Craft beer pioneer Bell's Brewery Inc. plans to pump more than $7 million into capital improvement projects in southern Michigan between now and the end of 2018.

Company officials said the projects are related to quality, sustainability and beer production. They'll involve Bell's locations in Comstock Township and its Kalamazoo brewing operations.

Company officials said the investment will include the addition of a pilot brewery and a new specialty packaging line, among other production-related projects, at Bell's brewery in Comstock Township.

"We are deeply committed to our community in Comstock and will continue to invest additional resources so that we remain top in class further ensuring our commitment to quality," Bell's President and Founder Larry Bell said in a statement. "We also want to offer our partners and customers additional options. These new projects will help us accomplish both."

A smaller pilot brewery will be added to Bell's original brewing location in downtown Kalamazoo.

Company officials also plan to create additional space at the brewery's headquarters and begin a project to divert waste related to brewing.

"Sustainability happens in a lot of different ways, whether it's departmental, ownership, but then also on the environmental front," Bell said. "We take our wastewater now and turn it into biogas to power the brewery out in Comstock. We still have some solid (waste). This is going to allow us to remove some more solid from the waste stream and we think that's a good thing."