January 5, 2025 • 16 mins
On this episode, host Phil Tower welcomes Scott Graham, Executive Director of the Michigan Brewers Guild. Scott joined us for an update on the state of breweries and brewing in Michigan and to preview one of the biggest beer events in Michigan: the 19th Annual Winter Beer Festival presented by the Michigan Brewers Guild, on Saturday, February 22, from 1 to 6 p.m., LMCU Ballpark in Comstock Park.
Formed in 1997, the Michigan Brewers Guild held its first festival in July 1998. Today, it hosts four festivals dedicated exclusively to Michigan beer produced by its nearly 300 member breweries. Michigan is called “The Great Beer State” ranking #8 nationally for the *number of breweries(*Just over 400). The festival will feature hundreds of fresh, local beers from Michigan's finest breweries, plus local music, ice sculptures and carving demonstrations, fire pits to chase away the cold, and food available for purchase.
ABOUT THE MICHIGAN BREWERS GUILD
The Michigan Brewers Guild is a network of innovative and passionate brewers that serves as the recognized advocate for the Michigan beer industry. The Guild's mission is to promote and protect the Michigan beer industry, with an overarching goal of realizing continued share growth and assuring a healthy small business environment for breweries. Michigan’s thriving brewing industry contributes more than $1.8 billion in economic impact.
Online: THE MICHIGAN BREWERS GUILD
Formed in 1997, the Michigan Brewers Guild held its first festival in July 1998. Today, it hosts four festivals dedicated exclusively to Michigan beer produced by its nearly 300 member breweries. Michigan is called “The Great Beer State” ranking #8 nationally for the *number of breweries(*Just over 400). The festival will feature hundreds of fresh, local beers from Michigan's finest breweries, plus local music, ice sculptures and carving demonstrations, fire pits to chase away the cold, and food available for purchase.
ABOUT THE MICHIGAN BREWERS GUILD
The Michigan Brewers Guild is a network of innovative and passionate brewers that serves as the recognized advocate for the Michigan beer industry. The Guild's mission is to promote and protect the Michigan beer industry, with an overarching goal of realizing continued share growth and assuring a healthy small business environment for breweries. Michigan’s thriving brewing industry contributes more than $1.8 billion in economic impact.
Online: THE MICHIGAN BREWERS GUILD
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:02):
This is iHeartRadio's West Michigan Weekend. West Michigan Weekend is
a weekly program designed to inform and enlighten on a
wide range of public policy issues, as well as news
and current events. Now here's your host, Phil Tower.
Speaker 2 (00:16):
Hey, welcome in and happy New year to you. It's
West Michigan Weekend from iHeartRadio. I'm so glad you have
tuned in and I love being with you on this program,
also on our podcast. After you hear this conversation on
the radio or a podcast, you can get all four
hundred and sixty five or so of our episodes at
(00:37):
woodradio dot com in the podcast section on the left
side of the website. It is my pleasure in this
segment of West Michigan Weekend. Oh, I'm a little excited
because I get to talk beer. I'm pleased to welcome
Scott Graham. It's been a while since Scott's been on
the program with us, executive director of the Michigan Brewers Guild,
(00:58):
and you can learn more at amibeer dot com. I
think the easiest in my favorite website in the universe
of websites, amibeer dot com, and that is, of course
the website for the Michigan Brewers Association. Scott Graham, welcome
to the program.
Speaker 1 (01:19):
Welcome back.
Speaker 2 (01:20):
It's good to have you here.
Speaker 3 (01:21):
Well, happy New Year, dall. It's great to be back
with you and love talking about beer. It's fun and delicious.
Speaker 2 (01:30):
It is fun and delicious. It is a great companion
for just about any meal, including of course you've got
KBS for breakfast and just about any time of the day.
Scott Graham, let's talk. First of all, we're going to
talk about a lot of things. You've got your big
annual trade show coming up in just three days in
(01:53):
beautiful Kalamazoo, Michigan. And you've got really one of the
wonderful and biggest beer events in the state of Michigan
coming up in February, which is the Winter Beer Festival
here in Grand Rapids, which typically has sold out year
after year after year. First of all, Scott Graham, let's
(02:13):
talk about the state of beer in Michigan, if you will.
