Ohio Brewery News
03.13.2023
The Pipes Are Calling
There are two things you need to beware of in the middle of this month: the Ides of March (especially if your name is Julius) and “St. Patty’s Day” parties. Not that you shouldn’t celebrate Saint Patrick, the patron saint of Ireland, on March 17, just make sure you get the name right. It’s “Paddy,” as in short for “Pádraig” as the saint would’ve been known to the Irish, not “Patty,” short for the Anglicized “Patrick.”
If you’re still with us, you’re likely the kind of person who wants St. Paddy’s Day revelry to be as authentic as possible. You’re also going to want to meet Teddy Valinski, head brewer at Walking Distance Brewing Company in Marysville. You probably have a lot in common.
Valinski’s St. Paddy’s Day bona fides are impressive. A New Jersey native, he took up the bagpipes as a teenager and played in the New York City St. Patrick’s Day parade. After relocating to Ohio and opening the brewery, Valinski broke out the bagpipes for St. Paddy’s Day last year, to the delight of some Walking Distance regulars. Before he knew it, he had started the Walking Distance Pipes & Drums band with a handful of others interested in learning the bagpipes.
The band will make its public debut at the brewery this Friday, March 17 at 7:30 p.m. as part of Walking Distance’s weeklong St. Paddy’s Day celebration. Festivities begin on Wednesday, March 15 at 3 p.m. with the tapping of For Feck’s Sake Irish red ale and the beginning of hourly bagpipe performances that run through the weekend.
On St. Paddy’s Day proper, Walking Distance will open at 6 a.m., again with bagpipe music performed at the top of each hour as well entertainment by Columbus-based Irish pub band The Pints at 8 p.m. Sleep in but don’t sleep on Saturday’s schedule, as the brewery will open at 9 a.m. with more pipe music and a performance by Columbus band Irish Road at 8 p.m. Food trucks will be on hand with corned beef and other Irish specialties Wednesday through Saturday.
Get all the details at facebook.com/walkingdistancebrewing