Beer enthusiasts are anxiously waiting for the end of February. It will be the 16th Annual Winter Beer Festival.

I remember when this event was first getting started. I remember asking myself: "Who is going to stand around in the cold and snowy weather in a ballpark parking lot and drink cold beer?" Apparently the answer is thousands of people who love good beer in Michigan -- including me!

Years later, I remember running into Scott Lane, who was at the time the general manager of the West Michigan Whitecaps. He told me he had many inquiries from people in other states that were interested in the details on just how this outdoor winter event was so successful. (I've also had friends from out of state plan their vacation to Michigan the end of February -- just so they could attend the Winter Beer Fest!)

This year the Michigan Brewers Guild Winter Beer Festival will be on Saturday, February 26th, 2022 from 1-6 pm (Beer Enthusiast members have early admission beginning at noon.) The event takes place in the parking lot of LMCU Ballpark in Comstock Park.

The weather is always an uncertainty, but beer lovers make the best of it. I have been to Winter Beer Festivals in the past with blizzard like conditions, rain, sun, clouds, wind and just about every other weather condition that is possible the end of February in Michigan. Grab several layers, a funny hat, gloves or mittens, a pretzel necklace and head to the ballpark.

What a great time and place to sample some of the best beer in the area. Looking over the list of current breweries and beers who will be at this year's event you will find almost 120 breweries presenting over 700 unique beers in over 90 styles! WOW!!!

Along with great beer, there is also local music, performers, ice sculptures and carving demonstrations, food for purchase, and fire pits that everyone likes to gather around to stay warm while enjoying some great cold beer.

Tickets for the event are on sale now. Tickets are $55 per person. Attendees must be 21+ years of age with valid ID. Click here to purchase tickets.

You can find more information about the Winter Beer Festival on the Michigan Brewers Guild website.

Here is a look back at the Winter Beer Festival in 2017...

 

 

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To find the best beer in each state and Washington D.C., Stacker analyzed January 2020 data from BeerAdvocate, a website that gathers user scores for beer in real-time. BeerAdvocate makes its determinations by compiling consumer ratings for all 50 states and Washington D.C. and applying a weighted rank to each. The weighted rank pulls the beer toward the list's average based on the number of ratings it has and aims to allow lesser-known beers to increase in rank. Only beers with at least 10 rankings to be considered; we took it a step further to only include beers with at least 100 user rankings in our gallery. Keep reading to find out what the best beer is in each of the 50 states and Washington D.C.

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