It was almost two years ago that Northern Lights Brewing announced that it was changing its name and completely re-branding its products. Many of us scratched our heads and wondered why the well-known and well-respected Spokane brewery would take such a risk. Sure, there was some talk of a trademark issue with another brewery, and there was a change in the ownership structure, but still, the switch from Northern Lights Brewing to No-Li Brewhouse seemed chancy.
Apparently No-Li’s owners, John Bryant and Mark Irvin, knew exactly what they were doing. With risk comes reward and today No-Li Brewhouse announced that it leads the market in Eastern Washington with regards to the sale of 22-ounce bottles of craft beer. Below is a press release about the impact of No-Li Brewhouse’s continuing success. Since we just began another legislative session and our representatives are busy at work in Olympia, think of this news as a reminder: when breweries succeed and grow, it is good for people, communities, and the state.
No-Li Carries the Top 22 OZ-Bottle Craft Portfolio in E. WA
Sales Success Leads to Health Insurance, Brewery Expansion, Pilot Series & Seasonals
Spokane, WA… The internationally award-winning Spokane-based brewery, No-Li Brewhouse, carries the top 22 oz-bottle craft beer portfolio in Eastern Washington, according to fourth quarter 2013 IRI scan data. The microbrewery’s success with sales comes from focusing on three main goals: beers, brewery, and people.
In 2013, No-Li, one of the few packaging breweries in Eastern Washington, continued to push innovation and launched several new packages and Spokane-Style beers (brewed in Spokane, by Spokanites, using ingredients sourced within 300 miles of Spokane).
New packages include screen-printed, 12 oz-bottle, Imperial Series 4-packs. New beers includes their No Boundaries Pilot Series, a creative, rotating style, brewed each month, and their Expo Series, a seasonal release that will rotate four to five times a year.
No-Li also utilizes Dry Fly Distillery barrels for a small barrel-aging program. These beers are allocated to craft beer-centric bars in Spokane.
In addition to utilizing specialty beer offerings, the brewery goes to market selling one beer at a time, getting out in front of the customer every day and creating meaningful interactions to tell the brewery’s story.
“We go to market ‘the old school way;’ roll up your sleeves, get your hands dirty. This approach allows us to keep growing our brewery; in 2013, we added two new 60-barrel fermenting tanks, a 60-barrel brite beer tank, and a new, top-of-the-line filtration system,” says Brittany Dern, No-Li Marketing Manager.
The brewery brought on board a handful of beer industry-experienced employees in 2013, sourcing talent from Colorado, Oregon, Western Washington, and home-grown employees from Spokane.
In early 2013, No-Li’s owners, John Bryant and Mark Irvin, decided to offer health care to their twenty-plus full-time employees, a rare treat for a company of this size in the beer industry.
Irvin comments: “We are a people-centric organization, passionate about beer, the beer experience, and our community. Unifying our people with our mission creates pride in what we’re doing in Eastern Washington, and in the greater craft beer scene. It’s a simple formula: Beer. Brewery. People. Cheers.”
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About No-Li Brewhouse
Formerly known as Northern Lights Brewing Company, the brewery was renamed in April 2012 after co-founder/master brewer, Mark Irvin, and craft beer industry veteran, John Bryant, both with deep roots in Spokane, WA, forged a partnership. Taking the craft beer world by storm in it’s freshman year, No-Li brought home nine international awards for it’s various beers, including a gold medal from the 2012 Great American Beer Festival in Denver, Colorado.
In addition to the state of Washington, No-Li is distributed in select states, including Idaho, Oregon, Alaska, Colorado, Ohio, Maryland, Delaware, Washington, D.C., North Carolina, and Hawaii, as well as internationally in Canada. No-Li currently carries 22 oz bombers and draft, as well as screen-printed-12 oz bottle 4-packs.