Max and Aleshia Howell of Wayland enjoy a beer at Grand Rapids Brewing Co. on Monday, May 13. Grand Rapids has won the online Beer City USA poll for the second year in a row. (Emily Zoladz | Mlive.com)

GRAND RAPIDS, MI — So, what does all this Beer City hoopla really mean?

Does the Monday, May 13 announcement that Grand Rapids had clobbered the national online Beer City vote and reclaimed the craft brew title mean a city best-known elsewhere for furniture and churches can now call beer-making a signature industry?

Does it mean Grand Rapids, recently labeled a "craft beer mecca," gets to stand proudly, shoulder to shoulder, alongside vaunted, well-known beer industry towns like Milwaukee, Wis., St. Louis, Mo., and Portland, Ore.?

Does it mean folks in Grand Rapids really, truly cherish their local beer, or just put too much emphasis on a silly online poll?

Are these questions missing the point? Maybe, but "I certainly want to get up to Michigan now," said Paul Gatza, director of the Brewers Association, a Colorado-based trade group that represents craft breweries around the country.

Gatza called the poll "a curiosity.”

"It's certainly not a scientific thing, but I think it's positive in how it generates attention for all the small brewers," said Gatza, who now has West Michigan firmly planted on his radar after Grand Rapids, which is hosting the American Homebrewers Association convention next June, ran away with the 2013 Beer City vote, nabbing 27,005 votes out of 50,000 cast in this year's online beer poll.

Whereas last year, Grand Rapids tied with Asheville, N.C., for a shared win (a status conveniently ignored throughout the year), this time around, Grand Rapids can claim the title of Beer City without any asterisks or caveats.

A happy bunch of brewers

Folks in the West Michigan beer industry are understandably giddy about the news, seeing the vote in all its non-scientific glory as a validation of their efforts to makeover West Michigan into a destination for tourists traveling far afield to sample wares now fermenting in bourbon barrels and bright tanks around town.

“We showed that we have a lot of pride in our city,” said Mark Sellers, a new board member of the Michigan Restaurant Association, who pushed the vote through social media channels at his four Grand Rapids establishments: HopCat, Grand Rapids Brewing Co., Stella’s Lounge and McFadden’s.

Mark and Michele Sellers open Grand Rapids Brewing Co 7 Gallery: Mark and Michele Sellers open Grand Rapids Brewing Co

"I love that the city — the mayor, the tourism board, the hotels — are actually on board with the beer thing now," said Sellers, who is making good on a promise of $1.50 pints of Michigan beers at each of his bars next Monday.

Also next Monday, a coordinated toast to celebrate the win will take place at each participating area brewery exactly at 6:16 p.m., an homage to the 616 area code.

“We’re actually a legitimate industry in the eyes of politicians and that’s never been the case,” said Sellers. “The craft beer thing is finally being taken seriously by politicians all over the state, and the Beer City thing really spurred that.”

“They sat up and took notice.”

Kalamazoo, which placed second in the poll with 11,150 votes, also sat up and took notice. After watching Grand Rapids bask in the limelight after its win in 2012 — the city began attracting niche and national media attention, as well as increased numbers of beer tourists — Kalamazoo made a concerted push for the title this year.

During last week's vote, the city's tourism bureau organized a slew of events and Kalamazoo Mayor Bobby Hopewell paralleled his Grand Rapids counterpart George Heartwell in promoting the vote, which city leaders in each city seem to recognize as having real economic gain for the region.

"I've already spoken to Mayor Heartwell, and I will be going up to Grand Rapids to buy him a beer in celebration of the win," Hopewell said Monday. "We are discussing how we can continue the larger story about West Michigan as an amazing craft beer region."

Much of that story will be told by the brewers themselves, who have been experiencing escalating demand and interest in their product.

The 1 million strong Grand Rapids metro area includes 17 operating breweries (22 if you count nearby Holland, Grand Haven and Saugatuck), with at least 5 more in the works. The dominant player in the market, Founders Brewing Co., is ranked No. 30 on the list of largest craft brewers in the country.

