Since 2012, when Draft magazine named Traverse City one of Americas’ three “emerging beer towns” and the Travel Channel listed it among the Top Seven Beer Destinations in North America, the town’s beer scene has yet to slow down. Today it boasts nearly 20 craft breweries, brewpubs and taprooms, and Craftbeer.com calls it one of America’s “Five Beeriest Beach Towns.”
It’s all on display during the week of Nov. 10-17 at Traverse City Beer Week, a parade of tastings, dinners and festivals devoted to the area’s celebrated craft beer industry -- particularly the many microbreweries, brewpubs and craft beer taprooms in the Traverse City area.
But the beer itself is only half the story. We all know that the enjoyment of the beverage is influenced by the atmosphere of where it’s being served. Some people enjoy sampling at the brewpub with friends, some enjoy festivals with lots of music playing, and some (this being northern Michigan) prefer to sip their pints in the Great Outdoors. Fortunately, Traverse City Beer Week has venues and events to quench any thirsty beer aficionado.
The Imperial Beverage week-long celebration includes several events, each one developed jointly between brewers, restaurants and retailers to educate or offer insight into some aspect of the craft beer movement. Whether that be a special product or style of beer, a food-beer pairing experience or some other topic of interest, each year the lineup varies. This year’s events include the TC Ale Trail IPA Challenge, the TCBW Pub Crawl, the Flapjack and Flannel Festival, the Tour de Taco, the Great Beerd Run at Grand Traverse Resort and Spa, plus more events added to the mix every day. For a regularly updated list of TCBW festivities, check out traversecity.com/tcbw.
Traveling participants of Traverse City Beer Week are invited to save on their northern getaway with Traverse City Tourism’s Fab Fall Special. Book discounted lodging and score savings on downtown dining, entertainment and more through December 15 at fabfall.com.