Chicago’s Maplewood Brewery and Distillery is making its first foray outside of Illinois, expanding distribution to southwest Michigan.
Last week Maplewood Brewery and Distillery quietly began shuttling beer into Michigan to be distributed by Bud Distributing Inc., which covers a two-and-a-half county area in the southwest corner of the state.
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Bud Distributing Inc’s small distribution footprint helped seal the deal with the folks at Maplewood, according to co-founder Ari Megalis.
“As a smaller brewery, this appealed to us and our current production capacity,” Megalis said. “Also, as our capacity grows in the future, we can consider other parts of Michigan with an already established presence in at least a small part of the state.”
Megalis says they also liked the, “mom and pop” vibe they got from the team at Bud Distributing, whose local craft brands include Saugatuck, Round Barn and Tapistry alongside national players like Sierra Nevada and New Belgium.
Beers heading across the border into Michigan include:
- Pulaski Pils
- Charlatan APA
- Fat Pug Oatmeal Milk Stout
- Mind FK Russian Imperial Stout
- Son of Juice IPA
- Dark Saison with Cranberry
Charlatan won bronze at the 2016 Great American Beer Festival in the American-Style Pale Ale category.
Maplewood first launched in 2014 as Mercenary Brewery and Distillery in Chicago’s Logan Square neighborhood. The brewery changed its name in 2015 after a trademark spat with Odell. Maplewood’s beers can be found across Chicago via Louis Glunz Beer Inc and around Rockford through LaMonica Beverage.
They are also currently rolling out the “and Distillery” part of their name as well. Chicago saw the release of their “gin, rye and malt stout distillations” at a special event at Fountainhead on January 18th, including the Oated Otter which they describe thusly:
“Oats and the legendary Maris Otter, a floor malted barley, make up the majority of this mash bill.”
Interstate distro and distilled spirits to kick off 2017. Could be a big year for the Maplewood team.
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