The Ann Arbor Area Craft Pass is a free digital experience that incentivizes locals and visitors to explore the many craft breweries and distilleries in the Ann Arbor area. With 14 local businesses included within the passport, users will be able to enjoy a myriad of tasty beers and cocktails made by microbreweries and distilleries from across Washtenaw County. Some are offering special deals and discounts just for passholders. In addition, users will have a chance to redeem a collectible pint class if they visit at least eight participating businesses. 

“The launch of our first-ever mobile passport supports a two-fold mission,” says Mary Kerr, President and CEO of Destination Ann Arbor. “Not only will the Craft Pass bring people to Washtenaw County to visit our award-winning breweries and distilleries, but it will also move people to explore the area, stay longer, and return often. While here, people will shop at local businesses, dine at local restaurants, visit local attractions, and maybe extend their stay overnight.” 

Conversations around utilizing a creative platform to support local businesses throughout Washtenaw County began last year as part of our Strategic Recovery Plan and led Destination Ann Arbor to reach out to a well-known technology company in the travel space, Bandwango. Bandwango technology is designed to support free and paid experiences created by destinations and marketed to visitors and locals.  

Using this technology, Destination Ann Arbor began working alongside local businesses to get their offerings loaded into the Ann Arbor Area Craft Pass.  

Lauren Bloom, owner of Bløm Meadworks was excited for the opportunity and quick to sign up. “This area has such a fresh and collaborative community of breweries, distilleries, and wineries. The Passport is a fun way to encourage visitors (and townies, too!) to explore new venues or revisit their favorites. As a small family business, we’re excited for the chance to share our ciders, meads, community space, and commitment to local sourcing with new customers!”  

How it works: Visit a dedicated landing page where people can sign up for the Ann Arbor Area Craft Pass by providing their name, e-mail address, and mobile phone number. A link is then sent to their mobile phone, which opens the passport and directs the user to add the button icon to their home screen, where they can access it at any time. There is never anything to download and no bulky apps take up space on a user’s phone. Passholders simply check in at locations through GPS on their phones.  

The Ann Arbor Area Craft Pass is live! Visit www.annarbor.org/craftpass to sign up and get started on your crafts and drafts journey through the Ann Arbor area! 

Are you a Washtenaw County brewer or distiller and want to participate in the Craft Pass? It’s not too late! Contact Katherine Johnson at kjohnson@annarbor.org to learn more.