Suntimes Press

Along with the NWI Times article we have a write up in the Chicago Sun Times by Bill Ruminski. View the article online here, or read below. 

Gary’s 18th Street Brewery expects to double its capacity by the end of the year and have a canning operation up and running.

The brewer, which began production seven months ago, will increase its capacity from about 500 barrels a year to more than 1,000 barrels. The company is replacing its nine, 7-barrel fermenters with 10-barrel fermenters. The canning line is expected to arrive in late September.

18th Street Brewery intends to switch from packaging its beers in 22-ounce bottles to cans, using the bottles for special releases.

“It takes us about eight hours to bottle just one 7-barrel tank,” owner Drew Fox said in a news release. “These moves will make us much more efficient, even as we’re growing.”

The increased capacity will position 18th Street to distribute throughout Indiana. The brewer has worked out an agreement with Starlight Distributors to deliver more of its beers in the Indianapolis area. And 18th Street recently collaborated with Mikkeller, a Copenhagen, Denmark-based brewer.

“Even before we opened our doors, we’ve had nothing but incredible support from so many people,” Fox said. “Since we opened last winter, that support has been overwhelming. We really can’t thank people enough for that. We’re ecstatic.”