Over 5,000 Michigan beer fans braved the cold weather, snow, and long lines to sample some of the best beer this state has to offer. Unfortunately, I wasn’t one of them. Despite reading early warnings that tickets were nearly sold out, I still was too slow to take action back in January and get a ticket before they were all gone—a mistake I will not make again.
Some patrons left days early and made full-blown beer vacations out of the festival, others went up a day before and enjoyed some of the local bars and breweries before the festival, and others rode in on drunk buses the day of the event. Certainly all had an enjoyable time in Grand Rapids.
Meanwhile, I was back in southeastern Michigan having fun, despite missing out on one of the most preeminent annual celebrations of Michigan beer, by brewing a Cherry Porter, inspired by Short’s Brewing’s Black Cherry Porter. As the day rolled on I read Twitter updates from fellow Michigan beer aficionados, reminding me of the fun time I was missing, and more recently reading your summaries and rundowns of the recent beer festival. All of this made me sure of one thing—I’ll be buying my ticket early next year!
Check out some of these posts below to read all about the festival; they’ll either remind you of the fun time you had in Grand Rapids, or if you missed it like me, you’ll be convinced to go next year:
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