PORTAGE | The Port of Indiana-Burns Harbor may have to toast craft brewers if it breaks last year’s record cargo volume, which it’s on pace to do.
Last year, Portage’s deepwater port on Lake Michigan handled more cargo than ever before in its 44-year history, breaking the previous record by 3 percent.
So far this year, shipments are up 7 percent over 2014. June shipments shot up by 13 percent.
“The port continues to be a preferred inland hub for large specialty cargoes and the craft brewing industry,” Port Director Rick Heimann said.
“The increased popularity of craft brewing has brought multiple shipments of European-made beer tanks to the port in the past two years. We have handled over 40 fermentation tanks, generally in excess of 20,000 gallons apiece, for at least three different breweries in Illinois and Michigan.”
The popular craft brewery Laguinitas, for instance, got its tanks shipped from Europe through the Port of Indiana-Burns Harbor when it expanded to Chicago, where it built a massive production brewery to serve the Midwest and East Coast… CLICK HERE TO READ THE FULL STORY AT NWI TIMES
