Michigan has been a force to be reckoned with in the craft beer boom, so it’s no surprise they’ve dedicated an entire week this month to craft beer. Since Monday, September 1st, the state has been celebrating the sixth annual Upper Peninsula Craft Beer Week.
Organized by A Pint Above, a nonprofit who mission is to promote and increase awareness of Michigan craft beer in the Upper Peninsula, this celebration features over 25 events that highlight the great brews that Michigan has to offer. Throughout the week, Upper Peninsula residents have been enjoying brewery tours, food specials, drink specials, tastings, and other fun events. But those events all lead up to one thing: the Michigan Brewers Guild U.P. Fall Beer Festival, happening today, September 6th, from 1pm to 6pm in Marquette at the Lower Harbor Park.
Tickets are $40 at the gate today if you didn’t buy them ahead of time and they give you access to over 400 locally crafted beers from 60 Michigan breweries. You are given beer 15 tokens and you can exchange 1 token for a 3 oz. sample and 2 tokens for a 6 oz. pour. Additional tokens are available for purchase and they’re use to make sure the festival complies with Michigan Liquor Control Commission regulations.
There’s great local food available for purchase from Stucko’s Mobile Grill, The Rubaiyat Falafel, and Fresh Whitefish from the Gordon’s. As for entertainment, from 1-3pm you can see State 51, 4-6pm is Frank and Da Beans, and Green Gene the singing farmer will be roaming around the festival all day. Also, if you care about the environment, the festival is managed with a “zero waste” to landfill mentality and at disposal stations you have the options for compost, recycle, or landfill.
Need a designated driver? The festival also sells tickets to DDs for only $5, so there’s no reason why you can’t convince a good friend of yours to come along and take one for the team.
If you are a Michigan Brewers Guild Enthusiast member you are also eligible for VIP admission, which means you can use the VIP fast line and enter the festival one hour before general admission people are allowed in. Just bring you valid membership card and drink up!