Cleveland based Great Lakes Brewing Company will be making its beers available soon in central Illinois.
Starting October 1st, craft beer drinkers in cities like Peoria, Bloomington and Champaign will be able to get their hands on Great Lakes’ year-round offerings which include; Burning River Pale Ale, Commodore Perry IPA, Dortmunder Gold Lager, Edmund Fitzgerald Porter and Elliot Ness Amber Lager.
There’s no mention in the press release (below) announcing the expansion to downstate Illinois about Great Lakes seasonals, which include one of our favorite Oktoberfests, arguably one of the best Christmas Ale’s around and a rock-star Russian Imperial Stout.
Currently the only Illinois market Great Lakes can be found is Chicago.
Since “central Illinois” is a fairly vague description, even to those of us that live in Illinois, and a relatively large geographic area we’ve reached out to Great Lakes to find out what other cities their beers will be available. We haven’t heard back yet, but if and when we do get additional information we’ll post it here.
Great Lakes Brewing Company To Enter Central Illinois
New Market Rollout Slated for October 1, 2012
September 4, 2012—CLEVELAND, OHIO—Great Lakes Brewing Company (GLBC), Ohio’s most celebrated craft brewer of award-winning lagers and ales, announces its plan to enter the Central Illinois market with Marketplace Selections on October 1, 2012. GLBC’s products are currently available in Chicago. The new Central Illinois territory will expand GLBC’s footprint into areas like Bloomington, Champaign, and Peoria, serving the company’s strategic growth plans. Customers can expect to see GLBC’s year-round family of beers in package and draft, as well as GLBC’s “Taster’s Pack” (a sampler 12-pack).
The new market rollout will involve multiple customer appreciation events, meet-and-greets, tastings, and giveaways throughout the area. GLBC co-owner Pat Conway says of the expansion, “Many breweries choose a strategy of being a mile wide and an inch deep. We prefer to penetrate deeper into existing markets. Expanding our existing Illinois territory is a logical extension of that idea.”
GLBC currently serves 13 states and Washington DC. Founded in 1988 by brothers Pat and Dan Conway as the first craft brewery in the state of Ohio, GLBC is nationally known for its exceptional family of beers including Dortmunder Gold Lager, Eliot Ness Amber Lager, Burning River Pale Ale, Commodore Perry India Pale Ale and Edmund Fitzgerald Porter. Visit https://www.greatlakesbrewing.
com/centralillinois and follow @GLBCinIL on Twitter for exclusive updates and event announcements.