Thanks for selling your wares, Bell’s!

Bell’s Is the number 1 reason I miss Kalamazoo! I have never disliked a brew I tasted and Oberon IS Summer.
Aside from the multiple praises for Bell’s amazing selection of beer and great food It is also A surprising stop for your local home brewers.
At prices better than most you can find online you can get just about everything you will ever need to brew some delicious craft beer in your own home. I will forever miss having just a fair priced brew store so close to me.
An EASY 5 Stars.

DROOL, DROOL, DROOL. I absolutely LOVE this place. Their beer garden kicks so much ass that my friends and I refer to it as «Mecca». We’d try to make an annual pilgrimage up to K’zoo each year just to taste the sweet nectar that is Bell’s Beer. To my dismay though they stopped serving Wedding Ale (strong beer, and 2 would get me nice and hammered). Last time I was here I bought up so much freaking Bell’s stuff I’m a walking billboard for the place now right down to my orange flip-​flops.
Do not try to drive home after coming to this place. Go stay at a fine hotel in the lovely downtown area of K’zoo.