E-Malt.com News article: USA, IN: 18th Street Brewery to more than double its output

There are worse problems than expanding your business 1,100 square feet, only to find that you're already at capacity again, if you ask Drew Fox of 18th Street Brewery, Chicago Tribune reported on March 6.

The founder and master brewer of 18th Street Brewery Gary, Idiana's Miller section is only 15 months into brewing his award-winning beers at its 5725 Miller Ave. location, and he's already reached "Phase 4" of his business plan. Fox purchased the building directly behind the brewery – a vault that used to house cleaned furs behind the old cleaners the brewery/brew pub now occupies - and has installed five-15 barrel fermenters that will, when hooked up, more than double the brewery's output to more than 1,000 barrels from 500 a year, he said.

Anyone else might say 18th Street is expanding at a break-neck pace, but to Fox, things are still "nice and slow." And staying in Gary is helping him keep a steady hand on his growth. When expansion talk first materialized at the end of last year, Fox looked to expand the brewery operations to Hammond while keeping the pub in Gary.

"Hammond was ready to have us – they knew all about us and were extremely nice," Fox said. "But my heart has always been here in Gary, and in the end, the expansion had to make sense, and it made more sense to stay here," he said. "We're enjoying the growth we're seeing, but we're also in no rush to expand beyond our means."

Fox's beer, which includes favorites such as Hunter, a double milk stout; and Sour Note, a sour red ale, has picked up a wide following in Northwest Indiana as well as Indianapolis. The current brewery is having trouble keeping up with demand.

"Our first responsibility is keeping beer in the pub and in the surrounding areas," he said.

Already at 15 employees, the summer months will see 18th Street hire at least five more people in both the brewery and the pub, added 18th Street Creative Director Joey Potts. But the main goal, of course, remains the product.

"We're not trying to stop growth by any means," Potts said. "We just want to continue putting out the best product possible while expanding distribution."

Potts said the construction on "the vault" is expected to be completed at the end of April.


11 March, 2015