I mean this is you know, we're kind of known
as a great Beer State, not just the Great Lake State,
the great Beer State, over four hundred plus micro breweries.
Rather on your website, it's telling me we are eighth
in the country in terms of breweries, microbreweries, and brewpubs.
(02:34):
It's pretty hard to drive into any town and not
see a wonderful, locally owned micro brewery or brewpub.
Speaker 1 (02:45):
But how is the state of.
Speaker 2 (02:46):
Beer in early twenty twenty five? Let's look back at
twenty twenty four. Anybody in the restaurant business, it's a
challenging time because we had so much growth after COVID
and then you know, kind of a settling out. Is
that fair to say, Scott?
Speaker 3 (02:59):
Yeah, when you look at a fairly narrow window of
time like last year, the last couple of years, I
would say the industry is facing some headwinds and they
are certainly mixed pockets of success and challenges. Overall, I
remain optimistic. Like you said, there are about four hundred
(03:22):
breweries in the state. Most of them are small, kind
of neighborhood pub type breweries, and they're really fun places
to go. They rely on their local community, They're tied
to the community. They're gathering places, overwhelmingly family friendly, very
supportive of their communities, and unique and fun and have
(03:42):
lots of personality and are real I guess you could
call them mom and pop operations. That really depend on
local support. I mean, we've seen some challenges. Obviously, there
was a huge disruption during COVID and in the wake
of COVID, I think that there have been ongoing challenges
(04:02):
with increasing costs of labor and inputs, whether it's food
or beer, you know, maybe lingering challenges of debt or
other situations that are post COVID, and that you know,
we're definitely seeing some challenges. I don't think people's habits
have gone back to what they were, and I don't
(04:23):
think they're going to exactly. People go out differently, they
dining differently. You don't see people with as long of ours,
and maybe that's good. Everybody had to kind of look
at what was making sense and where they were making
money and maybe losing money and tune that in. You know,
we all know it's a little more expensive to go
out to eat. You know, these local places are fun
(04:46):
if they're great places to meet people. I can't tell
you how many friendships were made at a brewery. It's
just one of the great places to go and meet
new people or to meet your friends and gather and
enjoy a nice social beverage and be part of the
Michigan beer community.
Speaker 2 (05:04):
I'm so glad you said that. There is nothing better
sitting down in a broupop, just in a relaxed state
with friends or someone you're getting to know, could be
a business venture, and just sharing a local beer. It
is a social thing. And yeah, you can have a
beer without you know, having to buy a full meal.
(05:24):
But you're right, the disposable income dollar, that's something we're
all watching with kind of an uncertain year ahead of us,
but still there's something great with people who've had this
passion Scott Graham to say, you know, I think I
could do this. I've got some unique ideas for opening
(05:44):
my own micro brewery. We talked about this before we
started our program. You know, I were talking offline about
the collaborative aspect of people in your industry. The Michigan
Great Beer State Trade Show and Conference is one of
those places where it's just like a fraternity. I bet
(06:05):
you you've got some of the best friends you've ever
made in your life, Scott Graham, that you made through
through beer and the whole process of microbrewing.
Speaker 3 (06:13):
Oh yeah, there's no question about that. Many of my
closest relationships do revolve around my life in the industry,
and you were touching on something Phil before we get
into a little bit about what our annual conference and
trade show is. But you know, even though there are
a lot of breweries, more breweries than at any time
in the history of the country or in the history
(06:35):
of our state, including before prohibition, there's still opportunity out there.
And yes, things are challenging, but when you look at
the overall industry, you know, not everybody has learned the
thrill of having a beer at a local brewery. And
when I look at the overall business and see that,
you know, under ten percent of all the beer sold
(06:56):
and consumed in Michigan is actually brewed here. You know,
I've long said that I think that that number could
easily get to twenty percent in time, and that would
be a doubling of the volume of beer. If you
think about, you know, small local pub breweries, there's opportunity
for more of those. It may seem like there are
(07:17):
a lot, but I think you know, a well operated
pub in the right location, there's still a lot of
opportunity for that. So I'm you know, even though maybe
challenging times now, I'm very optimistic for the long term
success of the industry and continued growth. It may not
be twenty percent and seventeen percent every year, but that
(07:38):
that is not normal industry. That is not normal business.
