NEWS
Get your coolers ready, because Rally Drum Lemon Shandy is once again sliding into home plate in 2026! Brewed with real lemon, this citrus-infused sipper is perfect for a day at the ballpark, freshening up your seasonal recipes, or bringing to the cookout.
Rally Drum Lemon Shandy arrives at the GLBC gift shop beginning Friday, March 20 in 6-Pack and 12-Pack 12 oz. Cans, in 19.2 oz. Cans at Great Lakes and select venues like Progressive Field, and within the NEW Sunshine Party Pack. Find it in draft at our brewpub and throughout our entire distribution footprint beginning in April. To locate Rally Drum Lemon Shandy and other GLBC beers in your area, visit our Beer Finder.
See complete release details below.
GLBC Gift Shop: Beginning Friday, March 20, 2026
Distribution Markets: Beginning April
IN THE CAN:
Flavor: We love a squeeze play, so we loaded our lager base with a hit of sweetness and lemon for a refreshing Shandy that scores big when it comes to flavor.
ABV: 4.0%
Pairs with: BBQ chicken, soft pretzels, and berry cobbler
Malts: 2-Row Base, Rye
Hops: Mt. Hood
Specials: Lemon Juice Concentrate, Lemon Natural Flavors
It’s time for lime! Get your beach blankets ready, because Mexican Lager with Lime is back for another season of lakeside lounging! Brewed with real lime peel and purée, this citrus-infused cerveza adds a zesty zip to quenching golden malt flavors and subtle hop aromas. Add a little extra ice to your cooler, because this laid back lager shines as bright as the summer sun.
Mexican Lager with Lime arrives at the GLBC gift shop beginning Friday, March 20 in 6-Pack and 12-Pack 12 oz. Cans, in 19.2 oz. Cans at Great Lakes and select venues, and within the NEW Sunshine Party Pack. Find it in draft at our brewpub and throughout our entire distribution footprint — including the newly launched Florida market– beginning in April. To locate Mexican Lager with Lime and other GLBC beers in your area, visit our Beer Finder.
See complete release details below.
GLBC Gift Shop: Beginning Friday, March 20, 2026
Distribution Markets: Beginning April
IN THE CAN:
Flavor: Spread a blanket and luxuriate in sunny rays of zesty lime and crisp, clean malt flavors.
ABV: 5.4%
IBU: 20
Pairs with: Baja fish tacos, pineapple salsa, and fruit salad
Malts: 2-Row Base, Flaked Corn
Hops: Mt. Hood
Specials: Lime Peel, Lime Purée
Now playing: Return of the Lake Erie Monster Double IPA. The cult favorite returns for 2026 in 6-Pack 12 oz. Cans and Draft as part of our Double Feature IPA Series.
Return of the Lake Erie Monster Double IPA is the latest launch in our Double Feature IPA Series, a rotating series of classic and remastered Double IPAs with epic cinematic artwork and even bigger thrills in the can. Each release in the Double Feature IPA Series is available in 6-Pack 12 oz. Cans and Draft for a limited time.
Return of the Lake Erie Monster releases in the GLBC gift shop on Friday, March 20, and begins hitting all GLBC markets starting in April. See complete release details below, and stay tuned for a new brew in the Double Feature IPA Series, coming summer 2026.
GLBC Gift Shop: Beginning Friday, March 20
Distribution Markets: Beginning April
IN THE CAN:
Flavor: Now playing: an epic remake of a cult classic Double IPA, remastered and deviously drinkable.
ABV: 9.5%
IBU: 65
Pairs with: Fried walleye, buffalo wings, and nachos
Malts: 2-Row Base, Caramel 30
Hops: Apollo, Willamette, Idaho 7, Simcoe, Azacca
Want the latest buzz? Subscribe to our Much Abrew newsletter and follow us on Facebook, X, and Instagram for updates on all our year-round, seasonal, and limited release beers. Keep up to date with brewpub releases and events at our brewpub Instagram.
Questions? Email glbcinfo@greatlakesbrewing.com for more information.
