Great Lakes Brewing Company
Great Lakes Brewing Company is a brewery and brewpub in Cleveland, Ohio. The first brewpub and microbrewery in the state, Great Lakes Brewing has been noted as important to Cleveland's local identity and as one of the initial forces behind the revival of the Ohio City neighborhood on the near West Side. In 2015, it was the 21st-largest craft brewery by volume and the 28th-largest overall brewery in the United States.
The company was established in 1988 by brothers Patrick and Daniel Conway, both St. Edward High School graduates, in Cleveland's Ohio City neighborhood, located near St. Ignatius High School and the West Side Market. The brewpub and restaurant remain in their original locations, while production has expanded to adjacent properties.
The present site allows visitors to consume a glass of beer in the original brewpub which features a Tiger Mahogany bar from the 1860s, a Beer Cellar and the Rockefeller Room, named after Standard Oil founder and Clevelander John D. Rockefeller, who was thought to have worked in the building. There is a gift shop selling beer, along with apparel and barware. Tours are available on the weekends. Since its inception, Great Lakes has also served as an incubator for Northeast Ohio brewers, with brewmasters at nearby Market Garden and Goldhorn Brewery in the St. Clair-Superior neighborhood both being alumni of Great Lakes.
Distribution
As of 2023, Great Lakes' products are heavily distributed in Cleveland and Northeast Ohio. They can be found in Columbus, Cincinnati, Toledo, Detroit, Chicago, Southeast Michigan, Indiana, and west to Minnesota and Wisconsin, south to Kentucky, North Carolina, Virginia, and West Virginia, and east to Syracuse, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Maryland, and Washington, D.C., with the New York City market added in October 2023.Beers
Double Feature IPA series
Launched in 2024, GLBC's Double Feature IPA series consists of four high-alcohol content double IPAs.| Beer | Pack | % ABV | IBU | Availability | Description |
| Chillwave Double IPA | 6 | 9.0 | 80 | January | A double India pale ale named as a tribute to Lake Erie surfers. |
| Return of the Lake Erie Monster Double IPA | 6 | 9.5 | 65 | April | A double IPA named for Bessie, the monster allegedly living in Lake Erie. |
| Spacewalker Hazy Double IPA | 6 | 8.0 | 70 | June | A hazy double IPA. |
| Nosferatu Double Red IPA | 6 | 8.0 | 70 | August | A red double IPA named after the 1922 German film Nosferatu. |
Variety packs
A 12-can "Mix Pack" variety pack is available year-round. The spring/summer version contains three cans each of Strawberry Pineapple Wheat, Eliot Ness Amber Lager, Cold Rush Light Lager, and Midwest IPA.A "Hop Madness" IPA variety pack containing three cans each of Midwest Hazy IPA, Midwest IPA, Vibacious Double IPA, and a variety pack exclusive Small Batch IPA is available. A Holiday Pack containing six cans each of Christmas Ale and Cookie Exchange Milk Stout is available during the holiday season.
Other packs, which include the long-established Burning River Pale Ale, are available certain months of the year.
Pub exclusives
GLBC brews many beers which are only available at their brewpub and restaurant. In some instances, beers that were formerly available throughout the brewery's distribution footprint are withdrawn from wide circulation and made available only at the brewpub.Sustainability
Great Lakes Brewing Company has undertaken a number of initiatives to promote sustainability, including recycling promotional materials to create fuel for heating an outdoor structure, the use of straw-bale construction, the composting of leftovers from the brewery's restaurant, and the use of local and organic food. The brewery also provides barley left over from the brewing process to local farmers for use as feed and to local bakers who use it to produce bread and pretzels. In addition, the delivery trucks are equipped to use biodiesel and are fueled with left-over vegetable oil from the restaurant. The brewery uses solar panels placed on the roof to preheat the water they use to brew beer. And during the colder months, they use outside air for cooling, rather than conventional refrigeration units. The organization is growing, with 5800 members in 2008.Great Lakes Brewing Company also hosts the meetings of Entrepreneurs for Sustainability, a business network in the Greater Cleveland area focusing on sustainability and entrepreneurship. The brewery has set up displays at a number of sustainability-oriented events, including a 2006 "greener living fair" at Ohio State University, and the "green pavilion" of the 2009 Cleveland Home and Garden Show at the I-X Center.