President of Beers: #34

We're drinking the flagship craft beer from every state in the Union, counting down from 50-1, to find which is home to the President of Beers.

#34: Bell's Amber: Bell's Brewery, Kalamazoo, Michigan

State: From the Motor City to Lake Michigan (or any of its shores along many Great Lakes), the Wolverine State is darling as a mitten and home to a fragment of land called the Upper Peninsula whose inhabitants call themselves Yoopers.

Brewery: The brewery that bears Larry Bell's name originated in 1985 as Kalamazooo Brewing. It changed to Bell's since locals always referred to it as such. A much larger facility, dubbed the Krum Avenue Plant, is now located in Comstock, just outside "K'zoo" proper. What is now Bell's Eccentric Café wasn't just Michigan's first modern brewery; it was the first microbrewery east of the Rockies. Respect.

Beer: Larry Bell explained that Amber is the flagship by virtue of it being their best-selling year-round beer. But Oberon is their wheaten summer seasonal that outsells it and for good reason. It's lip-smackingly delicious, whereas Amber is, well, beige.

Difficulty of obtaining in Oregon: Moderate. Found in 18 states from Florida to North Dakota in the South and Midwest. And, oddly, in Arizona alone in the west.

Rating: 60.83

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WWeek 2015