You know, as we get twenty thirty years into this
sub segment and re emergence of local breweries, I think
that it makes sense where we are. And yeah, you
mentioned our industry being collaborative. There aren't a lot of
industries where would be competitors will just help each other.
(08:00):
They'll share ingredients, they'll share what you might think our
trade secrets. There are very few of those happy to share.
And one of the greatest opportunities that we have throughout
the year is our annual conference where we get together
and nobody's working on putting the festival together. Everybody's there
to learn something, to have a beer, to experience each
(08:22):
other's company, hopefully to meet somebody new. It's a great
opportunity for somebody who's newer in the industry to get
to know some other folks and develop those resources. There
really can be a treasure chest of opportunity to learn
more about your craft and have help with a problem
or somebody to turn to if you have a question.
Speaker 2 (08:44):
And if you are looking at potentially starting your own
micro brewery in twenty twenty five or in twenty twenty six,
that is a great place to do it. At your
annual Great Beer State Trade Show and Conference, happening January
eighth through tenth in Kalamazoo, you actually have a day
(09:07):
Scott Graham Wednesday set aside for startups and people, yeah,
looking to learn more about the industry.
Speaker 3 (09:15):
It's really cool. I'm very enthused about this, and it's
new for us this year. Our conference and trades show
have long been really focused on the industry. They're open
to anybody, but it's been more about people from in
the industry, both in Michigan and nearby states. We get
people from other states, We invite speakers in from other places.
(09:38):
But we've talked a lot in recent years about, you know,
the fact that there are a lot of breweries out
there that are quite small, relatively new, and we continue
to try and focus content or create content that's relevant,
relevant for them, something they can take back to their
brewery and make a difference with. And this year we
took the first day at the conference, which has trad
(10:00):
been really focused on the trade show, and said, well,
why don't we expand that and make a day available
to somebody who is a very new brewery and just
get kind of getting going, or somebody who's looking at
getting into the industry, and have some content that's focused
directly for them, so you know, some basic but important
sessions of information. Followed by our we annually have a
(10:24):
sensory evaluation workshop that focus on some aspect of sensory evaluation,
very important for any brewer. And then we have our
trade show that has vendors that sell goods and services
to the brewing industry, which is really valuable. They're great
people to talk to in a lot of cases. They
have years and years of experience that could help you
(10:46):
solve a problem figure something out of Sure, they want
to sell you their goods and services, but there's an
amazing amount of experience and resource amongst those vendors and
those other businesses.
Speaker 2 (10:58):
Scott Graham is this here on West Michigan Weekend. Scott
is executive director of Michigan Brewers Guild. Amibeer dot com
is where you can learn more about the annual Great
Beer State Conference and trade Show, and you can find
out more about the nineteenth annual Winter Beer Festival at
LMCU Ballpark here in Grand Rapids, Michigan, Scott, You're going
(11:20):
to have to come back so we can do a
whole other show on the sensory evaluation, which I'm assuming
has more to do than just smelling the notes on
a micro brew. It has to do with taste and
just multiple senses. I'm fascinated by that. But before we
run out of time, we've got about three and a
half four minutes left, let's focus on the kind of
(11:42):
one of the biggest and most exciting beer events in
the state of Michigan, the Winter Beer Festival at LMCU Ballpark.
It is a party, and it's a wonderful time to
get together with friends, and it's the biggest beer event,
one of the biggest beer events at downstate Michigan. For
(12:03):
the uninitiated, what is so great about the Winter Beer
Festival on February twenty second, twenty twenty five.