Sunshine Party Pack Debuts With New Year-Round Orange & Honey Wheat
Your perfect warm weather variety pack is here! Following new Orange & Honey Wheat’s year-round debut in 6-Packs and Draft, it appears in our latest seasonal variety pack: Sunshine Party Pack. Alongside Orange & Honey Wheat are returning seasonal fan favorites Mexican Lager with Lime, Rally Drum Lemon Shandy, and the Sunshine Party Pack Exclusive Orange & Lime Shandy. Sunshine Party Pack joins our seasonal rotation for a limited time starting in March.
Sunshine Party Pack’s bright colors and flavorful seasonal selections make it the perfect mix for spring and summer gatherings, from cookouts to camping trips and everything in between. Sunshine Party Pack follows January’s Irish Party Pack which brought authentic Irish-inspired brews home. Stay tuned for future Great Lakes Party Pack releases!
Release Details:
Gift Shop Release: Friday, March 20, 2026
All Markets: Starting late March, 2026
What’s Inside?
Orange & Honey Wheat (NEW!): 5.5% ABV. Also available in 6-Pack cans & draft.
A touch of honey and a twist of blood orange combine in this refreshingly balanced everyday sipper.
Mexican Lager with Lime: 5.4%. Also available in 6- and 12-Pack cans, & draft.
Find a sunny spot and lounge awhile with this golden Mexican-Style Lager, brewed with real lime peel and purée and flaked corn for a crisp and refreshing getaway.
Rally Drum Lemon Shandy: 4.0%. Also available in 6- and 12-Pack cans, 19.2 oz. cans, & draft.
We love a squeeze play, so we loaded our lager base with a hit of sweetness and lemon for a refreshing Shandy that scores big when it comes to flavor.
Orange & Lime Shandy (NEW!): 4.0%. Exclusive to Sunshine Party Pack.
This bright Shandy delivers a smooth and delicious citrus blend that will leave you beaming.
Want the latest buzz? Subscribe to our Much Abrew newsletter and follow us on Facebook, X, and Instagram for updates on all our year-round, seasonal, and limited release beers. Keep up to date with brewpub releases and events at our brewpub Instagram.
Questions? Email glbcinfo@greatlakesbrewing.com for more information.
Bring a little Irish flavor to your St. Patrick’s Day table. This collection of recipes features dishes made with Conway’s Irish Ale and Conway’s Irish Stout. From hearty mains to sweet treats, you can cook, sip, and celebrate the season with these beer infused dishes!
Conway’s Irish Ale Soda Bread
INGREDIENTS
1 2/3 C buttermilk, cold
2/3 C Conway’s Irish Ale
1 Tbsp lemon juice (or vinegar)
1 egg
4 C flour
4 Tbsp granulated sugar
1 ½ tsp baking soda
1 tsp kosher salt
4 Tbsp cold butter, diced
1 C raisins or currants (optional)
METHOD
Preheat oven to 425F. In a mixing bowl, combine the buttermilk, Conway’s Irish Ale, lemon juice, and egg. Whisk together, then set aside. In a separate bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking soda, and salt, and whisk together. Mix in raisins or currants.
Add butter to the flour mixture and work into small pea-sized pieces with your hands or a pastry cutter.
Create a well in the middle of the flour mixture. Pour buttermilk mixture into the well. Use a spatula to fold the mixture together until flour is worked in. Dough will be wet and shaggy. Transfer the dough to a lightly floured surface and form into a round loaf. Be careful not to overwork the dough. You do not need to knead the dough until smooth. Place onto a parchment-lined baking sheet or seasoned cast iron pan.
Score the top with an “X” and bake for 25-30 minutes or until the top is golden brown and the center is set. The bread should be 200F at the center. Tent the bread with foil if the top is getting too much color.
Let cool, then slice and serve.
Conway’s Irish Ale Dublin Coddle
INGREDIENTS
6 pork sausages (about 1 ½ lbs)
2 bottles Conway’s Irish Ale
8 oz. bacon ends (or thick cut bacon), cut into lardons
1 large yellow onion, chopped finely
3 carrots, thinly sliced on a bias
2 large golden potatoes, sliced thinly
2 C chicken stock (or broth)
Salt
Pepper
Vegetable oil
METHOD
Preheat oven to 425°F.
