Staff Report
Alaskan Brewing, founded in 1986, will soon be available through Illinois, the Juneau brewery announced in a press release. Starting in mid-September, beer lovers will see for sale Amber, White, Husky IPA, Hopothermia Double-IPA, and the Taste of Alaska Sampler Pack. Alaskan’s Seasonal Winter Ale will follow in October.
Alaskan is partnering with a network of 14 distributors statewide, including Lakeshore Beverage in Chicago, to bring into Illinois brews made from the glacier-fed waters of Juneau. The move into Illinois will mark the 20th state where Alaskan Brewing is distributed.
“We are more than excited about the opportunity to bring Alaskan Brewing into the Chicago market. Although Chicago is a big city over 3,000 miles away from Juneau, we have always appreciated many of the things that make Alaska and their people so special. Among these, a sense of adventure, a love of the outdoors and great beers. We know these qualities will reflect in success for Alaskan Brewing in the Windy City,” said Austin Sawyer, Sales Director-Import/Craft Brands for Lakeshore Beverage.
“We’ve been looking at expanding into Illinois for many years now,” said Alaskan Sales Director Merv Boyce. “It’s a perfect fit for us. We’re working with a group of enthusiastic and knowledgeable distributors, we know we already have many fans in the state who are eager for our beer, and our story and the amazing place our beer represents is something that resonates with the people of Illinois.”
Lakeshore is one of 14 distributor partners Alaskan will be working with to cover the entire state of Illinois.
The others are Grey Eagle Distributors in Belleville, Vengoni Distributing in Carbondale, B&G Vengoni Distributing in Christopher, Skeff Distributing in Decatur, G&M Distributors in Galesburg, Donnewald Dist. In Greenville, Golden Eagle in Jacksonville and Marion, LaMonica Beverage in Loves Park, Ronchetti Distributing in Mattoon, Stern Beverage in Milan, Brewers Distributing in Peoria, Rinella Co. in Quincy, and Superior Beverage Co. in Montgomery.
“At Alaskan Brewing, we have a motto: We Brew the Way We Brew Because of Where We Brew,” said Boyce. “The state of Alaska has influenced all of our beers and the way in which we brew – sometimes because of the challenges of living and making beer in an isolated community. But we have always aspired to provide people with a small part of the Alaska experience in every bottle of beer we make.”
Alaskan Brewing Co. was founded in Juneau, Alaska, in 1986 by Marcy and Geoff Larson. The young couple solicited help from about 80 investors to form the country’s 67th independent brewery at the time, the first since prohibition in Juneau. Though founded in 1986, its history reaches back to the Gold Rush Era, from which many recipes draw inspiration.
