The Muse of
Brews
April/May
2007 Column
The Buckeye Beer Engine is now open! The Beer Engine is a new bar, eatery, and microbrewery at 15315 Madison Avenue in Lakewood. Although separate from Buckeye Brewing Co. (now brewing on Walford Avenue in Cleveland), Buckeye Beer Engine is also operated by Garin Wright. The “micro” in this case means microscopic! The Beer Engine will produce “test batches” for Buckeye, and for all of us beer lovers, of course. They will have about 20+ draft beers; some from Buckeye, some made on premises, and a selection of other good guest beers from around the globe, rotating constantly to keep you coming back to find out what’s on tap. They will have food, will host special events, beer dinners and such, so stay tuned to www.buckeyebeerengine.com for the latest news. For warmer months they will have the patio open. They have ample parking and are easily reached from I-90. Check them out!
Buckeye, meanwhile, has completed its move to the West side of Cleveland and is focusing more and more on cask-conditioned ales. Currently they have ’76 IPA, Hippie IPA, Yuppie ESB, and Mammoth Stout in the tanks.
Thirsty Dog Brewing Company is preparing to open a new production brewery in Akron. The site is the old Burkhardt Brewing Co. building on Grant Street. The big news is that Tim Rastetter is returning to Ohio as the new Thirsty Dog brewmaster. Rastetter is originally from Ohio and has been brewing for over 20 years. You may remember him from Great Lakes Brewing, Liberty Street Brewing Co., Brew Works, and more recently at the Hofbrau Haus in Kentucky. He has a long list of past achievements, including over 20 medals. Welcome back, Tim! One last note from the Thirsty Dog: Don’t forget to plan on attending this year’s Blues and Brews Festival at Stan Hywet on July 28.
69 Taps Pub and Eatery is now open in Medina! This is a new location at 1120 North Court Street. Same format as the Akron location; 69 draft beers, pub food, and $2 happy hour pints. They also have free Wi-Fi and a nice big patio for summer dining/drinking. Also opening a new location is the Winking Lizard Tavern with a new pub at 9570 Mentor Avenue in Mentor. It has a year-round outdoor bar.
A recent visit to the Brown Derby Roadhouse in Medina found five of their own beers on tap. The Roadhouse Red is a deep red malty ale, a little bit sweet, with hints of caramel and chocolate. The Pecos Pale Ale is a nice hoppy American pale ale, and the Brown Derby Lager is an Oktoberfest style amber. The Tombstone Tripel was a nice smooth Belgian tripel, that did not taste like the 8.1% alcohol content it advertised. Lastly was the Roadhouse Gold, a dortmunder style German lager. All very nice solid beers. They also had guest beers Warsteiner Dunkel, Great Lakes Edmond Fitzgerald Porter, and Sam Adams Winter Lager on tap. Quite a selection!
Thanks to Rock Bottom Brewpub in Cleveland’s Flats for hosting the recent Winter Warmer Festival. Nine breweries participated, with 23 brews, and over 300 people attended. The top vote-getter for the People’s choice best brew was Brew Kettle's Imperial Stout. Getting one less vote was the Cleveland Chophouse Belgian Tripel, and a close third place was the Rock Bottom Harvest Ale, a bourbon barrel-aged Scotch ale. Great Lakes Brewing Co. had a keg of Brutus Barleywine on tap, that had been brewed by Andy Tveekram thirteen years ago! It was a great venue with lots of great BIG beers, with enough time to sample them all and enjoy the great food at the Rock Bottom. I hope this was a first annual event.
Watch for Catcher in the Rye at Rock Bottom, traditionally released on the date of the Indians' home opener. Brewer Scott Guckel says this one will be hoppy. In early May he will release a Vienna Lager. April 18 will be a Brewer’s Dinner at Rock Bottom, with another one at the Chophouse on May 23. At the Chophouse, watch for a Saison in April and a Märzen in May.
At Maumee Bay Brewing Co. in Toledo, the oak-aged Belgian Tripel is now on tap, and they will soon have a Spring Bock on tap, followed by the High Level Lager. Speaking of Toledo, I’m missing the first annual Glass City Beer Fest because I’m writing this. I hope you had fun!
I’m now seeing Hoppin’ Frog beers at most retail outlets that sell good beer in Ohio. They tell me they are expanding distribution to Indiana now, too. We will have to wait until summer for the release of a fifth style. Stop by the West Point Market in Akron on April 6 for a Hoppin’ Frog beer tasting from 4:30 to 7 PM.
The SAAZ homebrew club of Akron recently organized a pub crawl to Columbus. We enjoyed a variety of beer, both commercial and home-brewed on the bus trip down, and then made stops at Gordon Biersch Brewery, Barley’s Smokehouse & Brewpub, Columbus Brewing Co., Elevator Brewing Co, and Mad Mex, a good beer bar. Is it any wonder, with all that beer, that I can’t read my notes? Actually I don’t remember having a bad beer anywhere, but only remember a couple that were outstanding. But that’s not really a fair judgment on a day where I probably tasted over 40 beers. Too many for one day!
Riverside Wines in Kent is the best beer store I've ever seen. Best because it has a selection of over 400 bottled beers. Best also because there are six good beers on tap. At this writing it was New Holland Dragon's Milk, Magic Hat #9, Three Floyd's Alpha King, Flying Dog Gonzo Porter, Lindeman's Framboise, and Dogfish Head 90-Minute Imperial IPA. This selection rotates to feature different micros, imports, and specialty beers.
As the name suggests, they also have a selection of over 1800 wines. About 90 or so of these are available by the glass. They have seating for 55 indoors and a wonderful outdoor patio overlooking the scenic Cuyahoga River. They offer a menu of gourmet cheeses, fresh bread, crackers, fruit, spreads and salamis. Jazz or blues music is usually playing and often is live on the weekends. It's a fun place to peruse the aisles of beer, pick out a favorite or a new one you'd like to try, and drink it on the premise. Many are available in singles so you can try before you buy a six-pack or mix your own six-pack.
Owner Bob Morson is planning to expand the building to include a glassed-in patio with a fireplace. I can't imagine anything else he could do to make it a better beer store. It's a great place to get those hard-to-find beers and to relax and enjoy them with friends!
Lastly, to keep you informed with what’s going on in the Ohio beer world, I have started a website, www.ohiobeerguide.com. For the latest in what’s happening, check my website, and if you have any news, comments, or questions, email me.