Fifty years ago this month the SS Edmund Fitzgerald, a Great Lakes freighter, sank in a violent storm in Lake Superior. None of the twenty-nine crew members survived. At 13,632 tons she was, and still is, the largest ship to have sunk in the Great Lakes. Eleven days before her sinking, during a routine inspection in Toledo, OH the Coast Guard found that some of the hatch covers that sealed the cargo area would not close properly. This, it appears, may have contributed to the Fitzgerald’s sinking. When it sank the Fitzgerald was carrying more than 26,000 tons of iron ore (in the form of taconite pellets) from Superior, WI to Detroit, MI – a journey it had made many times. Four of the crew crewmembers were from Toledo – Ernest M. McSorely (Captain), Eugene W. O’Brien (Wheelsman), William J. Spengler (Watchman), and Robert C. Rafferty (Steward/Cook).

Throughout history the Great Lakes has seen somewhere between an estimated 6,000 to 10,000 shipwrecks. Despite the large numbers, it is the sinking of the Fitzgerald that has remained front and center in the minds of the North American public (or at least those of us fortunate enough to live on or near the Great Lakes). To a large extent, we have the Canadian singer/songwriter Gordon Lightfoot to thank for that. In 1976, Lightfoot released the song “The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald”. For the week of November 20, 1976 (a little over a year after the disaster) the song reached number 1 in Canada on and number 2 on Billboard Top 100 in the United States. According to Scott Bauer, writing for the Associated Press, “Without the song, ‘The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald’ may have been largely forgotten”

While Gordon Lightfoot deserves kudos for keeping alive the memory of the Edmund Fitzgerald, a couple of Great Lakes breweries have also contributed. None more so than the aptly named Great Lakes Brewing Company in Cleveland, OH whose Edmund Fitzgerald Porter “is a bittersweet tribute to the legendary freighter’s fallen crew—taken too soon when the gales of November came early”. According the Dan Conway, co-founder of Great Lakes Brewing Company, “ the dark, rich colors and flavors of our porter seem to match the image of iron ore that the Fitz transported through the Great Lakes.” Not surprisingly, Great Lakes Brewing Company honored the 50th anniversary of the freighter’s sinking. On November 10 and 11, 2025 they hosted an event that included an educational presentation and a moment of silent reflection. For every pint of their Porter sold on those two days, the brewery donated one dollar to the Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum in Paradise, MI.

Another brewery, Quenched and Tempered in Toledo, OH also partnered with a local museum, The National Museum of the Great Lakes, to remember and honor the Edmund Fitzgerald. To commemorate the event Brewery owner Ali Drozdowicz and brewmaster Alex Drozdowicz created a one-off beer – a Copper Ale. The beer was given the name “Toledo Express”, one of a number of nicknames given to the Fitzgerald.

Toledo brewery, Earnest Brew Works also brewed a special beer as a tribute to the crew of the Fitzgerald. The aptly named ‘Gales of November’ captures the brutal weather conditions that proved fatal to the freighter and its crew. Gales of November is a Blackberry Sour which clocks in at 7.5% ABV.

Naming beers after local landmarks, historical events, or notable figures exemplifies a concept known as neolocalism. Geographer Stephen M. Schnell of Kutztown University defines neolocalism as “the conscious attempt of individuals and groups to establish, rebuild, and cultivate local ties and identities.” In a separate paper co-authored with Joseph S. Reese of Edinboro University, Schnell and Reese argue that many craft breweries actively embrace neolocalism through various strategies—one of the most common being the selection of beer names that reflect connections to the local community. The three beers highlighted here, which commemorate an event deeply rooted in Great Lakes communities such as Cleveland and Toledo, serve as clear illustrations of this practice.

Further Reading:

Schnell, Stephen M. and Joseph S. Reese. 2003. Microbreweries as tools of local identity. Journal of Cultural Geography, Volume 22, Issue 1, Pages 45-69.