David Manson and Andy Langlois founded Blackrocks Brewery in Marquette, Michigan, and opened its doors on December 28, 2010. Both were former pharmaceutical salesmen who were laid off in company downsizings during the late 2000s Great Recession. The brewery takes its name from a set of rocks in Presque Isle Park from where people jump into Lake Superior. The brewery began life in a former Victorian-style residential home, with the first floor serving as an area for patrons and the basement serving as the home of a small one-barrel brewing system. Manson and Langlois would sell their product until it ran out, which happened on the first day they opened and quickly became a frequent occurrence. As a result, they expanded to a three-barrel system and added a patio to expand the small customer serving area of the establishment. In 2013, Blackrocks expanded again into a purchased former Coca-Cola bottling plant. They installed a twenty-barrel system in the building, which allowed the brewery to expand production to 4,500 barrels per year, and begin canning its beer. After a rapid growth in demand and a 25% increase in revenue in 2017, the company constructed a addition on the northern side of the former bottling plant in 2018, and installed solar panels on the building's roof in 2019. In May 2020, Blackrocks added two 120-barrel fermentors.
Production and distribution
In 2015 and 2016, Blackrocks expanded its production to 7,000 barrels per year and started selling its products across Michigan's Lower Peninsula and in the neighboring state of Wisconsin., Blackrocks was the tenth-largest brewery in Michigan by total production and sales within the state. It was also the second largest in the Upper Peninsula, behind the Keweenaw Brewing Company. Blackrocks sold 7,500 barrels of beer in 2018, up from 6,595 in 2017, and 5,066 in 2016.
Mug club
Blackrocks' "mug club" gives patrons a custom large ceramic mug that are hung in the taproom and able to be used with every beer purchase, receiving a greater quantity of beer at the regular price. The initial membership was limited to 50 people at US$40 apiece, and the brewery found that it had to continually expand the program to meet demand. By 2013, the number of mugs reached 1,100. The brewery eventually ran out of space to store additional mugs on-site, and as of 2015 the club was limited to about 1,400 patrons with rare chances to join.
Location
The customer-facing location of the Blackrocks Brewery is, as of 2020, located in a former residential home at 424 N. Third Street in Marquette, Michigan. Described by the Star Tribune as looking like an "out-of-place ski chalet," it contains two floors for customers and a large patio available year-round, with fire pits installed for use during the winter. The patio, which has proven to be controversial within the mostly residential neighborhood, was expanded in 2017. In winter, the establishment erects temporary igloo-shaped structures for customers to drink inside. A fence running along the edge of the taproom's property line incorporates used skis, some donated by patrons of the brewery. In February 2020, the brewery announced that it had purchased two structures on a taproom-adjacent property at 420 N. Third St. with the intention of expanding the area available to customers.
Recognition and beer
In 2013, Blackrocks was ranked by regional publication MLive as one of the best new breweries in the state of Michigan. Seven year later, their Honey Lav beer was named as "beer of the week" by the same outlet. , 51K IPA is Blackrocks' most popular beer; the Detroit Free Press has additionally stated that its Mykiss IPA "might be one of the best IPAs in the state" of Michigan. When the brewery started canning in 2013, they had three mainstay beers that were regularly canned: the 51K IPA, Grand Rabbits Cream Ale, and Coconut Brown Ale., all three were still being canned alongside four others.
