18th Street Brewery secures an independent future in NW Indiana — to open new brewpub in Gary, IN and a new 32k sq. ft. production facility in Hammond, IN
18th Street Brewery, lead by entrepreneur and brewer, Drew Fox, has earned local and international standing as a start-up in Gary, Indiana. Initially built through crowd funding on Kickstarter, the brewery has gone on to win “Best New Brewery in Indiana” from Ratebeer.com, collaborated with some of the world’s most creative brewers, and appealed to a local audience that stretches from downstate Indiana, to Chicago and the NW Indiana corridor, and audiences as far away as Denmark. Now, Fox and his team have found themselves on the verge of an incredible new chapter in the future of the business.
“Because of the local support we’ve gotten over the past couple years, we’ve been able to turn our hustle into a significant business and cultural opportunity here in NW Indiana. I’m still sort of shocked it’s all happened, but I’m not going to push pause now. It’s time for us to turn all that support into something significant for the community,” says Fox. “We’ve learned a lot of lessons since we started this thing, and one of the most important lessons is in maintaining your independence as a business, and making sure you’re looking far, far ahead."