Due to the ongoing uncertainty of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Detroit Fall Beer Festival, originally scheduled for Saturday, October 24 at Eastern Market and hosted by the Michigan Brewers Guild, is being cancelled. This is the fourth of five festivals that the Guild has had to cancel this year. The others include the inaugural Spring Beer Festival in Traverse City, Summer Beer Festival in Ypsilanti and the U.P. Fall Beer Festival in Marquette.
This continues to be a difficult time for everyone and your ongoing support of local breweries continues to be important. We encourage everyone to enjoy a pint at a local brewery in a safe and socially distanced manner, grab a growler to go, or pick up a six-pack from your local shop.
As a way to stay connected to Guild members (breweries, Enthusiasts and Allied) as well as the general public, the Guild is encouraging everyone to tune in to its weekly “Michigan’s Great Beer State Podcast” with The Beervangelist Fred Bueltmann (author of A Rising Tide – Stories from the Michigan Brewers Guild) and Scott Graham, for interviews with leaders in the state’s brewing industry. The digital version of the Guild’s 2020 annual magazine, “Michigan. The Great Beer State,” is also online (and available at member breweries statewide).
Given the cancellation now of four of its 2020 festivals, which each feature a VIP Enthusiast Hour, the Guild is extending all Enthusiast Membership expiration dates by six months, beginning with memberships that expired March 1 onward.
Formed in 1997, the Michigan Brewers Guild represents nearly 300 member breweries (a number that increases on a monthly basis). The Guild is a passionate beer community that believes in quality artisanship, bold character, fun, responsibility and pushing the boundaries. The mission of the Guild is to promote and protect the Michigan beer industry with an overarching goal to help locally brewed beer attain 20% of all beer sales in the state by 2025.
Michigan’s brewing industry contributes more than 21,000 full-time jobs and $872 million in labor income, with a total economic impact of over $2.5 billion. In terms of overall number of breweries, microbreweries and brewpubs, Michigan ranks #6 in the nation—supporting its title as “The Great Beer State.”