Ohio Brewery News
2.4.2021
CENTRAL
Cheers to one year of beers from Crooked Can Brewing! The Florida-born brewery established an Ohio outpost in early 2020, with the brewery as the anchor tenant of a brand-new public market in downtown Hilliard. The market’s ample size and large open-air beer garden – perfect for establishing social distancing protocols – no doubt helped Crooked Can make it through year one despite the COVID-19 pandemic. To celebrate their first anniversary, Crooked Can will release four new beers this weekend: the barrel aged Crooked Celebration Stout, Old Hilliard’s Secret Ale barleywine, Crooked Connections coffee and vanilla infused amber ale, and Anyplace Pils. For full details of this weekend’s festivities, follow @crookedcanohio on Facebook or Instagram.
GREATER CLEVELAND
It’s grand opening weekend for Mentor Brewing Company, the brewery and taproom offshoot of long running homebrew and winemaking supplier The Brew Mentor. Beer has been flowing from the taps for a little while now – initially for to-go growler sales and a few pop-up pint nights – but with the completion of the taproom buildout, Mentor is ready to start seating customers on a regular basis. Mentor Brewing’s grand opening celebration runs 4-11 p.m. on Friday, Feb. 5 and 11 a.m. – 11 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 6. Regular Wednesday and Thursday hours will be added next week. Be sure to get your Ohio On Tap passport stamp when you stop by for a pint. Follow @mentorbrewingcompany on Facebook and Instagram for more details.
NORTHEAST
Before the pandemic, you had to get up pretty early in the morning to get in line for some of the more sought-after beer releases. Now, in the age of social distancing, you still have to get up pretty early in the morning to make sure you’re properly logged into brewery e-commerce sites to secure your bottles. That’s exactly what happened this morning with Missing Mountain Brewing Company’s We’re Not Mad, Just Disappointed barrel aged stout release. A total of 200 bottles sold out in less than two minutes via the Oznr app. The brewery is releasing two variants of the brew at 9 a.m. Friday morning: one infused with coffee, vanilla and Haitian cocoa bean, and a second with maple, vanilla and Ceylon cinnamon. Both of those are expected to go even faster with only 165 bottles available. Read more at missingmountain.com and get your clicking finger in shape for the release at missingmountain.oznr.com
NORTHWEST
I’m sorry, I think I might be responsible for the recent snowstorm and the impending cold snap that’s about to settle over Ohio this coming week. I’ve mentioned several times on this blog that we’ve had a nice, mild winter so far, and it turns out that we’re all going to be punished for my unbridled tempting of the weather fates. Luckily, cold weather and barrel aged beers go hand-in-hand, and Inside the Five Brewing has a big one set for release this weekend. Big Fat Boss Baby, a whiskey barrel aged imperial stout clocking in at a whopping 15.2% ABV, will be available in bottles and on draft at the Sylvania and Perrysburg taprooms on Friday, Feb. 5. If you’re the kind of person who likes to compare and contrast how a beer tastes from year to year, Inside the Five will also have a very limited number of 2020 Big Fat Boss Baby bottles for sale alongside the 2021 version. Read more at facebook.com/insidethefivebrewing
SOUTHEAST
In late November, Homestead Beer Company made the decision to stop indoor customer seating in their taproom, citing the need to protect their employees as coronavirus cases were spiking in Ohio. As key pandemic metrics have begun to take some positive turns – the state has moved the public curfew time from 10 p.m. to 11 p.m. based on declining numbers of COVID-19 patients in Ohio hospitals – Homestead has made the decision to re-open their Heath taproom. Visitors this week have the option to take home discounted gallon jugs of Ace Run, a session-strength hazy IPA, or enjoy one of the last draft pints of Cry Havoc and Let Slip the Cats of War hazy double IPA, both while supplies last. Stay on top of all the latest Homestead news at facebook.com/homesteadbeerco
SOUTHWEST
Trying to plan a special at-home experience for your significant craft beer-loving other for the first Valentine’s Day during the pandemic? Streetside Brewery has a solution with their Valentine’s Day beer bundle. Each package includes a curated four-pack of beers with tasting notes: Seasonally Inappropes derby pie imperial milk stout, Bee Mine raspberry honey milkshake IPA, Puc It pineapple upside down cake Berliner weisse and Level Up dry hopped pilsner. The package also includes a dessert sampler from 3 Sweet Girls Cakery and a bouquet of fresh flowers from Daisy Jane’s Flower Truck. Not only will you wow your Valentine, but you’ll also be showing some much-needed love for three local businesses. Order online by Wednesday, Feb. 10 and pickup from Streetside’s taproom on Valentine’s Day. Read more at facebook.com/streetsidebrewery
WEST CENTRAL
Normally, February is the month that Branch & Bone Artisan Ales would hold their annual Big Beer Bacchanal, a day-long celebration of bold, strong beer styles. While the brewery isn’t currently holding events that would attract large crowds in their Dayton taproom, that’s not stopping them from releasing those big beers a few at a time over the course of the month. The first of those releases is Long in the Tooth, an oak-aged English-style barleywine, available this Friday, Feb. 5 on tap and in crowlers to-go. This one is best enjoyed sooner rather than later, as Branch & Bone notes that crowlers are not the ideal packaging for long-term cellaring. Crack it open after next week’s cold front moves in and sip next to a crackling fireplace (or a video of a crackling fireplace) for best effect. Read more at facebook.com/branchandboneales