Great Lakes Brewing Company is a principle-centered, environmentally respectful and socially conscious company committed to crafting fresh, flavorful, high-quality beer and food for the enjoyment of our customers. We aspire to maintain our status as the premier craft brewery in the Great Lakes region and are dedicated to uncompromising service, continuous improvement and innovative consumer education.

History

“In the 1870s, Cleveland had 30 breweries. By the early 1980s, the last one had shuttered its doors. So when brothers Patrick and Daniel Conway opened Great Lakes Brewing Company on September 6, 1988, it not only signaled a new era in Cleveland brewing, it was also the first microbrewery in the state of Ohio. And the idea of a craft brewery in Cleveland caught on fast, as curious patrons hurried in for a pint crafted in the styles of old and drawn from the taps of the beautiful Victorian era bar. The company’s commitment to sustainable business practices greatly contributed to its early popularity and success. Before long, Great Lakes Brewing Company had become one of Cleveland’s most popular destinations for both dining and a fun night out.

Master Brewer Thaine Johnson and engineer Charlie Price joined the Conways during the company’s early days. Their three decades of brewing and managing experience at various U.S. breweries—including Christian Schmidt, Cleveland’s last brewery—played a key role in developing the recipes for GLBC’s first beers. Raw materials used by European brewers (malted barley instead of corn and rice) were incorporated into the craft brewing process, which included using only the freshest ingredients, no preservatives or chemicals and no pasteurization (which ultimately compromises flavor). Approximately 1,000 barrels were produced during the first year.

The original beers included The Heisman, a Dortmunder-style beer named for the famed football player (and future trophy) who lived around the corner from the Brewery. It was immediately followed by Eliot Ness Amber Lager. Both were overnight successes; the Heisman was later renamed Dortmunder Gold for both its golden color and the Gold Medal it won at the 1990 Great American Beer Festival. Dortmunder Gold and Eliot Ness were soon joined by an exceptional family of award-winning year round, seasonal and pub exclusive beers including Burning River Pale Ale, Edmund Fitzgerald Porter, Commodore Perry India Pale Ale, Conway’s Irish Ale, Blackout Stout, Oktoberfest, Nosferatu and Christmas Ale.

In 1992, to meet growing demand, the Brewery expanded to the adjacent Fries & Scheule Building—and as the popularity of Great Lakes beer continued to grow, so did the Brewery. In 1998, it moved into what now consists of six buildings—three that originally served as horse stables, keg facilities and bottle storage for the 1879 Schlather Brewing Company. Today, these same facilities help GLBC serve a distribution area that extends throughout the Great Lakes region and surrounding areas.

While GLBC now produces upwards of 100,000 barrels a year and has become Ohio’s most celebrated and award-winning brewer of lagers and ales, thankfully, some things haven’t changed—most notably, an unwavering commitment to brewing only the freshest exceptional family of beers.”

Just like America was discovered by Columbus—though American Indians already inhabited the area—someone also discovered the Great Lakes. Technically it is unknown who really was first to mark claim to these lakes. Even today neither Canada nor America have sole claims to the lakes. The first known voyage towards the lakes was made in the summer of 1679. René Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle commissioned the Le Griffon and sailed towards the upper lakes in early August from the Niagara River.

Over the next two centuries the area was inhabited by the western civilization. At this time the lakes became the means of transporting freight from one place to the other. Thanks to the Great Lakes middle Northern America could transport goods to the Atlantic more easily. This was increased even more in 1825 when the Erie Canal opened. Two decades later Illinois was opened with the Michigan and Illinois Canal at Chicago. This linked the lakes to the Mississippi River, creating an unbroken route from New Orleans to New York. Throughout the nineteenth century the lakes also serves as immigrant transportation from one city to another as they moved with the freight. When trains became more popular, ferries were instead used to transport people short distances rather than long journeys.

Immigrants of certain ethnicities continue to make this trip, namely those of German, Dutch, Finish, and Polish descent. In today’s economy trucks and railroads transport freight more often than via the Great Lakes. Certain industries, however, still rely on the lakes, such as coal, iron ore, steel, grain, and limestone. The communities around the lakes have even come up with specific lingo for the traveling freight ships. Ships are always called boats on the Great Lakes, even if they are vast in size. Steamships are steamboats, like those of the Mississippi. Ships that trade mostly on the lakes are called lakers, while foreign boats are called salties.