Speaker 3 (12:10):
Oh my gosh, it's just such a fun time. Whether
you're somebody who's been going to local breweries and drinking
local beer for many years, breweries, there will be breweries
that maybe are from farther away or newer that you
haven't had a chance to get to the breweries that
you know often bring special things. If you're somebody who's
(12:31):
kind of heard about the breweries in town or the
brewery down the street, but really haven't checked it out,
it's a great opportunity for those There are so many
different beers. We'll have nearly one hundred breweries, hundreds of
different beers, and there are lighter beers, darker beers, happy beers,
sweet beers, fruity beers, sour beers. You know, there's really
something for everybody, and there's no better opportunity than to
(12:55):
just taste a couple ounces at a time to share
with your friends. And the people watching is pretty good too.
You know, it's a really diverse crowd of yes people
having a good time, and really the people are what
make it. You know, it's a great, big beer party.
The primary entertainment is beer, but it's not a sloppy mess.
(13:17):
People are friendly, they're smiling, they're just excited to be
actually outside in February, which is another unique thing. It's outside,
it's cold, but the beer warms your soul.
Speaker 2 (13:30):
Yeah, and there's live music and there's just all kinds
of things. Tickets available at mibeer dot com all the
details you need. It goes from one to six pm
on Saturday, February twenty second, in just as you said,
a great opportunity try some beers you've probably never had before.
It's a I love your poster for this year too.
(13:53):
You can download the festival poster. It's got a polar
bear ice fishing. That's all you need to know. You know,
Michigan winners a little iffy. Scott Graham will probably be
cold on February twenty second, but either way you're gonna
throw a party. There's not much that can close this
thing down.
Speaker 3 (14:12):
Yeah, we'll be there, rain, snow or shine.
Speaker 2 (14:15):
Yeah, indeed. Am Mybeer dot com is where you can
get tickets. And this does traditionally sell out on an
annual basis, right Scott.
Speaker 3 (14:25):
Well, it has really in recent years. We haven't sold
out in advance, maybe sold out including day of, but
I'm sure this year that they're gonna be tickets available
right up until the day of the event. Will probably
be selling them at the gate. They are cheaper before
the day of, they go up ten dollars in price.
But I encourage everybody to get together with your friends
(14:48):
and make a plan, go online like you mentioned miibeer
dot com and check out the details and get tickets.
But and I'm really glad that it's not selling out.
You know when we were selling out really fast. Well,
that's great, and I loved that. We never want to
have exclusive events or events that you can't get a
(15:09):
ticket to. We want to promote it and expose everybody.
So for a few years we added the Friday session
so that there was more access, and it's really kind
of nice that it's backed off a little bit from that.
It's still thousands of people, big busy time, but it's
comfortable and yeah, it's really a great winter event.
Speaker 2 (15:30):
It sure is, and you can be a part of
it againmibeer dot com. Scott Graham, executive director, Michigan Brewers
Guild with us on this segment of West Michigan Weekend. Scott,
always have fun, always enjoy speaking with you. Thanks so much,
and hopefully we'll see you in February twenty second.
Speaker 3 (15:46):
Okay, yeah, thanks Phil, I really appreciate being on and
all the best for a great and successful twenty twenty five.
Cheers to that.
Speaker 2 (15:54):
Cheers to that. Scott Graham, executive director, Michigan Brewers Guild
with us in this segment of West Michigan Weekend.
Speaker 1 (16:00):
You've been listening to iHeartRadio's West Michigan Weekend. West Michigan
Weekend is a production of Wood Radio and iHeartRadio.
This is iHeartRadio's West Michigan Weekend. West Michigan Weekend is
a weekly program designed to inform and enlighten on a
wide range of public policy issues, as well as news
and current events. Now here's your host, Phil Tower.
Speaker 2 (00:16):
Hey, welcome in and happy New year to you. It's
West Michigan Weekend from iHeartRadio. I'm so glad you have
tuned in and I love being with you on this program,
also on our podcast. After you hear this conversation on
the radio or a podcast, you can get all four
hundred and sixty five or so of our episodes at
(00:37):
woodradio dot com in the podcast section on the left
side of the website. It is my pleasure in this
segment of West Michigan Weekend. Oh, I'm a little excited
because I get to talk beer. I'm pleased to welcome
Scott Graham. It's been a while since Scott's been on
the program with us, executive director of the Michigan Brewers Guild,
(00:58):
and you can learn more at amibeer dot com. I
think the easiest in my favorite website in the universe
of websites, amibeer dot com, and that is, of course
the website for the Michigan Brewers Association. Scott Graham, welcome
to the program.
