The first brewpub and microbrewery in the state,[1] Great Lakes Brewing has been noted as important to Cleveland's local identity and as one of the initial forces behind the revival of the Ohio City neighborhood on the near West Side.

They can be found in Columbus, Cincinnati, Toledo, Detroit, Chicago, Southeast Michigan, Indiana, and west to Minnesota and Wisconsin, south to Kentucky, North Carolina, Virginia, and West Virginia, and east to Syracuse, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Maryland, and Washington, D.C.,[7] with the New York City market added in October 2023.

In some instances, beers that were formerly available throughout the brewery's distribution footprint (e.g., Holy Moses White Ale, Turntable Pils) are withdrawn from wide circulation and made available only at the brewpub.

Great Lakes Brewing Company has undertaken a number of initiatives to promote sustainability, including recycling promotional materials to create fuel for heating an outdoor structure, the use of straw-bale construction (incidentally the first straw-bale structure in Cleveland), the composting of leftovers from the brewery's restaurant, and the use of local and organic food.

[38] The brewery has set up displays at a number of sustainability-oriented events, including a 2006 "greener living fair" at Ohio State University,[39] and the "green pavilion" of the 2009 Cleveland Home and Garden Show at the I-X Center.