Bell’s Wins Top Beer Title Again With Two Of The Top Five Beers

You get a little tired of the hype from up 131. Beer City, Shhhmeer City. Bell's Brewery is once again home to the best beer in the country, and to make it even more special, two of the top five are right here in Kalamazoo County. And to make it a beer "hat trick", Bell's was named best brewery in the United States in Zymurgy Magazine's annual rankings.

Two Hearted Ale is becoming the New York Yankees of beer. (Okay, dated reference. For you younger beer lovers, think Alabama or Clemson - of beer.) This is the third straight year Two Hearted has topped the list, defeating rival Pliny the Elder from California's Russian River Brewing.

Some will tell you, including this author's son, that Hopslam is the best thing to come out of Larry Bell's "laboratory". Apparently a lot of beer connoisseurs agree, as Hopslam landed in the number five position, behind only Two Hearted, Pliny The Elder, Sierra Nevada's Pale Ale and The Alchemist's Heady Topper.

All kidding aside, this area did well, with Founder's in Grand Rapids' Kentucky Breakfast Stout finishing in a tie for seventh, and just ahead of it, from down the road in Indiana, Three Floyd's Zombie Dust ranked sixth.

“Being honored with this again, is beyond words. With the year we’ve all had, this is a huge win we can all celebrate. To my staff, to our partners, to the homebrewers, to everyone who celebrates this beer; thank you from the bottom of my heart,” - Larry Bell, president and founder of Bell’s Brewery.

A little background: Zymurgy Magazine is from the American Homebrewers Association. It's been around for over 40 years, since 1978, and has more than 40,000 members.

Okay, I'm going to get this analogy right. Since Pliny won for seven years in a row, before Two Hearted took over the title, how about Two Hearted is the Chicago Bulls to Pliny's Detroit Pistons "Bad Boys of 1990?