Lakefront Brewery, Inc.

Lakefront Brewery is a microbrewery based in the Beerline B neighborhood of Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Founded in 1987 by brothers Russ and Jim Klisch, several of its brands are named after Milwaukee neighborhoods, such as Riverwest Stein Beer and East Side Dark. The brewery often uses Wisconsin-grown ingredients, including Door County cherries.

The brewery is noted for its gluten-free brand, New Grist, which is brewed using sorghum and gluten-free yeast. The brewery successfully petitioned the U.S. Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau to allow this product to be called a beer despite not having the previously required 25% malted barley content. [cite web|url=http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art37867.asp|title=Barley free - Gluten Free Beer for Celiacs from Lakefront Brewery|author=Carolyn Smagalski|publisher=BellaOnline.com|accessdate=2007-04-10]

Growth of the brewery has been strong in recent years, especially due to the gluten-free product. The brewery shipped 8,863 barrels of beer to wholesalers in 2006, a 2,571 barrels, or 41% increase from the 2005 total. [cite web|url=http://www.biztimes.com/daily/2007/1/26/gluten-free-beer-fuels-growth-for-lakefront-brewery|title=Gluten-free beer fuels growth for Lakefront Brewery|publisher="Small Business Times"|date=2007-01-26|accessdate=2007-04-10] The success of the gluten-free product has attracted competitive interest from other brewers, large and small. [cite web|url=http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4196/is_20060703/ai_n16512574/pg_1|title=Brewing up a niche: Lakefront Brewery finds success with New Grist|author=Tom Daykin|publisher="Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel"|date=2006-07-03|accessdate=2007-04-10] The brewery offers daily beer tours and a Friday night fish fry (with polka music) at a banquet hall.

The Brewery also has a strong presence at Summerfest in Milwaukee, featuring its own pavilion selling a variety of its brews, including New Grist. [http://www.onmilwaukee.com/seasonal/summerfest/articles/omcrecs070308.html]

Notes

External links

* [http://www.lakefrontbrewery.com Lakefront Brewery website]
* [http://www.flickr.com/groups/lakefrontbrewery/ Lakefront Brewery Flickr Photo group]