Speaker 1 (01:19):
Welcome back.
Speaker 2 (01:20):
It's good to have you here.
Speaker 3 (01:21):
Well, happy New Year, dall. It's great to be back
with you and love talking about beer. It's fun and delicious.
Speaker 2 (01:30):
It is fun and delicious. It is a great companion
for just about any meal, including of course you've got
KBS for breakfast and just about any time of the day.
Scott Graham, let's talk. First of all, we're going to
talk about a lot of things. You've got your big
annual trade show coming up in just three days in
(01:53):
beautiful Kalamazoo, Michigan. And you've got really one of the
wonderful and biggest beer events in the state of Michigan
coming up in February, which is the Winter Beer Festival
here in Grand Rapids, which typically has sold out year
after year after year. First of all, Scott Graham, let's
(02:13):
talk about the state of beer in Michigan, if you will.
I mean this is you know, we're kind of known
as a great Beer State, not just the Great Lake State,
the great Beer State, over four hundred plus micro breweries.
Rather on your website, it's telling me we are eighth
in the country in terms of breweries, microbreweries, and brewpubs.
(02:34):
It's pretty hard to drive into any town and not
see a wonderful, locally owned micro brewery or brewpub.
Speaker 1 (02:45):
But how is the state of.
Speaker 2 (02:46):
Beer in early twenty twenty five? Let's look back at
twenty twenty four. Anybody in the restaurant business, it's a
challenging time because we had so much growth after COVID
and then you know, kind of a settling out. Is
that fair to say, Scott?
Speaker 3 (02:59):
Yeah, when you look at a fairly narrow window of
time like last year, the last couple of years, I
would say the industry is facing some headwinds and they
are certainly mixed pockets of success and challenges. Overall, I
remain optimistic. Like you said, there are about four hundred
(03:22):
breweries in the state. Most of them are small, kind
of neighborhood pub type breweries, and they're really fun places
to go. They rely on their local community, They're tied
to the community. They're gathering places, overwhelmingly family friendly, very
supportive of their communities, and unique and fun and have
(03:42):
lots of personality and are real I guess you could
call them mom and pop operations. That really depend on
local support. I mean, we've seen some challenges. Obviously, there
was a huge disruption during COVID and in the wake
of COVID, I think that there have been ongoing challenges
(04:02):
with increasing costs of labor and inputs, whether it's food
or beer, you know, maybe lingering challenges of debt or
other situations that are post COVID, and that you know,
we're definitely seeing some challenges. I don't think people's habits
have gone back to what they were, and I don't
(04:23):
think they're going to exactly. People go out differently, they
dining differently. You don't see people with as long of ours,
and maybe that's good. Everybody had to kind of look
at what was making sense and where they were making
money and maybe losing money and tune that in. You know,
we all know it's a little more expensive to go
out to eat. You know, these local places are fun
(04:46):
if they're great places to meet people. I can't tell
you how many friendships were made at a brewery. It's
just one of the great places to go and meet
new people or to meet your friends and gather and
enjoy a nice social beverage and be part of the
Michigan beer community.
Speaker 2 (05:04):
I'm so glad you said that. There is nothing better
sitting down in a broupop, just in a relaxed state
with friends or someone you're getting to know, could be
a business venture, and just sharing a local beer. It
is a social thing. And yeah, you can have a
beer without you know, having to buy a full meal.
(05:24):
But you're right, the disposable income dollar, that's something we're
all watching with kind of an uncertain year ahead of us,
but still there's something great with people who've had this
passion Scott Graham to say, you know, I think I
could do this. I've got some unique ideas for opening
(05:44):
my own micro brewery. We talked about this before we
started our program. You know, I were talking offline about
the collaborative aspect of people in your industry. The Michigan
Great Beer State Trade Show and Conference is one of
those places where it's just like a fraternity. I bet
(06:05):
you you've got some of the best friends you've ever
made in your life, Scott Graham, that you made through
through beer and the whole process of microbrewing.