Preheat a large saucepan over medium heat. Add the bacon lardon, cooking until bacon fat has rendered and bacon is golden and crisped. Stir occasionally to prevent burning. Remove bacon, and pour off bacon fat until roughly two tablespoons remains in the pan. Reserve the remainder bacon fat.
Add onion and fry, stirring frequently, until caramelized. Remove onion from pan, reserving separately.
Add remainder of bacon fat and carrot slices and fry briefly, until carrots begin to sweat and cook through. Remove and reserve separately.
Add a tablespoon of vegetable oil if necessary, then add pork sausages, frying until lightly golden, about 2 minutes each side. Reduce heat to medium, and add beer to the pan to cover sausages about halfway. Cook until finished, flipping halfway through (about 5 minutes). Set sausages aside, slicing them thinly when they cool enough to touch.
Add chicken stock to the pan, then bring heat to high and reduce the liquid by half. Scrape the bottom of the pan with a wooden spoon to loosen any fond.
In a separate casserole dish, layer a third of the potato slices on the bottom of the dish, then lightly season with salt and pepper. Add a layer of bacon, then onion, then carrot, then a third of the pork. Repeat once more, then top with the remainder of the potato. Season each layer as you go (salting lightly if you’re using presalted stock).
Cover with aluminum foil, then a casserole lid, and place in the oven for 40-45 minutes. Check towards the end of the cooking time to ensure the liquid hasn’t completely evaporated. Add water or additional stock if desired.
Conway’s Irish Ale Irish Cream Cheesecake
INGREDIENTS
Cheesecake:
– Graham cracker crust, pressed – in springform pan
– 2 lb cream cheese, room temp.
– 1 1/3 C white sugar
– 1 pinch salt
– 1 tbsp vanilla extract
– 4 eggs
– 2/3 C sour cream
– 1/3 C heavy cream
– 1/3 C Irish cream liqueur
Sauce:
– 1 C sugar
– 6 tbsp salted butter
– 1/4 C plus two tbsp heavy cream, room temp.
– 1/4 C Conway’s Irish Ale, room temp.
METHOD
Cheesecake: Preheat oven to 325 degrees. In a stand mixer with the paddle attachment, blend cream cheese, sugar, salt, and extract until smooth. Add eggs, one at a time. Add sour cream and mix on low until blended. Pour heavy cream and Irish cream together, and slowly add to the cream cheese mixture while mixing on low. If desired, divide batter into three bowls and add different amounts of green food coloring to two before pouring all three into the prepared crust. Swirl gently with a knife to create a marbling effect. Wrap the springform pan in heavy duty foil, leaving the top open. Place in a large baking dish and add water until it reaches halfway up the pan. Bake on the middle rack until top is set, about one hour. Turn oven off and leave cheesecake in another 45 minutes. Chill overnight before slicing. Sauce: In a large pot, melt sugar over medium heat. Cook the liquefied sugar to a dark copper color. Add all butter at once and combine before turning off stove. Slowly whisk in heavy cream and ale until sauce is smooth. Use it right away or keep refrigerated for up to two weeks.
Conway’s Irish Ale Slow Cooker Corned Beef
INGREDIENTS
3½ lbs corned beef brisket*
2 medium onions, quartered
6 small carrots
1 bay leaf (or 2 small ones)
12 oz. Conway’s Irish Ale
6 small potatoes, halved or quartered
1 small cabbage, quartered
* – with spice packet. If your corned beef does not come with a spice packet, add your own pickling spice blend (peppercorns, mustard seeds, dill seeds, etc).
METHOD
Add corned beef brisket with spices to slow cooker fat side down. Add onions, carrots, bay leaf, and Conway’s Irish Ale. Cook on low for 9-10 hours. Add potatoes and cabbage to slow cooker with 2 hours remaining. Slice brisket thinly across the grain and serve with vegetables.
