No matter who emerges victorious in the 2023 Battle of the Breweries, you can be a winner – by checking in to eight local breweries and earning a free Beer City Brewsader® t-shirt.
More than 22,000 beer lovers from Grand Rapids and around the world have become Brewsaders since the program began. You can join them by downloading the Brewsader app at ExperienceGR.com/Brewsader and using it to check in to eight of the 40+ participating breweries in and around Grand Rapids.
Once you do, the app will prompt you to claim your prize: the coveted Beer City Brewsader title and the exclusive t-shirt that comes with it. The t-shirt is not available through any other means, so it’s a true collectible. It also serves as a verification of your discerning palate – because everyone knows Grand Rapids beer is the best beer.
After all, Grand Rapids has held the Beer City USA title for more than 10 years now. USA Today named us America’s Best Beer City in 2021, 2022 and 2023, and the country’s Best Beer Town and Best Beer Scene in earlier years. Travel+Leisure proclaimed Grand Rapids the best place in the U.S. for a beercation. And CNN named us one of the world’s best beer cities, alongside such destinations as Berlin, Germany, Melbourne, Australia and Shanghai, China. No wonder people from around the globe have come here to become Brewsaders!
Join the Brewsade
The Battle of the Breweries extends over five weeks – more than enough time to visit eight breweries (at least!) and sample their goods so you can make informed votes. Just remember to bring your smartphone with you and check in on the Brewsader app each time.
If you’ve started your Brewsader journey but haven’t yet completed it, why not take this opportunity to make the final push? If you still have the original paper version of the Brewsader passport, you can easily transfer the stamps you’ve collected into the Brewsader app.
If you’re already a Brewsader, you can become an Ultimate Brewsader by visiting at least 40 breweries. Ultimate Brewsaders enjoy access to special freebies, discounts and other perks.
Can’t quite make it to 8 (or 40) breweries during the Battle of the Breweries? No worries – you can become a Beer City Brewsader whenever you accumulate enough check-ins, at any time in the future.
Participating Brewsader breweries are listed in the app and at ExperienceGR.com/Brewsader. The list includes virtually every brewery in Kent County and several in surrounding counties.
While we want you to visit as many breweries as you can, we also want you to pace yourself and be mindful of your consumption. Guided beer tours are a great way to visit multiple breweries and let someone else do the driving. You can find tour opportunities at ExperienceGR.com/Beer.
Enjoy Food & Beer Pairings
Having food with your beer is another way to pace yourself. Luckily, Grand Rapids breweries serve some of the best meals in the city – and several Brewsader breweries offer special food & drink pairings as part of the Flights of Flavor program. Other breweries offer beer flights that pair perfectly with their food offerings.
Get the mobile Flights of Flavor pass at ExperienceGR.com/FlightsofFlavor to find participating breweries (and other restaurants), and show the pass to your server to order a Flight. You’ll earn points for each Flight you order, and you can redeem them for prizes or to make charitable donations.
Good luck to all the Battle of the Breweries contestants – and to you in your quest to become a Brewsader!