Speaker 3 (06:13):
Oh yeah, there's no question about that. Many of my
closest relationships do revolve around my life in the industry,
and you were touching on something Phil before we get
into a little bit about what our annual conference and
trade show is. But you know, even though there are
a lot of breweries, more breweries than at any time
in the history of the country or in the history
(06:35):
of our state, including before prohibition, there's still opportunity out there.
And yes, things are challenging, but when you look at
the overall industry, you know, not everybody has learned the
thrill of having a beer at a local brewery. And
when I look at the overall business and see that,
you know, under ten percent of all the beer sold
(06:56):
and consumed in Michigan is actually brewed here. You know,
I've long said that I think that that number could
easily get to twenty percent in time, and that would
be a doubling of the volume of beer. If you
think about, you know, small local pub breweries, there's opportunity
for more of those. It may seem like there are
(07:17):
a lot, but I think you know, a well operated
pub in the right location, there's still a lot of
opportunity for that. So I'm you know, even though maybe
challenging times now, I'm very optimistic for the long term
success of the industry and continued growth. It may not
be twenty percent and seventeen percent every year, but that
(07:38):
that is not normal industry. That is not normal business.
You know, as we get twenty thirty years into this
sub segment and re emergence of local breweries, I think
that it makes sense where we are. And yeah, you
mentioned our industry being collaborative. There aren't a lot of
industries where would be competitors will just help each other.
(08:00):
They'll share ingredients, they'll share what you might think our
trade secrets. There are very few of those happy to share.
And one of the greatest opportunities that we have throughout
the year is our annual conference where we get together
and nobody's working on putting the festival together. Everybody's there
to learn something, to have a beer, to experience each
(08:22):
other's company, hopefully to meet somebody new. It's a great
opportunity for somebody who's newer in the industry to get
to know some other folks and develop those resources. There
really can be a treasure chest of opportunity to learn
more about your craft and have help with a problem
or somebody to turn to if you have a question.
Speaker 2 (08:44):
And if you are looking at potentially starting your own
micro brewery in twenty twenty five or in twenty twenty six,
that is a great place to do it. At your
annual Great Beer State Trade Show and Conference, happening January
eighth through tenth in Kalamazoo, you actually have a day
(09:07):
Scott Graham Wednesday set aside for startups and people, yeah,
looking to learn more about the industry.
Speaker 3 (09:15):
It's really cool. I'm very enthused about this, and it's
new for us this year. Our conference and trades show
have long been really focused on the industry. They're open
to anybody, but it's been more about people from in
the industry, both in Michigan and nearby states. We get
people from other states, We invite speakers in from other places.
(09:38):
But we've talked a lot in recent years about, you know,
the fact that there are a lot of breweries out
there that are quite small, relatively new, and we continue
to try and focus content or create content that's relevant,
relevant for them, something they can take back to their
brewery and make a difference with. And this year we
took the first day at the conference, which has trad
(10:00):
been really focused on the trade show, and said, well,
why don't we expand that and make a day available
to somebody who is a very new brewery and just
get kind of getting going, or somebody who's looking at
getting into the industry, and have some content that's focused
directly for them, so you know, some basic but important
sessions of information. Followed by our we annually have a
(10:24):
sensory evaluation workshop that focus on some aspect of sensory evaluation,
very important for any brewer. And then we have our
trade show that has vendors that sell goods and services
to the brewing industry, which is really valuable. They're great
people to talk to in a lot of cases. They
have years and years of experience that could help you
(10:46):
solve a problem figure something out of Sure, they want
to sell you their goods and services, but there's an
amazing amount of experience and resource amongst those vendors and
those other businesses.
Speaker 2 (10:58):
Scott Graham is this here on West Michigan Weekend. Scott
is executive director of Michigan Brewers Guild. Amibeer dot com
is where you can learn more about the annual Great
Beer State Conference and trade Show, and you can find
out more about the nineteenth annual Winter Beer Festival at
LMCU Ballpark here in Grand Rapids, Michigan, Scott, You're going
(11:20):
to have to come back so we can do a
whole other show on the sensory evaluation, which I'm assuming
has more to do than just smelling the notes on
a micro brew. It has to do with taste and
just multiple senses. I'm fascinated by that. But before we
run out of time, we've got about three and a
half four minutes left, let's focus on the kind of
(11:42):
one of the biggest and most exciting beer events in
the state of Michigan, the Winter Beer Festival at LMCU Ballpark.
