In
just a couple of days, craft brewers, restaurants, bars, and beer lovers will unite for the first ever
Traverse City Beer Week.
From Nov. 8 to 15, various specially coordinated events, like beer and food pairings, will take place throughout the area, allowing for those who create beer to interact in person with those who love the beer, says Anne Drummond, director of marketing and public relations for
Imperial Beverage.
To
understand how the inaugural Traverse City Beer Week came about, we have to step back three years when Imperial Beverage decided to first start the
Kalamazoo Beer Week.
In 2009 Imperial Beverage had been awarded the Craft Beer Distributor of the Year Award at the
Great American Beer Festival in Denver. Following the festival, the distributor sat down to see how they could engage the community further in the craft beer scene. Being headquartered in Kalamazoo, they chose to begin with a craft beer week there. They began small in January 2010 and it has grown quickly each year since.
"It became obvious to us that the community was behind us," Drummond says.
After
realizing the potential that was gaining behind Kalamazoo Beer Week and now understanding better how to coordinate such an effort, Imperial began looking around the state to see where they could create another craft beer week.
"Traverse City topped our list--they have a tremendous craft beer community," Drummond says. "It was intuitive that we would then make Traverse City the first place that we branched out."
Not only does Traverse City have a great craft beer community, they also have great food, restaurants, and bars, says Drummond, all ingredients for a perfect beer week. Imperial partnered with
Traverse City Tourism and a new beer week was born.
Since choosing Traverse City as the location for a craft beer week, Drummond has been busy getting the word out about the event, encouraging businesses to participate and by putting the truth out for people who may have misconceptions of what a beer week is.
"It is not 3,000 people crammed underneath a tent with people getting tickets...Traverse City Beer Week is intended to be hosted by restaurants, bars, and retail locations, independently owned and operated, that really represent a craft beer segment and already do a great job," she says.
Say you have a favorite craft beer or fall in love with a new one during beer week. The beauty of these events is that you can actually meet many of these brewers, talk to them, and hear why they chose the flavors they used, why they selected a certain type of hops, or what food tastes best with their beer. You can hear it all from the mouths of the creators.
Whether you are a homebrewer looking to expand your knowledge base or a casual beer drinker who wants to try new things, the upcoming Traverse City Beer Week is probably something you will want to check out.
Drummond expects the beer week to be successful, adding that a sense of adventure and excitement of trying new things like seasonal and limited edition brews, and the idea of buying local helps drive craft beer consumption.
"Like everything that is hand crafted, there is something special about it," says Drummond
.
The
big challenge of planning this week-long event? That the events held throughout the week will be more fun than can be described, she says.
For example, Workshop Brewing Company's event will include one IPA, but made with different hops. It will essentially be the same beer poured four different ways
.
"It's a neat way to compare and contrast,' Drummond says.
There will also be an event where beers will be paired with chocolate as well as an event where they will be paired with food trucks--not two things most people usually associate with beer
.
Drummond is personally most looking forward to the kickoff night pub crawl, where participants will make their way through six different locations where they can purchase a different beer on draft and get a passport punched by the bartender. Once their card is fully punched, attendees will each get a beer week t-shirt.
To view the list of beer week events, check out their
website. To stay up to date on this year's events you can also follow them on
Twitter with
#TCBW2013 or check out their
Facebook page.
Julia Woehrer is a freelance writer, photographer and Internet content manager. She attended the School of Art and Design at Northern Michigan University where she concentrated in photography and minored in journalism. She volunteers at a local no-kill cat shelter and enjoys spending time with her cats, Bella and Macy.