Don't Call it a Comeback...

By Chuck Sudo in Food on Nov 8, 2007 3:14PM

Bell's beer fans don't start celebrating just yet, but Larry Bell himself weighed in on the Beer Advocate forums yesterday about a possible return to Chicago.

"Bell's continues to work on a way to return to Illinois... I have had discussions with other wholesalers and there is a possibility that we would return, but not with any brand we currently produce... Chicago is my home town and I would love to sell beer there again. It IS being worked on, so please be patient."

So what does this mean? If a search of permit applications at the Treasury Department's Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau is any indication it means that, if all things go well, come December we'll be seeing "Kalamazoo IPA", "Kalamazoo Porter" and "Kalamazoo Royal Amber Ale" (with the caveat "Brewed and bottled by Bell's Brewery" on the label) on shelves in limited areas of the city. In the Beer Advocate thread, Bell still stressed that National Wine and Spirits, which still holds on to their distribution rights after Bell's pulled out of Illinois last year, plans to sue Bell's and any new wholesaler upon point of re-entry, so this is far from a done deal.