Conway’s Irish Stout Milkshake
INGREDIENTS
3-4 scoops vanilla or mint chocolate chip ice cream
Chocolate bitters (optional)
1 shot Irish whiskey (optional)
Conway’s Irish Stout
Chocolate sauce
Whipped cream
METHOD
- In a frosted glass, add 3 scoops of vanilla ice cream. If you’re using a stein, it should be about 3/4 full. TIP: to make it minty, substitute mint chocolate chip ice cream for vanilla.
- Add a few dashes of chocolate bitters, then Irish whiskey (if desired).
- Stir. We recommend using an immersion blender.
- Top off your glass with Conway’s Irish Stout.
- Add your toppings! We used a dollop of whipped cream and a drizzle of chocolate sauce. Enjoy with a spoon or smoothie straw.
Plan your visit to Great Lakes for St. Patrick’s Day! View our upcoming events here, and check our brewpub & gift shop hours below.
BREWPUB HOURS:
Friday, March 13: 12-10PM
Saturday, March 14: 10AM-10PM
Sunday, March 15: 11AM-4PM
Monday, March 16: 12PM-9PM
Tuesday, March 17 (St. Patrick’s Day): 10AM-9PM
GIFT SHOP HOURS:
Friday, March 13: 12-9PM
Saturday, March 14: 10AM-9PM
Sunday, March 15: 11AM-4PM
Monday, March 16: 12PM-8PM
Tuesday, March 17 (St. Patrick’s Day): 10AM-8PM
GREAT LAKES INTRODUCES NEW YEAR-ROUND ORANGE & HONEY WHEAT
AVAILABLE NOW AND FEATURED IN NEW SUNSHINE PARTY PACK
CLEVELAND, Mar. 03, 2026 — Great Lakes Brewing Co. (GLBC) announces its latest beer innovation for 2026, Orange & Honey Wheat. The new brew debuts early March, followed by its inclusion in brand new Sunshine Party Pack alongside seasonal favorites and pack exclusive Orange & Lime Shandy.
Orange & Honey Wheat: The Right Beer All Year
Orange & Honey Wheat is a quenching ale brewed with a touch of honey and a twist of blood orange. The 5.5% easy-drinking brew will be sold year-round on draft and in 12 oz can 6-Packs.
Great Lakes will continue to offer Cran Orange Wheat (September) as a limited seasonal in 6-Packs and draft, but a year-round everyday drinking Wheat Ale was missing from the brewery’s always-on portfolio, and Orange & Honey Wheat fills that gap.
“We’ve had peak and valley sales with our wheat line-up these past few years due to how the beers were too aligned with seasonality so we decided to develop a flavor-forward beer with broader, year-round appeal,” says Co-CEO Chris Brown. “Orange & Honey Wheat is perfectly balanced between the citrus and honey, and it’s the kind of beer that will be enjoyed in any season, anytime of the year. This beer is not just for wheat fans, but fans of flavor.”

Innovation Shines in New Party Packs
After an early March release, Orange & Honey Wheat also appears in the new Sunshine Party Pack, the 2nd of GLBC’s new range of rotating, occasion-based variety packs. Also included in the late-March variety pack are returning warm weather favorites Mexican Lager with Lime and Rally Drum Lemon Shandy, and a new Sunshine Party Pack exclusive Orange & Lime Shandy.
GLBC’s reimagined variety pack approach has already seen success in 2026, with January’s Irish Party Pack (available now). Marketing Director Vicki Campana speaks to the strategy, “Experiences continue to drive our approach. We want to be where our customers are and make it convenient and appealing for them to make Great Lakes part of those experiences. With Sunshine Party Pack, we are also able to introduce a new year-round brand in Orange & Honey Wheat to fans who already know and love our Mexican Lager and Shandy, and drive excitement with the exclusive Orange & Lime Shandy.”
With the addition of new year-round Orange & Honey Wheat, reimagined variety packs, The Float Shoppe Social Sodas, and recent market expansions into Florida and Tennessee, the independent Ohio brewery shows its continued focus on strategic growth and innovation. Orange & Honey Wheat is available now in the GLBC gift shop, and making its way everywhere GLBC beer is sold.