It is a party, and it's a wonderful time to
get together with friends, and it's the biggest beer event,
one of the biggest beer events at downstate Michigan. For
(12:03):
the uninitiated, what is so great about the Winter Beer
Festival on February twenty second, twenty twenty five.
Speaker 3 (12:10):
Oh my gosh, it's just such a fun time. Whether
you're somebody who's been going to local breweries and drinking
local beer for many years, breweries, there will be breweries
that maybe are from farther away or newer that you
haven't had a chance to get to the breweries that
you know often bring special things. If you're somebody who's
(12:31):
kind of heard about the breweries in town or the
brewery down the street, but really haven't checked it out,
it's a great opportunity for those There are so many
different beers. We'll have nearly one hundred breweries, hundreds of
different beers, and there are lighter beers, darker beers, happy beers,
sweet beers, fruity beers, sour beers. You know, there's really
something for everybody, and there's no better opportunity than to
(12:55):
just taste a couple ounces at a time to share
with your friends. And the people watching is pretty good too.
You know, it's a really diverse crowd of yes people
having a good time, and really the people are what
make it. You know, it's a great, big beer party.
The primary entertainment is beer, but it's not a sloppy mess.
(13:17):
People are friendly, they're smiling, they're just excited to be
actually outside in February, which is another unique thing. It's outside,
it's cold, but the beer warms your soul.
Speaker 2 (13:30):
Yeah, and there's live music and there's just all kinds
of things. Tickets available at mibeer dot com all the
details you need. It goes from one to six pm
on Saturday, February twenty second, in just as you said,
a great opportunity try some beers you've probably never had before.
It's a I love your poster for this year too.
(13:53):
You can download the festival poster. It's got a polar
bear ice fishing. That's all you need to know. You know,
Michigan winners a little iffy. Scott Graham will probably be
cold on February twenty second, but either way you're gonna
throw a party. There's not much that can close this
thing down.
Speaker 3 (14:12):
Yeah, we'll be there, rain, snow or shine.
Speaker 2 (14:15):
Yeah, indeed. Am Mybeer dot com is where you can
get tickets. And this does traditionally sell out on an
annual basis, right Scott.
Speaker 3 (14:25):
Well, it has really in recent years. We haven't sold
out in advance, maybe sold out including day of, but
I'm sure this year that they're gonna be tickets available
right up until the day of the event. Will probably
be selling them at the gate. They are cheaper before
the day of, they go up ten dollars in price.
But I encourage everybody to get together with your friends
(14:48):
and make a plan, go online like you mentioned miibeer
dot com and check out the details and get tickets.
But and I'm really glad that it's not selling out.
You know when we were selling out really fast. Well,
that's great, and I loved that. We never want to
have exclusive events or events that you can't get a
(15:09):
ticket to. We want to promote it and expose everybody.
So for a few years we added the Friday session
so that there was more access, and it's really kind
of nice that it's backed off a little bit from that.
It's still thousands of people, big busy time, but it's
comfortable and yeah, it's really a great winter event.
Speaker 2 (15:30):
It sure is, and you can be a part of
it againmibeer dot com. Scott Graham, executive director, Michigan Brewers
Guild with us on this segment of West Michigan Weekend. Scott,
always have fun, always enjoy speaking with you. Thanks so much,
and hopefully we'll see you in February twenty second.
Speaker 3 (15:46):
Okay, yeah, thanks Phil, I really appreciate being on and
all the best for a great and successful twenty twenty five.
Cheers to that.
Speaker 2 (15:54):
Cheers to that. Scott Graham, executive director, Michigan Brewers Guild
with us in this segment of West Michigan Weekend.
Speaker 1 (16:00):
You've been listening to iHeartRadio's West Michigan Weekend. West Michigan
Weekend is a production of Wood Radio and iHeartRadio.
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