Laurelwood Brewing, a certified organic brewery out of Portland, Ore., will begin exporting its beers in Canada next month.
Per an agreement with Beerthirst, a craft beer wholesaler headquartered in Vancouver, Laurelwood beers – including Workhorse IPA, Free Range Red, and its seasonal offerings – will be available at specialty beer and liquor stores throughout British Columbia and Alberta by mid-May. The company said it also has plans to expand distribution to additional provinces, but did not provide a definitive timeline for when that will happen.
Jason Lehr, Beerthirst’s territory manager for Vancouver East and Tri-Cities, said the new partnership bolsters the company’s reputation as an international distributor of coveted American craft beers.
“This partnership solidifies our relationship with the motherland of craft beer,” he said in a press statement.
Beerthirst currently sells brands from a number of prominent west coast breweries, including Green Flash, Elysian, Craft Brew Alliance, Two Beers, North Coast, Maui Brewing, and Bear Republic.
For Laurelwood, this is the second international expansion the company has undertaken in 2015 — it launched distribution in Tokyo, Japan earlier this year. In the states, the company has a presence in its home state of Oregon as well as in Washington, Alaska, Idaho, and Pennsylvania.
Laurelwood sold 17,000 barrels in 2014, according to a spokesperson with the company, up from 11,100 the year prior.