Tibbs Brewing Company

This place is awesome. They got a sweet spot in Downtown Kalamazoo that looks like it used to be a diner. They brew out of what, I think, used to be a nightclub downstairs. How better to repurpose pancakes and butt shakes than with a brewery. Awesome. We will proudly be sporting Tibbs gear in LA and not just because of the cool set up. The beer was also pretty fantastic.
We tasted through a flight that consisted of 5 beers, 3 I can remember clearly: A-​Tibbical Pale Ale, Citra Your Ass Down, and the Hel-​Jen Tripel. She went back for the pale, I went back for the tripel. Hel-​Jen was the best Belgian I had in Michigan. 10.3% but oh so smooth. When we go back to visit, I will sit at the diner counter and drink those until the head change kicks in, which should be about 2. So good. Just so you know, they make their own root beer if you’re brewery hopping with a DD.
Lady behind the bar was nice and marched down the stairs to reemerge with my new beer gear. Definitely worth checking out if you’re in Michigan and drink beer. I think that’s everyone.

A hidden gem in Kalamazoo! The beer here is as good as it gets! I have been going to Tibbs for almost 2 years, The Hel-​jen Belgian triple, Auslander Dunkelweisen, EP’s E.S.B, Citra your ass down IPA, Eil as Cin, all great tasting beer. I have never had a bad beer here ever! The atmosphere is one of a corner bar and it is nice to go in and see people you know. The downstairs portion is now finished. The space is nice and the leather chairs are a nice touch. The Staff is fantastic! The owner is always around and he is a great host and a great brewer! I drive 60 miles to hangout at Tibbs! Check it out it is as I say worth the trip!

Friendly Staff.
Mediocre beer, not bad, but nothing you can’t find at other craft stops.
More ventilation needed, all I could smell while I was there was the flat top cook station directly behind the bar.
Can’t speak to the food, didn’t try on either visit.
Overall, pretty long ask to serve craft pints in Kalamazoo that are more expensive than Bells.

Awesome experience! I recently moved to Kalamazoo and have been hearing good things about Tibbs since. Finally made it with some friends who were visiting for the weekend. The owner was behind the bar serving us and actually took the time to come over to our table and talk with us about beer and how passionate he is about brewing. It was such a friendly environment, and the beer was incredible!

Tibbs,
Your new basement bar is the cat’s pajamajams. I can tell this is going to be «my happy place».
Visited on a Friday night, the upstairs was quite full, but then my face lit up because I remembered their new bar downstairs was now open (weekends only at the moment). I ran down stairs and thar shee blew! Nearly empty, this dark, man cave-​y, speak easy feeling space is still a hidden gem currently in town.
I’m sure this will be a popular summer spot for those looking to get out of the heat and into a pint.

Although in a very small space that used to be a sandwich shop/​counter type diner, the beers are very solid. There is usually a good selection of beer styles, and the only «con» is that sometimes the majority of the selections have fairly high ABV-​making it difficult to have a «session» of beer drinking. Also, the food choices are fairly limited. Other than those two drawbacks, I think the future is bright for this «nano-​brewery» in a very competitive brewing environment, such as Kalamazoo.

How do you know a place is good? When the owner of another local brewery is in there drinking. Yeah, if that doesn’t convince you that it is worth visiting then I don’t know what will.

I stopped in to Tibbs before a concert at the State Theatre. There was only one girl working at the bar and she was super nice. I tried the Ben Jonesin chocolate toffee porter, which was really good! It had a strong chocolatey toffee taste! It’s definitely pretty sweet (people kept saying «It’s like a dessert in a glass!») but I was able to drink the whole pint with no problem. I really loved it.
They have a limited menu of simple bar snacks. I got the parmesan fries, which I think were warmed up in a toaster oven or something (not fried), but they hit the spot for a snack while drinking. The pints were all ~$ 5, very reasonable! Currently they do not offer growler fills, but the girl at the bar said they were working on getting them in the next couple of weeks or so. They have t-​shirts and other merch for sale. I would definitely stop in again next time I’m in town! They have a good thing going here for sure. I would watch for them to maybe expand within the next few years!

Small corner brewery right in downtown area. The beer is good; not as good as Bell’s, but definitely worth trying. The «Citra and Take it» IPA is interesting, less bitter and a character I would describe as bright (hard to explain…). The «How you like me Blau» is a blueberry Hefeweizen that is a good summer fruit beer without being overwhelmingly sweet. The menu is pretty much snacks, but the Parmesan fries at least are good (crispy and lightly seasoned)

Stopped in here after tasting the Heath Bar Porter at the Beer Exchange. This Porter is AMAZING, so we hightailed it directly over to Tibbs. The atmosphere and location is cute and cozy, with a nice outdoor area for people watching on the corner as well. We ordered a sampler of beers, I personally was only a fan of the Porter, but other enjoyed some of the other drafts. They had a pretty good root beer and refills on that are free so that was a nice perk! I was just a little disappointed they don’t have growlers or anyway to take the beer home with you. The Heath Bar Porter was a knockout, and if there would have been a way for me to take some home, that would have elevated this place to golden status in my book! Either way, I think it’s a fun stop if you are in the area!

