Grand Rapids has the best craft beer scene in West Michigan, but there are so many stories leading the city to where it is today. Manitou Films is producing an independent documentary television series that celebrates the unique culture of our city’s brewing industry, from the 1830s to the present day.
The documentary will take viewers on a journey throughout Grand Rapids to the city's most popular breweries including Founders, Bell’s, New Holland, Short’s, and dozens of other local craft breweries and taprooms in West Michigan, as well as distributors, retailers, home brewing clubs, major beer festivals, and the Grand Rapids Community College craft brewing program.
The history of Beer City will be told by brewery owners, head brewers, home brewers, historians, breweriana collectors, city leaders, journalists, tourists, mug club members, and beer aficionados that make Grand Rapids the best beer scene in the nation.
If you’ve come this far, please pour yourself a pint of your favorite local craft beer and consider supporting our project.
The film also aims to:
- Capture the stories of Beer City, USA to highlight our local craft beer scene
- Preserve Grand Rapids beer history
- Promote tourism in West Michigan to a nationwide audience
- Re-engergize our local consumers and foster pride in our beer community
- Showcase West Michigan as a great place to live, work and play
- Celebrate diversity, equity, and inclusion by showcasing a variety of interwoven storylines and featured interviews
- Support workforce development by showing why breweries are a cool place to be employed
- Recruiting and retention of young professionals across all industries in our region
- Plant a flag in the ground that shows the world we are Beer City, USA
While the film has begun the recording process, they still need funding to complete the documentary series. Their fundraising goal for this Indiegogo campaign is to raise $150,000 of our budget, with the remainder coming from corporate sponsorships and private investments.
Crowdfunding will be open until November 28. The estimated completion date is January 2025.
Get more information on this project at beercityusa.tv.
