Traverse City Beer Week gives every day its own beer style, starting with pilsner and ending with stout. Fans can plan a visit around a single style. The week also includes a free passport that can lower what you pay at beer and cider stops across Northern Michigan.
The annual event celebrates Northern Michigan’s craft beer scene. Local breweries plan special releases and tastings for the week, along with other beer-focused events. The passport turns the week into a self-guided tour, so you choose your stops.
9 Days, 1 Style at a Time
Traverse City Beer Week runs for nine days this year, Nov. 6-14. Each day has a theme built around one beer style. Pilsner Party opens the week on Friday, Nov. 6, and Stout Showdown closes it on Saturday, Nov. 14.
The days in between cover lagers, blonde ales, brown and red ales, fruit and specialty beers, IPAs and porters. Blonde Moments falls on Sunday, Nov. 8, and Hop Harvest, the IPA day, follows on Thursday, Nov. 12.
What the Free Passport Gets You
The digital Beer Week passport is free to sign up for. It shows the participating locations and their special offers, and you earn points toward an exclusive Beer Week 2026 prize as you go.
The passport lists 28 stops so far, from breweries to cider makers. Sixteen of them post a special offer, while spots like The Little Fleet and Rare Bird Brewpub don’t list one yet. Here are four of the offers:
- North Peak Brewing Company gives a free soft pretzel and beer cheese sampler to visitors who stop in for Beer Week.
- Lake Ann Brewing Company hands out a free logo pint glass when you buy a full-size pour of beer, cider, mead or wine.
- Tandem Ciders knocks $3 off growler fills.
- Suttons Bay Ciders offers $1 off pints.
Harvest Season Around Traverse City
Fall is harvest season in Traverse City. Local orchards, farm stands and wineries show off the region’s crops, and apple picking is part of the season.
Modern Bird offers farm-to-table dining in a historic building on West Front Street. Chefs Andy Elliott and Emily Stewart run the seasonal American restaurant, and they cook with local produce. The restaurant serves supper Tuesday through Saturday.
Sign Up Before Pilsner Party
Sign up for the passport before Pilsner Party starts on Friday, Nov. 6. Check it again before you head out each day, because organizers are still adding locations. The Beer Week site also has a page of places to stay if you want to spread your stops over more than one night.