Beer City USA: how Grand Rapids got the name
Grand Rapids got the Beer City USA nickname from national fan polls in 2012 and 2013. The poll is gone, but the brewery trail and passport remain.
Grand Rapids did not receive “Beer City USA” from a government agency or a permanent national ranking. The name came from an online fan poll created by author and homebrewing advocate Charlie Papazian. Grand Rapids tied Asheville, North Carolina, for first place in 2012, then won outright in 2013. Papazian retired the poll after that second vote.
The local campaign mattered. Experience Grand Rapids says area breweries and the tourism bureau encouraged people to vote, and it credits Founders Brewing Company with helping restart the city’s craft-beer culture after the brewery incorporated in 1997 and survived an early brush with bankruptcy. Its current count is nearly 40 breweries across the greater Grand Rapids area, not a fixed number inside city limits.
What lasted is more useful than the old vote total. The Beer City Ale Trail gives people one place to find breweries around the region, and the Brewsader passport rewards adults who check in at participating stops. Read “Beer City USA” as a civic nickname with a clear origin: a pair of enthusiastic fan votes that Grand Rapids turned into an easy way to explore the local scene.
Where to see it
Start with Experience Grand Rapids's current Beer City Ale Trail and Brewsader app. Brewery lists and hours change, so check before you go.
Sources
Last reviewed against the listed sources: July 16, 2026.