MARQUETTE – Blackrocks Brewery of Marquette announced last week that it will increase production and distribution this summer.

The brewery will grow its total production by 60 percent to 7,000 barrels a year and begin distributing to the metro Detroit area. Imperial Beverage, based in Kalamazoo, will handle the lower Michigan distribution.

It feels great,” said Andy Langlois, co-owner of Blackrocks Brewery. “With every step we take, it’s always a little daunting. … It just seems like a natural progression right now for us, and we’ve gotten a lot of support from not only the U.P. market that pretty much helped in allowing us to grow and go down there.”

Blackrocks was distributing primarily in the Upper Peninsula with a small portion of its product in northern lower Michigan and the Grand Rapids area, but Imperial Beverage began distribution in southeast Michigan on Tuesday.

“We get a lot of calls from people downstate, asking, ‘when are you going to be in Detroit area?’ So we’re pretty excited to finally represent Blackrocks and the Marquette area down there,” said Langlois.

Blackrocks offers a 51K IPA, Grand Rabbits Dry Hopped Cream Ale and Coconut Brown among other seasonal and limited releases in cans.

“Everything that we’re doing up here, we’ll be distributing down there,” Langlois said.

The brewery started in 2010 with a one-barrel brewhouse producing 270 barrels in its first year. 2012 saw the addition of a three-barrel system. In 2013, Blackrocks purchased a former Coca-Cola bottling building in Marquette and scaled its operations to a 20-barrel brewhouse producing 4,500 barrels by the end of 2014.

Going forward, Blackrocks Brewery will have representation and distribution statewide, according to a press release.

Justin Marietti can be reached at (906) 228-2500, ext. 245. His email address is jmarietti@miningjournal.net.