Armed with ingenuity, entrepreneurial resolve, and affection for small-batch French and Belgian-style farmhouse ales, Grand Rapids native Danny Ranville opened a boutique brewery at the northern tip of Michigan’s lower peninsula. Now, nine years later, Bière de Mac Brew Works is a major destination.
Ranville, who’d spent his college summers working on Mackinac Island, saw Mackinaw City as the perfect spot for a brew pub. Given the city’s population of 846, the figures didn’t compute.
In 2015, he and his father, George, purchased a 3,200-square-foot building on three and a half acres and began the restoration process almost entirely by themselves. Drawing on heavy research, as well as his experience in Denver’s craft brew scene, Ranville built the beer menu.
“We wanted to brew classic styles; these have been around for centuries, so who am I to try to change what’s proven to work?” says Ranville, who serves as general manager and head brewer. “I called breweries in France seeking water profiles. … Every one of our ales has a different water profile to match the style. … We have the best water in the world here in Mackinaw City. The well on the premises is 175 feet deep.”
After opening the brewery to the public in late 2016, Ranville hired Matt Peters and Seth Bitterman in 2018 to assist with brewing, kitchen prep, and other duties. Today, Bière de Mac keeps 14 delicious beers on tap, including its flagship Blonde Bière de Garde, made to honor Mackinac State Historic Parks’ 125th anniversary. MLive named it the 2020 Beer of the Year.
Other brews in Bière de Mac’s rotating lineup include Blueberry Wheat, Loudmouth Blonde, Straits Session French Grisette, Janis the Eagle, and seasonal farmhouse releases.
The food menu may be compact, but it packs a punch. Brick-fired pizzas and paninis share the page with palate-pleasing sandwiches like The Montreal Meat Sammie: a brisket cured and smoked over seven days, dry-rubbed with a spicy herb blend, finished with beer braise, and served with a house dressing and beer mustard on house-baked light rye bread.
Enjoy beers and bites indoors or in the beer garden, a dog-friendly and expansive area shaded with birch trees that hosts bonfires at night.
Located right off I-75, just two miles from the Straits of Mackinac and the Mackinac Bridge, the brewery has become a popular stop for thousands making the trek to Mackinac Island or the Upper Peninsula.
As a 20-year resident of the area, executive director of the Mackinaw City Chamber of Commerce Chuck Ball understands Bière de Mac’s impact.
“Bière de Mac gives a sense of pride for the community and creates awareness for our village,” Ball says. “It’s meaningful because it extends to all other businesses [here].”
More than 100 bars and restaurants in metro Detroit and throughout the I-75 corridor stock the brew pub’s beers. Ranville self-distributed for six years within 50 miles of Mackinaw City going north to Sault Ste. Marie and south to Gaylord. Then, in 2023, Detroit-based distributor Fabiano Brothers brought Bière de Mac on board. James Fabiano III, the on-premises manager of Fabiano Brothers, describes the product as “phenomenal.”
“They’re putting out beers that you don’t find in a lot of places,” he says.
This story originally appeared in the September 2026 issue of Hour Detroit magazine. To read more, pick up a copy of Hour Detroit at a local retail outlet. Click here to get our digital edition.
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