SweetWater Brewing has announced plans to expand distribution throughout Chicago in early 2015, the first in a slew of new markets the Atlanta brewery plans to launch in the first quarter of the New Year.
The brewery has partnered with Lakeshore Beverage for coverage in the area, which, beginning in the spring, will distribute draft and packaged offerings — including flagships 420 Extra Pale Ale and SweetWater IPA — throughout the city.
Chicago marks the northernmost point of distribution yet for the southern brewery.
SweetWater, which currently distributes beer throughout 12 states and Washington D.C., has also announced its intentions to launch in Texas and two more, as of yet unnamed markets, by mid-year, rounding its footprint out to 16 states.
SweetWater, which sold a minority stake to a private equity firm this past September, sold 144,000 barrels in 2013.