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KALAMAZOO, MI – Discover Kalamazoo, the destination marketing organization for Kalamazoo County, has expanded its Give a Craft Beer Trail Passport which now includes breweries throughout the 269 area code, including River Saint Joe in Buchanan and Sister Lakes Brewing Co. in Sister Lakes.

The program started in 2015 with a paper passport which encouraged participants to check-in at breweries within Kalamazoo County as they worked towards earning a Give a Craft T-shirt for checking in to eight stops. The program then went digital at the start of 2020 utilizing the Bandwango platform and introduced special offers and discounts for Give a Craft participants.

“Discover Kalamazoo also helps to market the 269 area code and we felt it was a great next step to expand the program to more of Southwest Michigan,” said Dana Wagner, Director of Marketing and Communications for Discover Kalamazoo. “We hope this program expansion will ultimately bring more visitors to the area for extended stays and generate continued success for the Give a Craft program.”

The beer trail passport recently brought on 16 more breweries in the 269 area code, adding on to the existing breweries in the program. There are now a total of 29 locations to check in to with more to be added throughout this year. New additions to the Give a Craft® program include:

• Barn Brewers Brewery
• Brewery Outré
• Final Gravity Brewing- Decatur
• Grand River Brewery
• Guardian Brewing Company
• Handmap Brewing
• Liquid Note
• Murray Street Brewing Company
• Paw Paw Brewing Co
• River Saint Joe Farmstead Brewery
• Sister Lakes Brewing Compay
• Tantrick Brewing Co
• Tapistry Brewing Co
• Territorial Brewing Company
• Three Blondes Brewing
• Warner Brew Haus

 

Visiting the breweries and trying great craft beer aren’t the only perks. As participants check in to the breweries, they’ll receive a Give a Craft T-shirt once they complete eight check-ins. A second prize tier was added with the expansion so participants can now check in to an additional eight breweries (16 total) and earn a Give a Craft backpack cooler.

The Give a Craft pass is free of charge and can be completed once per year per person. Those who sign up will have until Dec. 31 each year to complete their check-ins towards earning prizes. Check out the full list of participating breweries and sign up for a pass at giveacraft.beer.