November is Michigan Craft Beverage Month, and the state counts $7.3 billion

LANSING — Governor Gretchen Whitmer has proclaimed November 2026 Michigan Craft Beverage Month, and the agriculture department put a dollar figure on the industry Monday.

MDARD’s Nov. 9 release says the proclamation covers local producers of craft beer, wine, cider, mead, spirits and non-alcoholic beverages. It says Michigan has more than 750 craft establishments and ranks in the top 15 nationally for wineries, distilleries, breweries and cideries. The industry supports more than 25,000 Michigan jobs and has a total economic impact of $7.3 billion a year, the release says. Tourism tied to craft beverages brings $892.6 million in spending from 3.9 million visitors a year.

Those are department figures, not a count this newsroom made from liquor-license rolls. The release does not list a tasting schedule, a tax break, or a new license rule. The month is a proclamation and a set of industry totals. A reader who wants a taproom still has to use the producer’s own hours.

What the month is not

A proclamation does not change the price of a pint or the rules for serving it. The $7.3 billion is an annual impact number, not a November sales total. The 3.9 million visitors are a yearly tourism count in the same release. Non-alcoholic producers are named in the proclamation alongside beer and spirits, so the month is not only a bar promotion. The photograph is downtown Lansing, where the announcement was datelined. It is not a brewery. The release’s totals are more than 750 establishments, a top-15 rank, 25,000 jobs, $7.3 billion a year, and $892.6 million from 3.9 million visitors. Those are yearly figures, not a November cash register. MDARD datelined the release in Lansing on Nov. 9. The proclamation covers beer, wine, cider, mead, spirits and non-alcoholic drinks. Nothing in it changes a license, a tax, or a serving hour. A reader who wants a specific producer still has to use that producer’s own calendar. The photograph is the city of the dateline. Whitmer’s proclamation is for November 2026. The categories named are beer, wine, cider, mead, spirits and non-alcoholic drinks. Jobs, the $7.3 billion impact and the visitor count are yearly industry figures in one release. A license, a tax rate and a tasting calendar are not in it. A reader still uses the producer’s own hours. The top-15 rank covers wineries, distilleries, breweries and cideries.

Sources:
MDARD, “Gov. Whitmer Celebrates Producers During November’s Michigan Craft Beverage Month,” Nov. 9, 2026, https://www.michigan.gov/mdard/about/media/pressreleases/2026/11/09/gov-whitmer-celebrates-producers-during-novembers-michigan-craft-beverage-month
Photo: Davidshane0, “Downtown Lansing, Michigan.jpg”, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3ADowntown_Lansing%2C_Michigan.jpg

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Tags: Lansing · MDARD · Craft beer · Wine · Small business