Sunshine Party Pack Releasing March:
Orange & Honey Wheat (NEW!): 5.5% ABV. Also available in 6-Pack cans & draft.
Mexican Lager with Lime: 5.4%. Also available in 6- and 12-Pack cans, & draft.
Rally Drum Lemon Shandy: 4.0%. Also available in 6- and 12-Pack cans, 19.2 oz. cans, & draft
Orange & Lime Shandy (NEW!): 4.0%. Exclusive to Sunshine Party Pack.

Sarris Candies Announces Partnership with Great Lakes Brewing Company
Two beloved brands unite for limited time confection-inspired Chocolate Ale
CLEVELAND, Ohio – Feb. 27, 2026 – Northeast Ohio’s Great Lakes Brewing Company and Western Pennsylvania’s Sarris Candies are proud to announce their first-ever collaboration: Chocolate Ale. This sweet, smooth-drinking golden brew was crafted with the nostalgic flavors of Sarris Candies chocolates in mind. This limited edition brew celebrates regional pride, nostalgia, and collaborative innovation.
Chocolate Ale will be available on draft and in 6-pack 12 oz. cans for a limited time beginning early March, just in time for the Easter season, and predominately in Giant Eagle stores throughout Western Pennsylvania and Northeast and Central Ohio. Chocolate Ale will also be served on tap at the Great Lakes brewpub, and sold to-go in the Great Lakes gift shop while supplies last.
Innovation Meets Tradition
This 6.0% ABV ale features a decadent mix of chocolate and vanilla flavors, crafted to capture a smooth and rich melt-in-your-mouth flavor reminiscent of enjoying Sarris Candies chocolate confections. Brewed with lighter malts, the ale’s color is closer to caramel than chocolate, which makes it an even more unique offering compared to many of the darker chocolate beers in the market.
“Nothing quite captures the experience of enjoying a box of Sarris chocolates, but we feel we got pretty close,” says Great Lakes Brewing Co. Co-CEO Steven Pauwels. “This is a truly innovative brew that unites two well-loved brands. We’re proud to share our original approach to a chocolate-inspired brew.”
A Sweet Partnership
Through a long shared mutual partnership with Giant Eagle Stores, Great Lakes Chocolate Ale and Sarris Candies will be shoppable in time for the Easter season, giving customers an exciting treat for seasonal gatherings. Select Giant Eagle Market District locations may also offer Chocolate Ale on tap so customers can sip and shop.
Sarris President and CEO Bill Sarris says, “As two legacy family-owned regional brands with decades of experience, we are thrilled to come together to delight our customers with something special that speaks to our shared values of craftsmanship, tradition, community, and innovation. Whether we fill easter baskets, coolers, or both, we are excited for this first-time partnership to hit Giant Eagle shelves and sweeten the season together.”
Great Lakes Brewing Co. x Sarris Candies Chocolate Ale releases in 6-Pack 12 oz. cans at Giant Eagle stores and select retailers throughout Ohio and Pennsylvania starting in March.
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About Sarris Candies
Founded in 1960, Sarris Candies is a family-owned chocolate company rooted in Western Pennsylvania. For more than six decades, Sarris has handcrafted premium chocolates using time-honored recipes and the finest ingredients. From iconic chocolate-covered pretzels to boxed chocolates and seasonal specialties, Sarris Candies continues to create confections that celebrate tradition, quality, and life’s sweetest moments. Learn more at SarrisCandies.com.
About Great Lakes Brewing Co.
Ohio’s original craft brewery, founded in 1988 by brothers Patrick and Daniel Conway in Cleveland, Ohio. GLBC is independent and employee-owned and serves 18 states and Washington, D.C. with its award-winning portfolio of fresh, flavorful, and innovative crafted beverages including Cold Rush Premium Light Lager, Midwest IPA, Dortmunder Gold® Lager, and a robust selection of seasonal and limited release offerings. Learn more at greatlakesbrewing.com