The United States has one lake that is entirely within its boundaries. Canada only comes close. Lake Ontario is mostly dotted by Canadian cities, with the exception of the New York city of Rochester. Lake Ontario has the smallest surface area of all the Great Lakes, standing at only 7,540 square miles. It is the second smallest in relation to water volume with 393 cubic miles, falling just behind Lake Erie. Lake Ontario also has the lowest elevation of all the lakes at 246 feet. The average depth of this lake is 283 feet.

Many important and large cities dot the coast of Lake Ontario. These include several that lie within the Canadian province of Ontario: Hamilton, Kingston, Mississauga, Oshawa, Toronto, and Pickering. The largest United States city on the Lake Ontario coast is Rochester, New York. Similar to the question of which came first the chicken or the egg, many question which name came first: the province or the lake.

Throughout history Lake Ontario was named various French phrases before the name Ontario was decided. Ontario means “lake of shining waters” in the Huron Indian Wyandot language. In the seventeenth century Lake Ontario was named Lake St. Louis or Lac de St. Louis after the French king Louis XIV. During the same century a French history named it Lacus Ontarius ou des Iroquois. The Iroquois nation called Lake Ontario “Skanadario.” Through all this history the province Ontario was named after the lake itself, meaning the lake’s name came before the province’s name.

Lake Ontario is the eastern-most of the Great Lakes and is the outlet of the lakes’ water flow to the Atlantic Ocean through the St. Lawrence River. Lake Ontario’s main water source is the Niagara River that drains from Lake Erie. Almost all the islands in this lake are in the eastern and northeastern section of the lake and stand between Prince Edward County and Kingston. Because Lake Ontario is so deep it almost never freezes over completely. Instead between ten and ninety percent of the lake freezes in the winter months.

Lake Erie is the shallowest of the five Great Lakes and has the smallest surface area of nearly ten thousand square miles. This lake is also the thirteen largest lake in the world. As the southernmost lake some of the largest, well-known cities in the United States happen to dot Lake Erie’s coast, including Buffalo, New York; Cleveland, Ohio; Erie, Pennsylvania; and Toledo, Ohio. The islands of this lake are mostly located on the western side and include thirty-one separate islands. Lake Erie gained its name from the Iroquois Erie Indian tribe that inhabited the area on the southern shore.

The outflow of Lake Erie produces hydroelectric power to both the United States and Canada through Niagara Fall’s large turbines.

The climate of Lake Erie is colder than the other four lakes. Because it is shallower it tends to freeze over completely. It is also named Canada’s thunderstorm capital. Lake Erie has a lake retention under three years and is fed by the Detroit River. The Niagara River empties this lake into Lake Ontario. The lake-effect that comes off of Lake Erie makes both Erie and Buffalo the thirteenth and eleventh snowiest areas in the United States.

Even though commercial fishing is not allowed, sport fishing is common on both the Canadian and American sides. Given that Lake Erie often freezes over ice fishing is also prominent. Some fishermen even build bonfires right on the ice. Of course this “little” lake does not come without its stories. The Lake Erie Monster has no confirmed reported sightings, though it is a black monster rumored to be thirty-five feet long.

Lake Huron is the second largest of the five Great Lakes. It holds a surface area greater than 23,000 square feet. Having the same elevation as Lake Michigan, Lake Huron has one of the shallowest depths at 195 feet on average. Despite the extremes this lake stands in the middle of the other four with the third deepest maximum depth of 770 feet. The major cities that dot the Lake Huron coast include Alphena, Michigan; Bay City, Michigan; Port Huron, Michigan; Sarnia, Ontario; and Owen Sound, Ontario.

Technically Lake Huron and Lake Michigan are hydrologically one lake. These two lakes are not connected by a river, like most lakes, but instead are connected by the Straits of Mackinac that is 295 feet deep. Ontario resides to the east and Michigan resides to the west of this large lake. Lake Huron is the third largest freshwater lake in the world and contains the world’s largest freshwater island, Manitoulin Island. With thirty thousand islands Lake Huron also has the largest shore line, when measured in length, of the five lakes.

Lake Huron got its name from French explores who named the lake after the Huron people who inhabited the area. Other names, such as Karegnondi, call this lake “the Freshwater Sea” or “the Lake of the Hurons.” Early European maps named this lake “Lac des Hurons.”

Over a thousand wrecks have taken place in Lake Huron. The most notable is that of the “Griffin.” In 1679 the “Griffin” sank when returning to Buffalo. Exactly where the wreck took place is still debatable and includes four or five theories.