Pure Michigan Pints

Burning Foot Beer Festival, August 23rd, 2025

Muskegon, Michigan

Burning Foot Beer Festival marks the end of summer. This festival has a special meaning for me (as a Muskegon native)—these were my stomping grounds. I’ve walked the channel/board walk thousands of times; the house I grew up in is only three miles away.

I attended Burning Foot five times: for a buddy’s bachelor party, to see Eve 6 (my first CD), and the last three years in a row.

Brendon Enders, a member of the Lakeshore Brewers Guild—he runs their social media platforms on Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok—said there is a ton of work involved in Burning Foot. A board of 30 members (including Greg Moore, the executive director, who Enders reports to) are involved. Around 400 people volunteered for Burning Foot this year.

“The physical component of actually getting out equipment, art displays, interactive elements, and beer out in the sand is a feat in and of itself. Lots of heavy machinery is required to make that happen,” Enders said. It takes an entire week to set up the festival.

Burning Foot Beer Festival 2025 marked 10 years.

“It’s a massive milestone for us, and we’re all incredibly proud of what’s been built over these last 10 years. I think the city is also proud to have one of the most unique festivals in the country right here on Pere Marquette Beach.” —Brendon Enders

Each year thousands gather. Waiting in line, I feel the excitement course through my veins.

The Beer

The festival offered 75 breweries this year. According to Enders, they have hosted as many as 100 breweries in the past; around 75 is the sweet spot for optimal room and mobilization for crowds.

Tons of shenanigans took place, including costumes, inflatable animal suits, a foam party, fire dancers, and, of course, the trademark burning hop.

Below are some beers that stood out to me—this is in no way an all encompassing list, with 75 breweries I did not get a chance to sample a beer at every brewery (and I’m sure I missed some noteworthy beers)—but these happen to be beers I stumbled upon while at the festival.

One Star (9.7% abv)—Starving Artist Brewing Co.

Ludington, Michigan

This one has a unique story. Recently, Andy Thomas, the owner and brewer for Starving Artist, got his first one-star review online that said, “They ran out of IPAs. Will rank later.”

“One Star was unnamed and already fermenting when we received our first one-star review on Google,” Andy said. “When we needed a name, one of our regulars suggested we should celebrate our milestone by naming it One Star, and we loved it!”

He describes One Star as a “big ass beer with a big ass attitude.” It’s brewed with Citra, Simcoe, and Mosaic hops, and it’s definitely a five-star beer—full of flavor and deceptively smooth coming in at 9.7% and over 100 IBUs.

All of his beers are good; the dude doesn’t miss.

“It’s one of our favorite weekends of the year. We changed up the scary clowns this year for inflatable dinosaur/tiki theme and it was a blast. One of my favorite Burning Foot memories was made with an inflatable brawl with White Flame. You haven’t lived until you’ve experienced a fight between baby sharks and t-rexes.” — Andy Thomas

Starving Artist has visited the festival a whopping total of eight times. (Both celebrated their 10-year anniversary this year.)

Rage Against the Cannoli (18% abv)—Brown Iron Brewhouse

Washington Township, Michigan

Speaking of potent beers that don’t taste potent, Rage Against the Cannoli, an Imperial Pastry Stout by Brown Iron Brewhouse packed a ton of flavor into an 18% beer. Yes, 18%! Based on Untapped reviews, I wasn’t the only one who liked this one. While I’ve never had a cannoli (shame on me), this beer makes me wish I did.

Ryan Shaffer, the brewmaster at Brown Iron Brewhouse, said he originally heard of Burning Foot through brewery friends. This marked their second year at the event.

“It is more of a reward for us to attend since the west side is not much in our market,” Shaffer said. Brown Iron Brewhouse opened their Washington Township location in January 2015 and their Royal Oak location in March 2020. They only offer draft at their two locations.

The “Rage Aainst The” is part of a series of beers Brown Iron does that starts with their base, Dark Nemesis (13% abv). A secondary fermentation is done to bump it up to 18% and he’s done various flavors in the past such as waffle cone, Paczki, coconut, gingerbread, and French Toast.

“Last summer my best friend’s mom [who is 100% Sicilian] joking asked why I haven’t done one with Cannoli. Once I was able to source enough cannoli’s to make it happen, it was in the brew schedule.” —Ryan Shaffer

TwinCoast (7.5% abv)—Burzurk Brewing Co.

Grand Haven, Michigan

Another standout beer for me came from Burzurk Brewing: TwinCoast. This one has sublte light pine notes and has that West Coast freshness with some tropical notes and a sweet finish. This one comes in at 7.5% abv.

Tyler Forbes, the Head Brewer for Burzurk, said, “Twin Coast is a West Coast IPA with the East Coast hazy hoping techniques.” The hops in it are Nelson Sauvin, Strata, Mosaic, and Simcoe.

This was Buzurk’s fourth year attending Burning Foot.

“Buring Foot is one of our favorite festivals. Beach, sand, heat, beer shenanigans, what else do we want? It’s a place where we can completely act Burzurk.” —Karen Forbes, Owner

Toasted Marshmallow Miserly Whip (5.4% abv)—Doster Brewing Co.

Vicksburg, Michigan

Drew Doster, the owner of Doster Brewing Co., told me this was their third appearance at Burning Foot. “It continues to be one of our favorite beer festivals,” Doster said. “The unique blend of food, music, activities, and gorgeous views of Lake Michigan provide an amazing experience for both brewers and patrons.”

I enjoyed Toasted Marshmallow Miserly Whip—a variant Drew’s wife came up with out of one of their mainstays, Miserly Whip Milk Stout.

“Miserly Whip Milk Stout’s origin goes back to one of the first homebrews I ever made (Café con Leche Milk Stout) which ended up being a finalist in the 2013 Bell’s homebrew competition. The coffee variant of Miserly Whip is very similar to the original 2013 recipe with some slight modifications/improvements.” —Drew Doster

Food

A decent selection of food trucks were also available, including Tiki Boiz.

Shae Himber, the owner of the island inspired food truck, said that their top selling item this year (and almost every event they do) is their Huli Chicken bowl which consists of char-grilled marinated chicken, pineapple pico, cucumber and tiki sauce on a bed of rice. The Thai Chicken Chili bowl has been a runner up in recent years.

The bowls at Tiki Boiz never disappoint. I tried the Teriyaki Beef bowl which spiced it up with a little bit of house made kimchi, cucumber, shredded beef, and “rooster sauce” over rice. The rice was cooked perfectly (something that doesn’t get enough recognition).

“Muskegon means the world to me and this festival is one of our favorites to do every year. Burning Foot sheds light on how bad ass Muskegon actually is, how we can all come together and put on a killer event and be environmentally conscious at the same time is stellar.” —Shae Himber

I had the cheesesteak from Baby Suga’s Cheesesteak Shack last year and it hit all the notes you’d want a cheesesteak to hit. I also sampled a few Parmesan fries (thanks to one of my good friends) and they were very parmy.

Music

This year Pop Evil headlined the event, taking the stage a little after 9pm. Pop Evil killed it in every aspect. The singer, Leigh Kakaty, told the crowd he’s originally from North Muskegon just across the channel where the festival took place. He said some bands might ask for fancy accommodations, but they only asked for three Scribb’s pizzas.

Watching him perform, it’s clear he’s living his dream. The show was worth the price of admission alone. So either way you look at it: I got a free show or a free beer festival.

Closing Thoughts

Props to all the breweries for providing great beverages. This state truly is one of the BEST beer states in the country.

Burning Foot is bigger than just a beer festival. It’s a day Michigan shows up. And showed up we did for another end of summer memory we won’t forget.