Great Lakes Brewing Company

With the holidays around the corner, people across Ohio will be venturing to see family members, most likely with a gift of alcohol in hand. For residents of Northeast Ohio, it’s very likely that the alcohol will be from Great Lakes Brewing Company.

Created in 1988 by two brothers, Patrick and Daniel Conway set out on building a microbrewery which was in the heart of the Ohio City neighborhood in Cleveland. Starting from very modest beginnings, the company is now the 28^th largest brewery in the United States. 

Upon visiting the microbrewery, one can find the obvious which is in every brewery, the brewing vats, beer taps, and stools. If you look closer, you notice the history of the building. Surrounded by mahogany wood, the visitor is transcended back to the 1860s when the bar was created. Walking downstairs to their cellar bar will solidify the old world feel of the early years of Cleveland.

Ironically, the Chief Investigator of the Prohibition Bureau for Chicago, Eliot Ness, was a frequenter of the same bar during his time as the Director of Public Safety for Cleveland. There are multiple visible bullet holes in the bar from when mobsters tried to kill Mr. Ness. It’s even believed that John D. Rockefeller worked in the same building during the founding of Standard Oil. 

Since the early 2000s when the company began to pick up a steady following of customers, it began to team up with locals in the area to spread the word of sustainability, and to be a steward for the Cleveland community. In 2007 GLBC teamed up with Hale Farm & Village to create Pint Size Farms, which produces vegetables, herbs, and flowers to be used in their restaurant. A few years later, teaming up with Ohio City Farm, to help create one of the largest urban farms in the country.

As GLBC continues to grow, their founders make sure they follow their “Triple bottom line: environmental, social and economic prosperity.”  

Cheers!

Erix Infante

Sources:

https://www.greatlakesbrewing.com/our-history