GALESBURG, Michigan (AP) – Dennis Bennett brewed a Belgian-style amber dubbel beer, some of which he said would be put in barrels of wine to age.
It’s lot number 42 made through Gull Lake Distilling Co’s leading brewer since it opened in downtown Galesburg in March, according to Battle Creek Enquirer.
Since then, 17 types of beer have been brewed and sold, basically through fillings of howlers and grunts, a street delivery service caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Starting in June, the new distillery, brewery and winery of the old cinema and bowling alley was opened to the public with its gigantic open-air café and an exclusive beer, wine and spirits.
“Beer became our main focus because we couldn’t do liquor to go,” owner Ted Koch said. “So a lot of people expected beer or thought we were a brewery instead of a distillery. Good or bad, people loved it. We embraced that, and when we could finally open, it was a restructuring of the business model, scaling the beer back and going back to the spirits.”
Koch and his wife, Lindsey, established the company in 2017 and bought the assets in 2018. The call aims to capitalize on the regional popularity of Gull Lake, near Richland. Gull Creek, the exit of Gull Lake, flows near the assets.
“I know it’s a tourist attraction,” Koch said of Gull Lake. “So I’m going to stop the call and locate anything in the domain where other people can go.”
Gull Lake Distilling had a “friends and family” opening scheduled for “friends and family” in March, when the pandemic occurred and the next state-ordered closure, forcing the official opening to be postponed until June.
The old cinema and bowling alley is located on almost seven acres and a shelf and Kalamazoo River are added. It is also located along Great-Lake-to-Lake Trail 1, a 275-mile shared trail connecting Lake Michigan and Lake Huron.
The distillery does not sell food, but food can be brought and Avalon Farms vendors at Climax are on site every Sunday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. for brunch with GLDC Bloody Mary’s. The construction also supplies the facade with Pizza King, a delivery chain and clothing in southwestern Michigan that also sells ice cream.
Inside the distillery are tables that, according to Koch, are made from the old alleyways of the Bowling Alley of Battle Creek Public Schools. There are artwork in the building. Access to Anthony Jackson’s ArtPrize 2018 “Godspeed” is on display behind the bar. Photos of the building beyond hang from the walls. Koch said there are still four bowling alleys on the property, which he hopes will “rehabilitated and revive.”
“Almost everyone in this city worked on this construction at one time or another as a bowler,” Koch said. “There’s not much in the domain that has that old-school charm and atmosphere, and running with the city of Galesburg is fantastic.”
The distillery offers music on Tuesdays, a league of corn holes on Wednesday nights and trivia on Thursdays.
Four beers will be brewed on tap, as well as a handful of rotating wines using Michigan products and products, such as strawberry wine with strawberries from Schultz Farms in Mattawan.
“We have a small system comparatively to other breweries,” Bennett said. “That restricts us a little bit in terms of volume, but the nice thing is we have a constant turnaround and always have fresh beer. When we do IPA and pale ales and some of the lighter beers that don’t age well, we turn them around so fast that it’s like they are just coming off the assembly line, super fresh.”
Caleb Rose, director of the Gull Lake distillery, said few things fit the company’s diversity like brewery, vineyard and distillery.
“Distillation is the center and soul of the operation,” he said. “We constantly produce five spirits: whiskey, vodka, rum, apple brandy and gin. All cocktails are completely handmade. We try to remain as local as imaginable with new ingredients. Actually, there is nothing in Kalamazoo and Battle Creek domain that looks like what we do.”