Preview of Steinspark before grand opening

PORTAGE, MI -- The Kalamazoo area is known for its wide variety of beer, and a new outdoor biergarten aims to add several new imported tastes to the mix.

Steinspark, 2603 E. Milham Ave. in Portage, is scheduled to open Friday, Sept. 16.

“I’ve always wanted to do something like this,” owner Norbert Gimmler told MLive/Kalamazoo Gazette this week. “It’s my retirement project. I’ve rested enough, so now I bust my behind for six months, and then I get to goof off during the winter months.”

Gimmler has been working throughout the summer to transform the once-wooded outdoor site in preparation for the opening of the seasonal business at 5 p.m. Friday. Some trees remain at the site, providing shade.

Steinspark features several unconnected buildings -- one where people can come to get food, and another dedicated to beer service. There is also a building for restrooms, and various seating areas where more than 200 people can hang out.

“This is the beer bar,” Gimmler said with a German accent while standing behind the counter inside the small building dedicated to serving draft beer. Staff will clear empty glasses from the space and bring them to the beer bar to be washed in a dishwasher housed next to the taps.

On tap, Steinspark will initially offer several draft beers imported from Germany: Bitburger Pilsner, Hofbräuhaus Dunkel, Hofbräuhaus Oktoberfest, and Gaffel Kolsch. Bell’s Brewery Two Hearted and Oberon will also be on tap to start, he said. They will also have some bottled beer, he said, noting that traditional wheat beer from Germany generally comes in bottles, so that they produce a bigger head.

“In Germany, wheat beer is always served from a bottle,” he said.

The venue will be open during the warm weather season only, from May to October or early November each year. The business hours are set for 3 p.m. to 10 p.m. to start, Tuesday through Sunday, he said, and it will close on certain days if there is heavy rain due to the customers walking outside from building to building.

For opening weekend, Steinspark is scheduled to be open from 5 p.m. to 10 p.m. Friday and Saturday, and noon to 8 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 18, the business posted on Instagram.

The biergarten is based on more of a general German feel, Gimmler said, and the business will transition to more of a Bavarian theme around the time of Oktoberfest.

The bar is planning an Oktoberfest celebration on Oct. 21, complete with a large wooden keg that will be filled with Two Hearted Ale from Bell’s and tapped in the traditional way, Gimmler said.

“We’ll put a big tent in the parking lot, 40 by 100 feet, and I booked a 35-member German brass band, Ein Prosit,” Gimmler said.

The band is named after a famous German song, he said, singing it at the site this week preparing for the opening.

“Ein Prosit, Ein Prosit, Der Gemütlichkeit,” he sang. It is a song and phrase used to cheer while drinking.

The band is set to play from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. on Oct. 21, and the tent will be open for the night, Gimmler said. Blue and white Bavarian flags will be out as they celebrate Oktoberfest, he said.

An 18-foot by 18-foot dance floor will be used for weekly line dancing on Thursdays, he said.

Food selections are described as German street food, he said. Menu items include Gimmler’s recipe bratwurst, schnitzel, jägerschnitzel (a thin, breaded pork cutlet with mushroom cream sauce), fries, German egg noodles, Bavarian soft pretzels, and more. He has also invited food trucks to serve at the site, he said.

Gimmler, who was born in Germany and lived about four kilometers from the metal fence that marked the former border with East Germany, said he wants the biergarten to be a social place where people can stay as long as they want and meet new and old friends.

Gimmler worked at Nabisco in New Jersey before coming to the Kalamazoo area about 23 years ago, working for The Kellogg Company as a food process engineer and retiring in 2018, he said.

Short’s Brewing brings back fall IPA made with all Michigan ingredients

Fire chief, other department leader terminated in Kalamazoo Township

Factory ‘working out kinks’ excluded from drone search for toxic chemicals in Kalamazoo

Note to readers: if you purchase something through one of our affiliate links we may earn a commission.

Registration on or use of this site constitutes acceptance of our User Agreement, Privacy Policy and Cookie Statement, and Your California Privacy Rights (User Agreement updated 1/1/21. Privacy Policy and Cookie Statement updated 7/1/2022).

© 2022 Advance Local Media LLC. All rights reserved (About Us). The material on this site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used, except with the prior written permission of Advance Local.

Community Rules apply to all content you upload or otherwise submit to this site.