Keweenaw Brewing Company

The Keweenaw Brewing Company (KBC) is a craft brewer in Houghton, Michigan. It is named for the detached Keweenaw Peninsula, which projects out to the north of Michigan's Upper Peninsula. Established in 2004, it is the largest brewer in the Upper Peninsula, with can and bottle sales that extend into Minnesota, Ohio, Wisconsin, and Michigan's Lower Peninsula.[1][2]

History

The Keweenaw Brewing Company opened in 2004. It was founded by Paul Boissevain and Richard Grey, who previously worked at the same oil company in Denver, Colorado, and lost their jobs around the same time.[3] Keweenaw was the second modern microbrewery in the Upper Peninsula, coming over three decades after the last brewery (Bosch) had closed in Houghton in 1973.[4][upper-alpha 1]

Located on Shelden Street in Houghton's downtown, Keweenaw quickly became financially successful despite not serving food. In the first year after opening, the brewery brewed 400 barrels of beer and took over a storefront next door.[6][7] In the following year, they brewed 1,100 barrels, and within three years of opening, they added a deck with parking options and were producing 2,000 barrels.[6][7]

In 2007, the brewpub expanded its production capabilities by purchasing a warehouse in South Range, Michigan, located just to the south of Houghton, and installing brewing and canning equipment within it.[2][8][upper-alpha 2] They began canning their beer in the same year,[9] putting Keweenaw in the vanguard of the canning of craft beer in the United States.[10][11]

In 2018, the company sold 11,349 barrels of beer within Michigan, making it the ninth-largest brewer in the state and the largest brewer in the Upper Peninsula.[12][13] This total was up from 10,469 barrels in 2017,[13] and 9,801 in 2016.[14] As of 2015, the brewery sold its products in Minnesota, Ohio, Wisconsin, and Michigan's Lower Peninsula.[2][15] By 2018, the brewing company inked a deal with Comerica Park, the stadium which hosts baseball's Detroit Tigers, to distribute their beer.[16]

Location

As of 2019, Keweenaw Brewing Company's brewpub's interior space measured 3,400 square feet (320 m2) and contained two bars and a fireplace. The exterior deck looks out over the Keweenaw Waterway, which separates Houghton from the city of Hancock and the rest of Copper Island.[12] As of 2013, all of the taproom's employees were students at nearby Michigan Technological University,[9] and the brewery's existence was used as a selling point in attracting employees to the college.[17]

Recognition and beer

In 2015, U.S. News & World Report named Keweenaw as one of the best breweries in the Midwestern United States.[18]

The most popular beer sold by the Keweenaw Brewing Company is Widow Maker Black Ale, whose name stems from a dangerous one-person drill once used in service of the region's extensive copper mining.[6][12] They started canning the beer in 2009.[19]

See also

Footnotes
  1. Although the founders of the Keweenaw Brewing Company claim to have been the first,[2] historian Russell Magnaghi lists Hereford & Hops Steakhouse and Brewpub in Escanaba as the first craft brewery in the Upper Peninsula.[5]
  2. Sources report different areas for the warehouse. Historian Russell Magnaghi gave 12,000 square feet (1,100 m2) in a 2015 book,[8] while a news article in 2014 gave 16,000 square feet (1,500 m2).[2]

Endnotes
  1. Magnaghi (2015), pp. 81, 87–91, 112.
  2. Baur, Joe (May 7, 2014). "Pioneers: U.P. craft beer is a growing business". Second Wave Media.
  3. Magnaghi (2015), p. 87.
  4. Magnaghi (2015), pp. 84, 87.
  5. Magnaghi (2015), p. 84.
  6. Magnaghi (2015), p. 88.
  7. "Thirsty Thursday: Keweenaw Brewing Co". Ishpeming, Michigan: WBUP-TV. April 18, 2014 – via YouTube.
  8. Magnaghi (2015), pp. 88–90.
  9. Klug, Fritz (September 8, 2013). "Michigan's Best Brewery: Keweenaw Brewing Company is a community gathering place with $2.50 pints". MLive.
  10. Liberty, John (March 16, 2008). "Greener craft beer packaging? Yes you can-can". MLive.
  11. Smith, Josh; Crowe, Larry (March 31, 2008). "More evidence the craft-brew set has an open mind for aluminum cans?". MLive / Kalamazoo Gazette. Associated Press.
  12. Manzullo, Brian (July 24, 2019). "Michigan's Upper Peninsula: The top 7 breweries you must visit". Detroit Free Press.
  13. Mack, Julie (September 19, 2019). "Michigan's top 50 beer brewers, based on 2018 in-state sales". MLive.
  14. Mack, Julie (July 12, 2018). "Michigan's top 50 beer brewers, based on 2017 in-state sales". MLive.
  15. Magnaghi (2015), p. 91.
  16. "Keweenaw Brewing Company brews 1,000th batch". Ishpeming, Michigan: WBUP-TV. March 16, 2018 – via YouTube.
  17. Magnaghi (2015), p. 112.
  18. Volkman, Claire (December 31, 2015). "The 8 Best Breweries and Brewpubs in the Midwest". U.S. News & World Report.
  19. Smith, Josh (May 15, 2009). "Look for Keweenaw Brewing Company's Widowmaker Black Ale to be on store shelves soon – in a can". MLive.

References
  • Magnaghi, Russell (2015). Upper Peninsula Beer: A History of Brewing Above the Bridge. Charleston, SC: American Palate/The History Press. ISBN 978-1-62619-568-4.
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