Ohio Brewery News
4.17.2020
CENTRAL
Seventh Son Brewing found a novel way to honor their staff as they come up on the brewery’s seventh anniversary next week. As part of the Beer Me project, Seventh Son wanted to put each of their employee’s faces on a can of beer. The project was conceived prior to the coronavirus pandemic that forced the closure of brewery taprooms for on-premises consumption, so Seventh Son went ahead with the project as a full can release. Each six pack of Beer Me – described as a “Maui Wowie” tropical pale ale with passion fruit, guava and raspberry – contains five cans depicting an individual Seventh Son employee and one featuring the brewery’s resident pest control expert, Old Horatio. 47 of Seventh Son’s 57 employees were photographed for the cans and the brewery intends to repeat this project annually to create a time capsule of the people who make Seventh Son great. Beer Me will be available for presale orders today at seventhsonbrewing.com and deliveries will begin on Monday, April 20. Dan Eaton has more on the story at bizjournals.com
GREATER CLEVELAND
From the outset of the state of Ohio’s order to close bars and restaurants to slow the spread of coronavirus, Railroad Brewing Company looked for a way to use their taproom space for the good of the community. On March 16, the day the closure took effect, the brewery announced that they would serve as a food bank for those in need, especially service industry workers who were furloughed or laid off. A month later, Railroad’s food bank is still going strong with the help of community donations. Anyone with canned goods, refrigerated perishables or dry goods that they are willing to contribute to this effort are encouraged to drop them off at the brewery in Avon anytime between 10 a.m. – 6 p.m. Monday through Saturday. Anyone in need of food assistance can pick up from Railroad Brewing during the same hours. Any items left over at the end of the emergency period will be donated to a local food bank. For more info, watch Syeda Abbas’s report at cleveland19.com
NORTHEAST
In the “before times,” an anniversary party at The Phoenix Brewing Company in Mansfield would have meant a day with 30 taps full of new commemorative brews, barrel aged releases and unique infusions alongside the brewery’s flagship offerings. Of course, none of us are sharing pints in taprooms at the moment, so The Phoenix has decided to stretch their anniversary releases out over a longer period to accommodate to-go sales. Rockhammer session IPA and Jane Doe raspberry wheat beer were both in the queue for an anniversary can release; the brewery started selling Rockhammer cans on National Beer Day and will release Jane Doe cans on Tuesday, April 21. Several of the planned infusions and limited edition beers will be made available in growlers and crowlers starting in late April and running throughout the month of May while supplies last. The Phoenix will also hold a virtual beer school session on Saturday, May 2 to teach people how to infuse beer at home. For more info on upcoming releases and to find out how to order for carry out or delivery, subscribe to their email newsletter at phoenixbrewing.com
NORTHWEST
When people talk about beer ingredients, they generally focus on hops, malt and yeast, the many varieties of each imparting specific flavors, aromas, colors and other characteristics to a beer. Often overlooked, however, is the importance of water, the basic ingredient in all beers. Breweries rely on clean, fresh water to be able to make beer; protecting that resource is of the utmost importance to the brewing industry. On Earth Day – Tuesday, April 22 – Findlay Brewing Company will release Blanchard River Brew pale ale and donate the proceeds of the beer sale to the Blanchard River Watershed Partnership, a local non-profit organization dedicated to encourage water quality improvements for all who rely on the Blanchard River as a fresh water source. The beer will be available in growlers and crowler cans for carryout. Get more details at facebook.com/findlaybrewing
SOUTHEAST
Every brewery in Ohio had to make the pivot from selling beers for people to enjoy by the glass in the taproom to packaging beers in bottles and cans for carry out and delivery. While we all miss those special draft-only taproom releases, several of them are being packaged for us to enjoy during our time at home. This week, Devil’s Kettle Brewing bottled up Hath No Fury, an imperial stout aged in bourbon barrels. Bottles of Hath No Fury are available for carry out now at their Athens taproom, with double chocolate and cherry chocolate variants on draft for growler fills. Bottles of those variants are expected to be available soon as well. Get all the details at facebook.com/devilskettlebrewing
SOUTHWEST
Dead Low Brewing just this week re-opened for curbside growler service after temporarily shutting down after the state order closing bars and restaurants in mid-March. In the meantime, however, the Cincinnati brewery came up with an innovative way to assist healthcare workers on the frontlines of the COVID-19 crisis. Dead Low asked local RV owners to park their vehicles in the brewery’s lot to be used as temporary housing for healthcare providers who needed to isolate themselves from elderly and immunocompromised members of their households who are particularly vulnerable to COVID-19. The brewery provides electric service and potable water to the RVs while they are in use. If you have an RV you are willing to donate to the cause, or if you are a healthcare worker in need of safe temporary housing, please email Dead Low Brewing at hello@deadlow.com
WEST CENTRAL
Cheers to seven years of beers from Yellow Springs Brewery, who will hold a virtual happy hour today to celebrate. Owners Lisa Wolters and Nate Cornett will give a toast to all those who have supported the small town brewery and will crack open bottles of Maxxdout stout to mark the occasion. There’s still time for you to pick up the port wine barrel aged version or the maple syrup barrel aged variant before the virtual happy hour kicks off at 5 p.m. if you want to enjoy it along with the rest of the revelers. Online pre-registration for the happy hour event is required: to sign up, visit yellowspringsbrewery.com