Kalamazoo Royal Amber ale

by Matt Morgan
(Beer Delegate, IL, USA)

Kalamazoo Royal Amber ale: Kalamazoo cocks a snook at the distribution lawmakers

Spring is somewhat here in Chicago and I choose to return from hiatus with a review of Kalamazoo Royal Amber ale, "Brewed especially for the people of the great state of Illinois." That quote is directly from the label!

For anyone who doesn't know; Bell's Brewery of Kalamazoo, MI had divorced their Illinois wholesaler in a dispute over the handling and distribution of Bell's product. Illinois has a three-tier distribution law that forbids Bell's Brewery from re-entering the market with another distributor. It's more technical than that, but I write to entertain and approach "truthiness". Larry Bell took on the big beer brokers and created a new label and new recipes reminiscent of the Brews we already knew.

Kalamazoo Michigan is equidistant at about 142 miles from Detroit and Chicago for the useless information freaks.

Kalamazoo Royal Amber Ale pours reddish-brown in color with a medium head which settles quickly. It's sweet on the nose with a mild hoppy middle and sweet toasty caramel finish. Better in my opinion than Bell's Amber for two reasons; I can get it easier and I believe we're the only market for it.

I'm sure there's extra love in a recipe intended to woo the Illinois beer drinkers back into Larry Bell's brews. Since I live a short drive from the Indiana border, I often stocked up anyway, contributing (not solely) to the quadruple demand for Bell's in Indiana since they left Illinois.

My dog is named Oberon after the Bell's summer brew which is probably named after Shakespeare's Fairy King. Wait did I just name my dog after a Fairy King?!? Cheers!