Motor City Brewing Works Spotlight: Detroit, Michigan

Motor City Brewing Works has been making beer in Midtown Detroit since 1994, which makes it one of the pioneers of the Michigan craft brewing scene. Long before craft beer became a cultural fixture, this small brewery on Canfield was doing things the hard way and getting it right.

Located at 470 W Canfield St in Detroit’s Midtown neighborhood, Motor City Brewing Works produces a lineup of classic styles with particular strength in their lagers and ales. The Ghettoblaster Amber Ale has become a Detroit institution, the kind of beer that regulars order without looking at the menu and visitors try once and understand immediately why it has lasted.

The taproom is a true Detroit neighborhood bar. Exposed brick, long tables, a pizza menu that has developed its own devoted following, and a crowd that reflects the actual diversity of the city around it. The wood-fired pizza, built from scratch and baked in house, is one of the best reasons to stay for a full meal rather than just a pint.

Motor City Brewing Works has watched Detroit’s fortunes change across three decades and stayed through all of it. That kind of commitment to a neighborhood means something, and the regulars who have been coming since the 1990s will tell you so.

Visit at motorcitybeer.com on W Canfield in Midtown Detroit.

Michigan Small Business Spotlight is proud to feature Motor City Brewing Works as one of Southeast Michigan’s most historic and community-rooted small businesses.