Ohio Brewery News

New Life for an Old Fave

For nearly a decade, Catawba Island Brewing Company served up beers along the Lake Erie shore, part of the explosion of modern Ohio craft breweries that started in 2013 (more on that in a future post.) So when the brewery abruptly shut their doors a few months ago, longtime fans were justifiably saddened that the beers they had come to love were lost forever.

As the saying goes, “time heals all wounds,” but sometimes time gets a timely assist. Twin Oast Brewing, a nearby neighbor located just up the peninsula, announced today that they have acquired Catawba Island Brewing and will resurrect at least one of their iconic beers, Hot Blonde mango habanero blonde ale.

Twin Oast plans to use the former Catawba Island Brewing site for production and distribution only – the taproom will remain closed – with a focus on a new line of Twin Oast barrel-aged sour beers featuring fruit grown on the brewery’s Quinstock Farms property. “Being one of Ohio’s premier producers of fruited sour ale has been a goal from day one, and this is the first step in that journey,” said Twin Oast founder Cory Smith in a press release.

Fans of Catawba Island Brewing should make plans to stop by the old brewery (2330 E. Harbor Rd. in Port Clinton) for a “last call” sale on Saturday, June 24 where all remaining products and merchandise will be available for the final time. For details on that sale, be sure to follow Twin Oast on Facebook and Instagram.