GRAND RAPIDS, MI — Ever wonder what it costs to throw a beer party for 6,000 people?

There’s both a long and short answer to that.

The short answer is about $175,000, which is the total estimated cost incurred by the Michigan Brewers Guild this year for putting on the 8th Annual Winter Beer Festival, taking place today, Feb. 23, at Fifth Third Ballpark.

That figure encompasses the cost of tents, toilets, tables, chairs, heaters, cups, programs, the contract with the ballpark, staff, and other various expenses associated with throwing what’s become arguably the most popular beer event in Michigan, according to guild executive director Scott Graham.

And then there’s the cost of what everyone's there for: the beer.

“Our beer bill will probably be $90,000,” said Graham, making up the largest single chunk of the expense pie for this year’s festival. A smaller, but still substantial chunk comes from the undisclosed contract with the ballpark, which provides the facility and some staff, manages logistics like parking, ticketing, the gate, security and some food concessions.

The record-breaking beer list this year is a staggering 625 different brews brought by 74 different breweries. Most of those breweries are bringing anywhere from five to a dozen different beers, but a few are going all out with literally dozens of offerings.

Dark Horse Brewing Co., of Marshall, is bringing 32 beers and Greenbush Brewing Co., of Sawyer, is bringing 48 different beers on Saturday, about three table’s worth of brew, all of which must be paid for by the guild as regulated by the state’s three-tier system of separation between alcohol manufacturers, distributors and retailers.

Since the breweries bring their own dispensing equipment, that means Greenbush, Dark Horse and other breweries with a big list are sending small armies of staff to the festival. More people means more hotel rooms, an expense the brewery incurs.

To help sweeten the pot, the Grand Rapids hospitality scene went into overdrive this past week, with tap takeovers, beer dinners and other GR Beer Week and Cool Brews Hot Eats events taking place all over West Michigan.

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More beer also means more in table fees to the guild. Each of the 96 tables carries a $250 fee and the limit is 2.5 barrels per table. Each standard sized keg is a half-barrel, which holds about 15.5 gallons of beer, roughly translating into about 124 full 16-ounce pints.

But the brewers at the festival aren’t pouring full pints. Each $40 ticket comes with about 15 tokens, which each are good for a 3-ounce pour. Additional tokens are 50 cents apiece. Some rare or specialty beers, usually high-gravity barrel-aged stuff, require 2, or even 3 tokens.

Given that, it might be easy to think the breweries are making out like bandits, but it’s not that simple. Since barrel-aged beers typically cost more to produce, they are sold to the guild at a higher price, hence the multi-token cost to the festival-goer.

But even given that added cost cushion, brewers say they are still making a much smaller profit margin on beers poured at the festival versus beers paid for at a bar — a profit largely offset by the overall expense of attending the festival.

Michigan Brewers Guild Winter Beer Festival 2012 15 Gallery: Michigan Brewers Guild Winter Beer Festival 2012

“It’s a pretty big opportunity cost,” said Max Trierweiler, co-owner of the Mitten Brewing Co., a small neighborhood operation which just opened late last year in Grand Rapids.

“I feel like it’s more of a marketing event for us,” he said. “We’re getting our name out there. We are getting our beer to people who maybe haven’t been to our place yet and are hoping we turn them into believers.”

“It’s worth it completely,” he said. “At the same time, we’re definitely losing money.”

Scott Sullivan, co-owner of Greenbush, echoed those sentiments. The festival is about putting your best foot forward as a brewery, he said.

“We tend to be able to sum zero (the expense)” said Sullivan. “If I worried too much about the margins, I wouldn't be able to bring all the barrel-aged stuff."

That’s how most breweries, large and small, view festivals, said Mike Stevens, president of Founders Brewing Co. and a veteran of the festival circuit.

“We lose money doing festivals, for sure,” he said. “We sell the beer, but if you’re only going to sell 8 kegs, that’s not going to make up for the expense of sending the people, with hotel rooms, food, entertainment and all the travel stuff involved.”

Festivals fall under Founders’ marketing budget, he said. The company has a policy of abstaining from festivals that do not pay full wholesale price for their beer, although in the early days he said Founders used to attend some events that asked for donated product. That practice has gone largely away, he said.

“Most brewers in the country came together and said ‘no more,’” he said. “It’s a tough business and everybody kind of drew a line in the sand.”

In Michigan, the guild uses the annual winter, summer, and fall festivals in Marquette and Detroit to generate revenue that funds the nonprofit’s operations all year. The festivals generate about a 30 percent profit margin, said Graham.

That helps pay annual operations and marketing costs. The guild, with more than 100 member breweries, publishes the "Michigan: The Great Beer State" magazine.

Festival revenues also help cover the guild's lobbying expenses in Lansing. The beer guild is one of the only such groups in the country that has a PAC fund. The Michigan Craft Brewers PAC spent about $5,400 in 2012 on consulting fees and some donations to lawmakers and committees, according to public campaign finance records.

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“First and foremost, we look at festivals as a promotional event for breweries and their beer, but secondly, we try to make some money to pay for guild expenses,” said Graham.

Graham said the guild incurs extra expense in order to create a more enjoyable event. There’s about “ten times the normal amount of toilets” for example, he said. “I want people waiting in line for their favorite beer, not to pee.”

Stevens, past treasurer of the guild, said, “it’s a big part of the success of the craft industry in Michigan” which ranks 5th in the nation in terms of total number of breweries. The guild estimates that Michigan’s thriving brewing industry has a total economic contribution of more than $133 million.

“There’s a lot of expense that goes into keeping the guild there to conduct the functions that it does," said Stevens. "It really is one of the more active guilds in the country. Outside of Portland, it’s probably one of the strongest.”

Email Garret Ellison or follow him on Twitter.