Urban Chestnut Expanding Distribution To Chicago

As Missouri’s third largest craft brewery, Urban Chestnut had been previously constrained by its capacity and limited to distributing their beers primarily to the St. Louis metro area, but with about 30,000 bbls of annual brewing capacity now on-line, the new operation in the Grove has allowed Urban Chestnut to expand its brewing output, and provide the brewery with the ability to increase its distribution footprint.

Last year, the company took advantage of their new capacity by expanding distribution to Columbia, Jefferson City and Kansas City, MO. This week, Urban Chestnut is preparing to open up the Chicago market.

“We’ve been seriously interested in selling our beers in Chicago for quite a while,” said David Wolfe. “We’re thrilled to be entering a market with such a hyper-dynamic brewing scene; a craft beer market with lots of local breweries, a constant stream of new entries, and an abundance of avid and knowledgeable beer drinkers.”

Urban Chestnut will be partnering with Lakeshore Beverage Company, Illinois’ largest distributor, to distribute their beers in Chicago.

“Lakeshore is a first-class operation, with a lot of talented people,” remarks Jon Shine, Urban Chestnut’s Head of Sales Operations. “Their commitment to growing craft beer in the Chicago area and belief in Urban Chestnut makes them an ideal partner for us.”

Urban Chestnut Brewing Company’s brewing philosophy centers around Beer Divergency—a ‘new world meets old world’ brewing approach wherein UCBC contributes to the “revolution” of craft beer through creations of artisanal, modern American beers, and pays “reverence” to the heritage of beer with offerings of classically- crafted, timeless European beer styles.