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Ohio Brewery News

12.16.2021

CENTRAL 

The expansive beer garden at Land-Grant Brewing Company’s Franklinton brewery campus is a popular three season hangout for Columbus-area craft beer fans. Come wintertime, however, those same fans seek shelter from the chilly temperatures inside the taproom, leaving the beer garden barren. To bring people back out to one of the brewery’s most popular public features, Land-Grant has transformed the beer garden into a winter wonderland: 15 private heated igloos have been installed, as well as a five-lane “brewery curling” rink that uses mini kegs in place of the traditional curling stones. Lanes can be rented in 90-minute blocks and include a heated igloo for up to eight people. To learn more about all of Land-Grant’s winter attractions – both in the beer garden and inside the taproom – head over to landgrantbrewing.com/winter

GREATER CLEVELAND 

Cheers to seven years of beers from Brick & Barrel! There were only about a dozen craft breweries in the Cleveland area when they opened their doors in 2014, which seems difficult to fathom given the recent proliferation of breweries around the region (there are 44 licensed independent breweries in Cuyahoga County alone). The stalwart brewery in the Flats is celebrating its seventh anniversary with an eye to the future as well as a nod to the past. A couple of draft favorites given the barrel treatment emerge as new beers on the tap list for this week’s festivities: Suspect Device Scotch ale and Chased Out imperial stout, both aged in maple bourbon barrels. Those beers join a couple of new brews – Ripple in Still Water saison and Wheat Rain American wheatwine – the latter of which will make an appearance again in March after a few months of cellaring as well as later in 2022 after a portion of the batch matures in barrels. See Brick & Barrel’s anniversary tapping schedule for the week at facebook.com/brickandbarrel

NORTHEAST

This week, Missing Falls Brewery announced that it would be making a big expansion to its Akron brewery. Located in the Canal Place complex – just a few steps away from R. Shea Brewing’s massive production brewery and taproom – Missing Falls will take over two spaces adjacent to their current taproom to house several new fermentation vessels and a canning line. These improvements will allow the brewery to nearly double their production capacity while maintaining their current seven-barrel brewhouse. The expansion will also include a new event space that will host a wide range of live music when it’s not being rented out for private functions. Missing Falls also plans to use the newfound flexibility to add variety to their kitchen offerings, which have been growing in popularity over the past year. For all the details on the upcoming expansion plans, check out Marc Bona’s coverage at cleveland.com

NORTHWEST

Three weeks ago, we did a rundown of new holiday beers on tap at northwest Ohio breweries. Guess what? Here are some more!

  • 60cc Brewing: Frost Bite spiced winter warmer revving up to a massive 10.5% ABV.
  • Aistear Brewing: Everburn cranberry sugar cookie Christmas ale available with a honey and brown sugar rim.
  • Black Frog Brewery: Ebenezer spiced winter ale on tap alongside a “Bah Humbug” variant aged on rum barrel chips.
  • Ramblin’ Red’s Brewing: Long Underwear eschews the holiday spices and leans on hops and an 8.3% ABV to warm your winter.
  • Twin Oast Brewing: Oast House Reserve: Ring Rang A Dong 4A Holiday Ale is a maple barrel aged version of their annual Non-Denominational holiday ale.
  • Upside Brewing: The Lush series of fruited imperial IPAs gets an immense cranberry infusion.
SOUTHEAST

One year ago, we wrote about the release of Oh You Oh Yeah, a collaboration from The Brew Kettle and Fifty West Brewing inspired by a legendary Athens bar offering. The signature shot at Tony’s Tavern – a mix of hazelnut liqueur and hot coffee colloquially known as the “Hot Nut” – is a staple drink for students living in the moment and wistful alumni alike. The two breweries enjoyed the 2020 collab so much, they decided to bring it back this year with a twist: The Brew Kettle re-released last year’s hazelnut coffee imperial stout in its original form, while Fifty West introduced a new golden stout using the same Hoof Hearted coffee blend and Heggy’s hazelnuts. Both the golden and traditional versions weigh in at a hefty 11.5% ABV, pretty close to the strength of the shot that served as their model. The Brew Kettle’s version is on tap at their Cleveland-area locations, while the Fifty West take is available at their locations in Cincinnati and Chillicothe (just a couple counties away from Athens). Find out more at facebook.com/fiftywestchillicothe

SOUTHWEST

North Carolina-based Hi-Wire Brewing announced this past week that they would be landing in Cincinnati next year with an ambitious new brewery and taproom project. The Factory 52 development in Norwood – the site of the former United States Playing Card Company headquarters – will be anchored by Hi-Wire’s new facility. The multi-level taproom will include both an expansive beer garden at ground level and a large rooftop deck that overlooks the entire Factory 52 campus. Hi-Wire’s beers have been in distribution in state since 2017, and they have Ohio ties through prior collaboration brews with Branch & Bone Artisan Ales in Dayton and Masthead Brewing in Cleveland. The new brewery and taproom are currently scheduled to open in the fall of 2022. Read local coverage of Hi-Wire’s expansion into Cincy at thegnarlygnome.com

WEST CENTRAL

Here’s the last of our regional holiday beer round-ups, as we take a look at some new winter seasonals from the Miami Valley and beyond:

Categories: Brewery News