Almost every homebrewer wants his own brewery.

 

And for Brian Pierce, that dream is becoming a reality.

 

Joining a growing list of Kalamazoo breweries, Brian and his wife Shelby are opening Brite Eyes Brewing Co., a hybrid business that will feature a coffee/tea house, deli and microbrewery. The Pierces have staked claim to the building at 1157 South Burdick Street (the intersection of South Burdick Street and Crosstown Parkway) near downtown Kalamazoo and are aiming for a soft opening around the first of the year.

 

Credit: Kayla Kiley/Townsquare Media
Credit: Kayla Kiley/Townsquare Media
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During the soft opening, Pierce said the brewery plans to sell coffees, teas, sandwiches and deli-style foods. Once its brewery license comes through, Brian said they’ll start selling their beers.

 

With the vision for Brite Eyes being the place “where you start your night,” Brian said it won’t be a late-night spot. The couple may experiment with their hours, but for now, it’ll be open from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. during the week and 10 to 11 p.m. on weekends.

 

And if you’re into beer gardens, Brite Eyes will have that, too. The Pierces plan to build a brick-patio beer garden (and maybe also add an outdoor fireplace) on the grassy area in front of the brewery.
Credit: Kayla Kiley/Townsquare Media
Credit: Kayla Kiley/Townsquare Media
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And it’ll be hard to get bored with this brewery — it’ll always be changing, starting on the first Friday of every month during Kalamazoo’s Art Hop.

Like all Art Hop participants, the brewery will host a local artist’s work, but during each Art Hop, Brite Eyes will also feature a new guest brewer’s beer, new coffee drinks and a guest chef’s creations.
“We’ll sort of reinvent every month,” Brian said. “So, there’s always something new.”
As a coffee shop/brewery, Brian also noted that they'll do “geeky things,” such as serve creative recipes like cold-brew-coffee beer served on nitro.
Renderings by TowerPinkster. Credit: Kayla Kiley/Townsquare Media
Renderings by TowerPinkster. Credit: Kayla Kiley/Townsquare Media
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Piece said his concept for the brewery stemmed from his and his wife’s needs. Although Brian is a homebrewer and beer advocate, his wife doesn’t drink; however, she’s big into coffees and teas. Thus, the coffee/tea shop idea was born.

 

“We want to make it feel as much like Kalamazoo as possible,” Brian said. “We want it to feel very comfortable. Going with the building’s architectural style of The Jetsons and mid-‘60s, we want to put a few of those styles in but not hit you over the head with it. We’ll add a few color cues, but we want to keep it light and bright.”

 

While Brite Eyes won’t offer a mug club, you can sign up for the Brite Idea Club, which will offer discounts on beer, coffee, food and merchandise.

 

Credit: Kayla Kiley/Townsquare Media
Credit: Kayla Kiley/Townsquare Media
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Once Brite Eyes gets clearance to start selling beers, Brian said it'll likely offer its mainstay “real palatable and basic beers," which may include:

  • Dagwood’s Wife (American blonde ale)
  • “Sazzy Saazbourne (Belgian rye wheat)
  • Big Willie’s (American amber ale)
  • Round Belly Brown (brown)
  • Honey Hive (wheat ale with pure Michigan honey)
  • Crosstown Pale (American pale ale)
  • The J.J. Express (double espresso robust porter)
  • Fearless The Idiot (India pale ale)

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