Ohio Brewery News
1.21.2021
CENTRAL
Cheers to seven years of beers from Sideswipe Brewing! To promote safe social distancing, the brewery has stretched out their anniversary celebration over four days next week. Sideswipe will feature a unique cask beer each day, starting with habanero-infused Sexy Weekend lo-cal IPA on Wednesday, Jan. 27. If you’d rather take the party home with you, Sideswipe is offering the Celebration Case, featuring a mix of five fan favorites. The 13% ABV rye barrel aged Sticky Wicket barleywine is the headliner in this set, but fans of hazy IPAs, fruited sours and breakfast stouts will find something up their alleys in this collection as well. Pre-orders for the Celebration Case began on Wednesday, Jan. 20 and can be picked up at the brewery taproom on the west side of Columbus on Jan. 29-30. Get full details and order your Celebration Case at sideswipebrewing.com
GREATER CLEVELAND
Willoughby, Ohio has been without a craft brewery since late August 2020. The last time the city was devoid of a brewery was 1998, prior to the opening of the Willoughby Brewing Company. That short five-month drought comes to an end on Friday, Jan. 22 when Pulpo Beer Company serves their first beers under the umbrella of the recently opened Hola Tacos/Barroco Arepa Bar. Housed in the former home of BRIM Kitchen + Brewery, Pulpo is committed to creating beers with flavors that naturally complement the Mexican and L.A. street food-inspired dishes coming out of their kitchen. The first of those beers are Blonde Mamacita, a refreshing, crushable blonde ale, and its vanilla and coffee-infused cousin, El Capoccino. More styles are due to hit the taps as early as next week. Be sure to download the Ohio On Tap app and get your passport stamp on your next visit to Pulpo. Follow Pulpo on Facebook for additional details on future beer releases.
NORTHEAST
I’m really not sure what I could write about the hazy IPA that hasn’t been covered in greater detail and abundance by other sources. The style has utterly dominated the craft beer industry for the past five years as craft beer fans seek out brews that offer intense, juicy hop profiles without the bitterness that came to define the traditional American IPA. While different hops can deliver a wide variety of fruit aromas and flavors, industrious brewers have amplified their juicy brews with fruit juices and purees to rave reviews. Award-winning IPA master Paul Fryman’s newest creation at JAFB in Wooster is Juice Box, a hazy pale ale fortified with pineapple and tangerine puree. The hop forward brew is balanced by the rich sweetness of the fruit puree, and benefits from a smooth, drinkable body from the heavy concentration of oats in the malt bill. Follow JAFB for future beer release info at facebook.com/woosterbrewery
NORTHWEST
Border towns invariably become a blending of the cultures on either side of the dividing line. Upside Brewing is located just 3,095 feet from the Michigan state line, and with such proximity to That State Up North, owners Nick and Melissa Dallas have developed friendships with brewers on either side of the border. Recently, they hosted a collaboration brew day with Ben Forche of Four Keys Brewing, a brewery-in-planning 12 miles away in Blissfield, Michigan. The fruit of that collaboration, Six Feet Away IPA, is on tap now at Upside’s brewpub inside J&G Pizza Palace in downtown Sylvania, Ohio. Beer brings people together, even Buckeyes and Wolverines. There’s an example of unity that we can all try to emulate in 2021. Find out more at facebook.com/upsidebrewing
SOUTHEAST
This is normally around the time of year we would be writing about one of Jackie O’s Brewery’s legendary anniversary blowout parties. Under normal circumstances, six dozen taps across three Athens locations would be filled with unique brews and people would line up in the wee hours of the morning for a bottle release from the brewery’s vaunted cellar. Unfortunately, what would have been Jackie O’s 15th birthday celebration is on hold pending better public health conditions. In the meantime, we’re pleased to see regular bottle releases from their barrel aging program, three of which will be available on Friday, Jan. 22. Bourbon barrel aged Black Maple imperial porter, Blue Maple – a blueberry, vanilla and coffee-infused variant of Black Maple – and Peach Scrip fruited grisette will see release at all Jackie O’s locations (Athens and Columbus) as well as online for shipping statewide. Read more at facebook.com/jackieosbrewery
SOUTHWEST
There’s so much great beer dropping in the Cincinnati area this week and we have only so many column inches. Since it’s impossible to decide what to write about, here’s a list of four new brews that caught our eye:
- HighGrain Brewing – Selene Belgian witbier, available on draft and in six-packs at the brewpub in Silverton or for local delivery.
- Rebel Mettle Brewery – The Motley smoked Vienna lager, available on draft at their downtown Cincy taproom or for local delivery.
- Sonder Brewing – Nocturnal dark lager, available on draft and in six-packs at the brewery in Mason or for delivery.
- Wiedemann Brewing – Cinnabun coffee blonde ale, available on draft and in six packs at the taproom in St. Bernard.
WEST CENTRAL
With all the brouhaha, hubbub, hurly-burly, kerfuffle and rowdydow going on around the world these past few weeks, we somehow missed the hullabaloo. Eudora Brewing is celebrating two years in their new brewery and taproom space – they marked their seventh anniversary overall last November – with the very first bottle release of Hullabaloo barrel-aged barleywine. Enjoy all the rich dark fruit, toffee, caramel, toasted malt and boozy flavors of this annual Eudora draft favorite in the comfort of your own home. Crackling fireplace and comfy slippers optional. This is a very limited bottle run, so be sure to stop by the Eudora taproom soon to get yours. More details at facebook.com/eudorabrewingcompany