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At Brewery Vivant in Grand Rapids, owner Jason Spaulding said the company is considering adding Sunday as a tour day. Currently, the East Hills neighborhood microbrewery offers tours twice on Saturdays, and Spaulding was surprised to find that between May 2012 and this month, 1,138 people toured the brewery; a more than eightfold increase over the 12 months prior when the tour tally was 137 people.

“I imagine that trend will continue this year, if not increase,” he said.

In January, Founders Brewing Co., the dominant player in the Grand Rapids market, started offering tours for the first time. The brewery, currently distributing in 26 states and numerous countries, is in the midst of a taproom expansion project that includes an educational facility to accommodate beer tourists.

“It’s the community responsibility to give them the best experience,” said Dave Engbers, vice president at Founders, which is tasked with creating 52 new jobs over the next three years as part of a $2 million state performance-based economic development grant.

Advance planning pays off

For the folks at Experience Grand Rapids, the win represents a validation of strategic marketing efforts that began in earnest with a partnership with the local brewers group, which decided to grab the Beer City title by the horns last summer and begin collaborating on a series of common recipe beers.

Vote Grand Rapids as Beer City USA 6 Gallery: Vote Grand Rapids as Beer City USA

“Beer tourism is a brand leg that we can stand on,” said Doug Small, president of Experience Grand Rapids.

In the run-up to the highly popular Michigan Brewers Guild Winter Beer Festival in February, the organization elevated the craft beer element at local restaurants by promoting a “Cool Brews. Hot Eats” tour that was held alongside the second annual GR Beer Week.

“This was not something drummed-up a couple weeks in advance,” said Small. “It was part of a strategy this year.”

“We knew there could be some great positive benefit if we won this.”

Those benefits, though, are still hard to solidly quantify. Small said Experience Grand Rapids plans to ask the area’s hospitality businesses to drill into their receipts and begin tracking craft beer-related growth data like the tour numbers at Vivant.

At Alliance Beverage, a Wyoming-based distributor, craft beer brands manager Brendan Gary said the Beer City vote seems to be sparking bar owners in the region to support local brands more than normally, with an expected increase in beer tourists looking to sample the local beer over a domestic brand.

“We’re starting to see some of the larger chain restaurants and chain hotels, where tap handles are largely mandated by the corporation, open their minds a little more to what Grand Rapids is doing,” he said.

“We’re starting to get traction on that conversation,” he said. “It’s a process but it’s happening.”

Alliance (formerly Kent Beverage & BB&B Beer) represents Founders, Vivant and Mitten Brewing Co. in Grand Rapids, as well as Bell's Brewery in Kalamazoo. "In talks about the beer tourism thing, we're trying to promote the whole region."

What’s going on along the Lakeshore at New Holland Brewing Co., which just finished a $1 million pub expansion, and the expanding Saugatuck Brewing Co., “is definitely part of this as well,” said Gary.

#Beer4Kzoo graphics promote Beer City USA vote 6 Gallery: #Beer4Kzoo graphics promote Beer City USA vote

That the Beer City poll had Grand Rapids, Kalamazoo and Ann Arbor among the top vote-getters “really speaks well to the whole beer scene” in Michigan, said Scott Graham, executive director of the Michigan Brewers Guild (MBG).

Michigan's 20 percent increase in craft breweries in 2011 outpaced the national trend of 12 percent, according to a recent report by the Demeter Group Investment Bank of San Francisco. Another trade group study found that the nation's entire beer industry contributed $2 billion to Michigan's economy in 2012. According to the MGB, Michigan ranks fifth in the nation for total number of breweries.

“It’s great to see Grand Rapids get the designation again,” he said. “It’ll help pour a little more fuel on the fire for craft beer in the Grand Rapids area.”

Email Garret Ellison or follow him on Twitter.