First opened in 2002 in the lakeside town of Lakewood, NY, Southern Tier Brewing Company was founded on a vision of reviving a long and rich small-batch brewing tradition in its immediate region of Western New York and Western Pennsylvania. That envisioned revival was realized years ago, and now Southern Tier continues to take its devoted fans’ beer-drinking experiences up a notch with a range of offerings focused on rich, delicious flavors.
What began with a base lineup of four beers — the IPA, Pilsner, Mild and Porter — has grown to include several varieties ranging from flavorful IPAs like the high-octane 2XIPA family, The 2X Factor, to renowned Pumking Imperial Pumpkin Ale, indulgent Blackwater imperial stouts and refreshing 8 Days a Week blonde. And from its humble beginnings in a brewing facility nestled in the woods near Chautauqua Lake, the brand with a once-small footprint has now developed into a world-class craft beverage maker with distribution covering more than half of the United States and tap rooms located in Lakewood, Buffalo, Cleveland, Pittsburgh and Charlotte. Its lineup has grown to span segments including craft beer, spirits, and canned cocktails.
Southern Tier’s approach to brewing might be best characterized by its attention to detail and its gritty resolve to dive deeply into perfecting its big, flavor-focused offerings. A rigorous R&D process ensures that they go above and beyond to separate themselves from the rest. Consistently ‘testing and learning’ by way of consumer feedback through tap rooms results creates tried and true year round, seasonal and limited releases. And demonstrating its proficiency with a wide variety of beer styles (and its fans’ trust in its broad brewing expertise), Southern Tier’s current best-selling SKU is its Overpack’d mixed 15 pack, which includes a range of IPAs and, an easy drinking blonde ale.
Another big part of Southern Tier’s philosophy is its belief that sharing drinks with friends creates meaningful moments — and that with a lot of hard work, the beers can be as amazing as the moment itself. Such was the reasoning behind joining forces with Artisanal Brewing Ventures in 2014, a move that has allowed Southern Tier’s brewers to focus on their craft while allowing the brand to reach more craft-beer faithful in a range of new regions. Add to these benefits the ability to create business-end efficiencies by sharing common resources like administrators, marketers and accountants — along with gaining improved access to better, hand-selected ingredients and the collaborative possibilities that scaling and the pooling of resources bring — and the Southern Tier-ABV partnership is a match made in beer lovers’ heaven.
Now at 20 years old, Southern Tier continues its relentless pursuit of bringing beer drinkers the most in flavor, and of perfecting unique recipes that will delight your passion for a great beverage. Here’s to a heightened drinking experience for you and the friends you’ve known for ages … or the ones you’ve just made.