Um, I guess some places are hit and miss when it comes to their beers. This place has mediocre beer that does not have much taste. I do not think it belongs on the ‘Give a Craft’ tour of Kalamazoo.

Very intimate bar serving beer and root beer from their own brewery. Everything Ives had there is very tasty. Definitely a great Kalamazoo brew. The small size lends to great conversations with other patrons and the bartenders about Kalamazoo.

My favorite spot to grab a beer in Kalamazoo. Kevin makes some great beers and always has something for everybody. The bar has such a neighborhood pub vibe and the staff is always very friendly. Grab a beer and sit by the big windows on a busy night and enjoy some great people watching.

Went on a mini bar crawl with my boyfriend, as we are new to the area and this is a BEER town! We had the best time at Tibbs, awesome service, the people were so friendly and chatting with the other patrons just made the experience even better. I ordered a beer called the Citra your Ass down and it was so delicious and the name is just too much! It’s our favorite so far and we can’t wait to go back! I, of course, had to buy a tshirt!!!

Love it here came all the way from chicago to relax and came in for a beer and I love this place

This is by far, the best brewery in the Kalamazoo area. Every single time, and there have been many, They greet us immediately and we love the intimate feel of the entire place. We drive over 60 miles, 1 way just to go here. Love, love, love the Hell-​Jen Belgian triple ale. They knocked it out of the ballpark on this beer alone! Love the food, the owners, and the staff. Highly recommend this place!

Tibbs… oh how do I like thee? Let me count the ways… Oh wait, not so fast! When you walk in you feel like you might just be in the wrong place because you know you’ve just walked into a neighborhood diner. The ceiling tiles are white, the walls are pale and the floor is definitely tile. There is a scarce scattering of 6 small tables and a bar for only 8 people. Behind the bar there is nobody because the bartender is off doing something other than greeting and bar tending, which is what he should be doing.
So before I do an actual review i would like to interrupt this regularly scheduled programming to let you know about the bathroom conditions… Y.U.C.K! If I were a woman, I would walk straight outta here and find a clean gas station bathroom, which might just be 10x cleaner than these.
Now for the beer… They have a great little selection of 6 beers, all of which look pleasing to the eye. I chose the Hell-​Jen Belgian Tripel which is 10% ABV and delicious; tasting of banana and cloves. My wife found a blueberry pale ale that was the most blueberry. eee tasting beer we’ve ever had; and also delicious.
So three stars is because of the atmosphere, or lack thereof and the cleanliness of the bathrooms. This is usually a deciding factor due to the impression factor. And… No craft root beer or cream soda on tap for the kids because they ran out. I love their beer but…

Tried the stout and the porter on a visit here last weekend. Both were tasty. Located right next to the State Theater … I recommend stopping in before or after a show. The ambience is just so-​so … I think this place used to be a middle eastern restaurant.
We will definitely be back next time we are in town. Fun beer stop in Kzoo if you want to try something new!

Best fledgling brewery I’ve been to in some time (and I go to a lot).
New breweries often suffer because some shmoe figures he can quickly cash in on the microbrewery trend by whipping together some hops and labeling them «something clever IPA». Tibbs opened last December, but decided to do things proper. Righteously hopped beers that are damn tasty. Can’t wait to see where they take it. Here’s hoping they double down on great ingredients instead of cutting corners.
Place is tiny, didn’t try the food. But if you are worried about getting packed in like a sardine over at Bells, this is a welcome alternative.

dear very enthusiastic beer nerds,
you know how you find that really awesome small little brewery in your town then they suddenly stop making those awesome, rich, real ingredient beers, everything tastes off and you leave the brewery, that was once your good friend, alone on a dark street and never look back? that’s what happened with us and Tibbs.
i see there are no reviews from the last few months. maybe things have gone downhill, maybe they’ve just had a bad month.
I’m very bothered to give Tibbs a 2 star. me and my guy are really into beer. we venture to a lot of breweries and we like to try out new little places. it doesnt go well very often, but we were incredibly excited when we visited in february. we often order a few samples and maybe one beer then move onto another brewery, but we sat in there chatting with the owner and patrons and drinking a bunch of their beer. it was great, i even wanted a growler and was disappointed they weren’t making them yet. we also tried their cream soda, which was great.
fast forward four months and we are finally visiting Kzoo again and I’m super excited to get back to Tibbs. I was excited there was a porter because i like porters, but it was so smoky. like way too smoky for a porter. the pale ale tasted soapy and the IPA was weak. this was such a huge disappointment. i was actually feeling guilty that i didn’t like. it was just so good before. also, they had a problem with their refrigeration or something the day before so the beers were kinda warm. i suggested maybe this ruined the beer, but my fellow adventurer insists that’s impossible.
so sad to see this place fall off of my radar so quickly.
sincerely,
two very enthusiastic beer geeks.
p. s. we had the root beer. it was delightful!