Rupert’s Brew House

• 773 W. Michigan Avenue
• Kalamazoo, MI 49007
• (269) 337-9911
• Website
• Sample Beer Menu

J and I had planned hosting our families for Thanksgiving.  J’s mom was able to make it up on Tuesday before the snow hit Berrien County.  My parents, however, were not able to leave until Wednesday afternoon and by then, it was too late.  They weren’t going to challenge Mother Nature to a duel.  We still went ahead with our Thanksgiving plans because we had all the food and there was no sense in letting it go to waste.

I know a lot of people will tell horror stories about their in-laws, but I’m lucky.  I actually have the opposite situation.  My Mother-in-Law always shows up with beer.  Nothing horror story-ish about that.

After working last Sunday night, I actually had Tuesday evening off.  Once J and L went to bed, I asked my Mother-in-Law if she wanted to go out for a couple beers.  We hit up Gonzo’s BiggDogg Brewing first because we hadn’t eaten dinner yet.  After a couple beers, dinner, and hanging out with some friends, we headed down the street to check out another one of Kalamazoo’s new breweries.

Rupert’s Brew House is on the corner of Michigan Avenue and Academy Street in the odd shaped building that used to house The Strutt.  The sign has been up for quite some time on the point of the building that overlooks Michigan Ave., but it seems like it took a long time for the doors to finally open.  

We lucked out and found a parking spot right in front of the door which is on the Academy Street side of the building.  Had we not, I’m really not sure where we would have parked.  There really isn’t a lot in the area and as far as I know, all that’s available is street parking.

When we walked in, there were a few people sitting at the bar and a couple of groups at tables.  It really wasn’t all that packed, but by the time we left, it was really filling up.  We stopped in on an open mic night and it seemed to fill up late.

The layout of the space hasn’t changed too much since The Strutt closed.  It appeared to be cleaned up and polished so it had a little bit of a new feeling to it.

I noticed there were no waitresses and a place at the bar where you can step up and order, so we got in line to get a couple beers before heading to a table.  At first, we both were going to order the Double hIghPA, but the bartender said just finished off the keg.  We instead ordered Dr. Steve’s I.P.Ailment.

We grabbed the beers and headed to a table.  MIL looked around and came out with, “What’s with all the hipsters?”  And this is coming from a bonafide hippie herself.  I really hadn’t noticed until she pointed out, but yeah, we were pretty out of place in this hipster haven.  Also, there was a big dog….a REALLY big dog walking around the bar.  He was a friendly guy.  He would come up to the table and set his head down to be petted.  I’m not really good with dog breeds, but I’m assuming it’s a Mastif since there is a beer called Mastif Drool on the menu (EDIT…I was wrong.  It was a Great Dane).

It was getting pretty late so we only had one beer at Rupert’s before calling it a night.  The one we had was a pretty tasty standard issue IPA.

I left Rupert’s with a really great impression of the place.  It’s got a great vibe to it.  They don’t serve food…although you can order/bring in your own…so it’s really just about the beer.  It’s the kind of place you go to hang out with your buddies and have a few beers.  It’s the neighborhood bar without the crappy lite beers you normally find at neighborhood joints.

Dr. Steve’s I.P.Ailment