When the brothers Conway put their heads together back in 1988, they came up with a novel idea. Under the pseudonym “The Great Lakes Brewing Company,” they would manufacture all natural, unpasteurized lagers and ales in the heart of their hometown of Cleveland — a tactic that would both make them Ohio’s first proper microbrewery and set them apart from their lite beer brethren up Milwaukee way. Twenty-two years on, it’s still working like a charm.
“It’s a little beyond what I would call a regional brewery. We’re in Minnesota, Ohio, Michigan, western New York, West Virginia, Indiana, Pennsylvania…kind of the Northeast, mid-Atlantic and Midwest,” said Great Lakes Sales Rep Bernie Van Order, a local boy who, as a former craft brewer himself, boasts mucho beer connoisseur cred.
Van Order was on hand to officiate Great Lakes’ official DC debut at The Big Hunt in Dupont Circle this past January and although the brewery’s goods may now be available far from the shores that named them, each and every one of their pours is still definitively Cleveland born. For a town unfortunately known as “The Mistake on the Lake,” the Ohio city bears a boatload of American history hallmarks — good and bad — that Patrick and Daniel Conway decided to honor in the names bestowed on their bottles.
Of the five Great Lakes varieties currently available in the District, their Eliot Ness Amber Lager pays tribute to the former “Untouchable” and Cleveland safety director for which it’s named, while Burning River Pale Ale recalls the notorious 1969 burning of the Cuyahoga River. Meanwhile, their “monumental” Commodore Perry IPA honors the war hero who staved off the British during the War of 1812 and the much-lauded Edmund Fitzgerald Porter honors the seafaring vessel that sank to the bottom of Lake Superior on November 10, 1975. Luckily for the latter, not everything is a name.
“I had a roommate from Ohio that used to bring back the Edmond Fitzgerald Porter and I have to say — I’ve been brewing professionally for 10 years. I’ve brewed for Victory, Old Dominion and Capitol City — and I’ve got to say that it’s probably one of the best American porters out there,” said Van Order. “That’s always a ‘go to’ for me, but I’m a lager guy too, so the Eliot Ness and the Dortmunder are both great.”
That would be Great Lakes’ Dortmunder Gold — better known as the Dort for short. Originally named “The Heisman” after the local football hero who happened to live around the corner from the Conways’ brewery, the Dortmunder was Great Lakes’ first beer and the contents of its first 1,000 barrels. As the Dort has gone on to rack up some 15 gold medals since 1990, the brothers felt it was worthy of a name more befitting of its vaunted stature. (Tough break, we know). Today, it’s still one of the brewery’s bestsellers.
“Right now, it’s kind of neck and neck [in terms of popularity] between our Dortmunder and the Edmond Fitzgerald…but I would say that the Dort overall is very approachable and really just a well-made lager. It’s on the lighter side, but that’s just relative to all our beers. It’s still got plenty of legs, a great malt backbone and a nice little hop zip to it,” said Van Order.
In addition to being available by the six-pack in Whole Foods and Yes! Organic stores in DC, Great Lakes’ wares are available on tap citywide at what Van Order describes as “a nice range of some higher-end, fine dining places to just neighborhood joints” that includes everything from The Reef in Adams Morgan to white table cloth standbys like Central Michel Richard and Komi.
Sadly for folks outside the District proper, Great Lakes has yet to make inroads into Maryland and Virginia. Van Order hopes that will be changing over the next year or so as the company’s Cleveland brewery undergoes a massive build-out that will up production to the 100,000 barrel mark in 2010.
In the meantime, Great Lakes plan to keep on reminding Washingtonians that there’s more to their hometown than the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as their regular five brews get added to more metro area bars and they ramp up promotions for their rotating cadre of seasonal four and six packs. Next up? Holy Moses White Ale spiced with orange peel, chamomile and coriander… just in time for Easter.
Great Lakes Brewing Company: www.greatlakesbrewing.com
