The week began with a double decker bus tour of Kalamazoo and didn't end until hundreds of beer kegs were drained of their delicious, thirst-quenching goodness.
It was a time to sample the downtown and beyond and get a taste of what's trending, what's new, and the old that's too good to say goodbye to in the craft beer world. By all accounts, the 2013
Kalamazoo Beer Week was a rousing success.
Featuring local, regional, and national breweries, the week offered well over 100 individual events: pub crawls, silly games, specialty beer tastings, food pairings and a Snow Jog that took place on one of the warmest January days on record.
The third annual Kalamazoo Beer Week, which ran for seven days beginning Jan. 12, was the best attended Beer Week to date, and proved to be a major boon for Kalamazoo area restaurants and spirit shops.
"The month of January is traditionally a kind of slow month for restaurants, but doing events like this is fantastic. It got people moving around throughout the entire downtown," says Pete Thompson, beer manager for the Kalamazoo Beer Exchange.
Kalamazoo Beer Week got rolling in grand fashion with a city-wide pub crawl sponsored by Gallagher's on Stadium Drive, which donated its double decker bus for the occasion.
Patrons could get a lift at one of a number of bars and restaurants participating in Kalamazoo Beer Week, getting on and off as they pleased, to stop and sample brews of all kinds.
"It’s a wonderful way to kick it off because of the uniqueness of that bus. Everyone sees it and wants to ride it," says Kalamazoo resident Andrew MacLeod. "The number of people getting on and off of the bus turns people’s heads. They want to see what's going on."
The pub crawl turned out to be such a hit that several local establishments not only set sales records, but nearly ran out of beer in the process.
Besides being one of the local bus stops for the pub crawl, the Beer Exchange also hosted Marshall's Dark Horse Brewery, which brought its entire Holiday Stout Series for patrons of the event to enjoy.
"We went through their kegs in like three hours," Thompson says, adding that he had been working nearly two months to acquire the Dark Horse beer for the event.
But it wasn't just area eating establishments that made out well during the week. Breweries, both local and otherwise, enjoyed the attention of beer drinkers while taking part in tastings, meet-the-brewer nights and various other events.
"It's great exposure for people who maybe can’t make it to the brewery or otherwise haven't been able to try our beer," says Scott Farney, sales manager for
Saugatuck Brewing Co.
Saugatuck Brewing Co.'s beer could be found at many bars and restaurants throughout the week, including Cosmos, The Union, and Gallagher's.
Farney says he likes to bring to events special- and limited-edition beers that customers will see as a "reward" for coming out or that will pique their taste buds in a special way. "We bring something … that is only going to be found at that one particular place," Farney says.
This year, Farney made sure he traveled to each venue with growlers of beer not found anywhere else, and even debuted the company's HopScotch Ale during the first night of the week.
The week also gave brewers an opportunity to receive feedback and information first-hand from beer drinkers, business owners, and other brewers.
"It’s a very, very good opportunity to get input and put our thumb on the pulse of what's going on without having to travel all over the state or travel to different breweries. In the span of a week, I get to see all kinds of cool things that are going on with different breweries," Farney says.
According to
Shakespeare's Pub owner Ted Vedella, the cool thing happening in beer right now is sours, and Kalamazoo Beer Week gave event-goers ample opportunity to sample a style of beer that can often be difficult to find.
"Sours have sort of been the rage," Vedella says. "They're such a hard beer to get. They're more difficult to make. It’s a long brewing process."
Though sours may be what's new, some breweries were more than happy to show off what is old.
On the final day of KBW, Kalamazoo's Bell's Brewery wrapped things up by hosting a vintage beer tasting.
The event attracted scores of people interested in finding out how various styles such as, Expedition Stout, Eccentric Ale, Third Coast Old Ale, Cherry Stout and others held up to the test of time, with some bottles clocking in at the ripe old age of 15.
"Everyone I talked to who was pouring was pretty knowledgeable about the beers and could give comparisons to different beers of different ages or batches and pointed out the ones that they thought were the best; they were very well prepared," MacLeod says.
Attendees were given tasting glasses and a notebook so that they could take personal tasting notes on each brew.
"I went with a big group of friends and everyone enjoyed talking about the beers," MacLeod says.
Of course,
Bell Brewery Inc. also hosted events that were a little less educational, such as Saturday morning's Snow Jog and Thursday night's Minute to Win It event at Shakespeare's. In the latter, teams of two or more were pitted against the Bell's staff as each squad attempted to complete a series of often very silly challenges, such as attempting to move a cookie from your forehead to your mouth, using nothing but your facial muscles.
Vedella says the event drew so many people that next year the bar will set aside a larger space for the games.
"This was the third time that we did it with Bell’s. This last time was so big that we are going to have to move the space that we do it in, because people enjoy it so much," Vadella says. "On top of that we had Bell’s Raspberry Ale, which sold out that night, and we had their Bourbon Cherry Stout as well."
Though restaurants and bars were often the preferred destination for Beer Week attendees, several people, such as Western Michigan University Student Bob Brownell, also visited beer and spirit shops that hosted tastings and Q&A sessions.
Brownell enjoyed meeting representatives of Grand Rapids' Founders Brewing Company at
Tiffany's on West Main, discussing with them the merits of one of his favorite styles, the double IPA.
"I asked him some questions about double IPA’s--why do those have sweetness to them," Brownell says. "He was explaining to me how they put in all the hops later, and the malts stay in longer, so there are sugars."
Whether beer drinkers were trying something new or old, whether they walked, or drove, or rode the bus, it seemed that all involved found something informative or at least delicious to take away from the third annual Kalamazoo Beer Week.
"The downtown businesses were on their 'A game'" Brownell says. "People were smiling and welcoming, and out greeting us. There is so much to experience with flavors and styles (of craft beer). Kalamazoo beer week is great for that."
Jeremy Martin is a freelance writer. A graduate of Western Michigan University, he lives in Portage with his wife. Follow him @secondwavebeer on Twitter.
Photos by Erik Holladay.