Tag: cleveland beer

Interesting Name:Crooked Pecker

On By Chris ElliottIn BreweryLeave a comment

Chagrin Falls is one of the nicest towns in North East Ohio. I don’t go often, but it’s always enjoyable when I do. Over there, is Crooked Pecker Brewing Company. This was my first visit. It’s a interesting name obviously, but they had a couple solid brews that I tried out.

Tucked into a industrial shop a few minutes from downtown Chargin Falls, the brewery made a pretty solid Hazy IPA and lager as well. I preferred the Hazy IPA though. The place is on the smaller side and was pretty full that day. The bartender was personable, even tried to get my fiancé who hates beer to try it. I would definitely stop in again.

Lakewood’s First Brewery

On By Chris ElliottIn Alcohol, Brewery, RestaurantsLeave a comment

Living in Lakewood, OH I would have expected a brewery here by now. It’s filled with flannel wearing, bearded dudes in their late 20s/30s. This place was made for a brewery. Well finally, Lakewood has one.

Last week, I went for dinner at Immigrant Son Brewing, Lakewood’s first Brewery. The place was packed. Clearly, a lot of people were excited to try this out. With it just opening up, I was curious to see how the beer turned out. This place has been a couple years in the making in an old grocery store and some hiccups delayed the opening (covid) but they hit it out of the park. Fantastic beers and great food. The Common Ale and the PerZverance were delicious beers. The PerZverance is a partnership with Cavs legend Zydrunas Illgauskas. It’s an IPA that is really well done. Perfect for all the IPA dudes I described above (I’m one of them). If you go though, you have to get the fried dough. I could eat that every day. I’m so excited to keep going back there and to have a brewery in my town. A great addition to our great beer scene in Cleveland.

Cornerstone Brewing

On By Chris ElliottIn Alcohol, Brewery, RestaurantsLeave a comment

Cornerstone Brewing Company has been a long standing establishment in Berea, Ohio, located just 20 minutes from my house. Yet, Saturday was my first trip. Not sure what took me so long.

I have been wanting to try this place out for some time and I finally made the effort to. We stopped in for dinner and some beer. Not only was the food very good (try the pretzel), but the beer was delicious. I was really pleased with both the Erie Blu (fruit beer) and the Seven (IPA). Both had great flavor, but I’d say I prefer the Seven. A really strong rendition of an IPA. I really enjoyed their take of a West Coast style blended with an East Coast style IPA. Additionally, Berea had a nice little downtown that I would go back to. An underrated city and brewery.

Filled to the BRIM

On By Chris ElliottIn Alcohol, Brewery, RestaurantsLeave a comment

East side vs west side. Each part of Cleveland has a very distinct feel and culture. Sometimes, it is hard to believe they are the same metropolitan area. While I am a West sider, I do venture on over to the East side often where my girlfriend lives.

Saturday night, we went out with friends to BRIM Kitchen & Brewery in Willoughby. While I had quickly stopped in once before for a drink while killing a few minutes, this was my first time really sitting down to enjoy the place.

BRIM is located just passed the main portion of Downtown Willoughby. The inside is very modern and has that clean, slick feel to it. The brewery process is visible behind the bar as well.

I tried a couple of the beers BRIM had on tap that night as we grabbed dinner. They had a real interesting Christmas Fruit beer called Mr. Kringle and a pretty decent light blonde ale called the Brim Less. Both were solid, though nothing blew me away from a beer standpoint.

For dinner, I had the Sunday Gravy and a side of mac and cheese. The Sunday Gravy red sauce was definitely the best part of my meal. I cleaned the plate for your reference.

Overall, the place is solid. It was busy throughout and has a good ambiance. Nothing blew me away but no complaints either. Solid experience sums it up perfectly.

New Dog in The Flats

On By Chris ElliottIn Alcohol, Brewery, RestaurantsLeave a comment

Thirsty Dog is by no means a new brewery. They have been around awhile, brewing many different styles and making some of the best Christmas ale beer around. Recently they just opened up a new spot in The Flats Eastbank in Cleveland.

This location takes over for one of the vacant crop locations that was down there. This is a fairly large space with tables and an indoor and out door bar area. Now, the beer here is true to Thirsty Dog form. With about thirty different taps, there is really something for everyone. Plenty of barrel aged varieties and the traditional Thirsty Dog beers as well. The new taproom has great service, we quickly got seated and our waiter was great throughout the night. I will say the food could still use some work but it was overall pretty good. I had the Mac and cheese and we started with the beer cheese chips. Little more cheese on the chips please. The barrel aged Christmas ale is great one. Stick to one though, it will put you on your ass.

Thirsty dog is a welcomed addition to Cleveland as most people here are already familiar with the beer and their new location should do well in the well talked about revitalized east bank. Cleveland can’t seem to get enough beer.

It’s Hoppin’

On By Chris ElliottIn Alcohol, Brewery, RestaurantsLeave a comment

I know it’s a terrible pun for a title playing off the brewery’s name. Just ignore it.

Last week, my buddy and I visited Hoppin’ Frog Brewery in Akron, Ohio. This place has been brewing for a decade and has had their taproom open for a few years now. I just had not made my way down yet.

The amount of different beers this place makes is impressive, especially for a place this size. My friend and I tried a variety of their different fall type beers on tap and their famous B.O.R.I.S. Pretty pleased with everything we tried. Quite the variety at this place. I think that is by far the most impressive quality of the place. Just how many different beers they brew and brew well, along with the different barrel aged varieties. The place is a little hard to see from the side of the road but make the trip down, or up, to Akron and check it out. They have something for everyone.

On the Tracks

On By Chris ElliottIn Alcohol, BreweryLeave a comment

There are kind of two strategies when it comes to picking the location of your brewery, restaurant or other entertainment spot. You can either try to tap an area with few challengers or you can go to where the foot traffic is. In Cleveland, we saw Portside close at least partly due to their location. Railroad Brewing Company decided to open up in the ever growing suburb of Avon, Ohio. Avon is by no means a brewery hotbed like Ohio City but with a couple of wineries, another brewery and plenty of suburb dwellers that may be looking for a spot not too far from home, it could be a great location for them. It can provide the traffic needed without being lost in the shuffle.

Railroad is a taproom only but you’re welcome to bring your own food in. It is a big open space with a bar and picnic tables that opens up to the outside. They have a large outdoor space surrounding their building which I think could lead to some exciting events in the future. Plus they are dog friendly.

The beer was pretty interesting and provided very unique flavors. The B.O.B., a blood orange Blonde Ale, was very flavorful but not overpowering. It was easy to drink and would be great on a summer day. I also tried the collaboration beer for Cleveland Beer Week and enjoyed that one as well. This tap room is a nice addition to the West Side and to the ever growing Cleveland beer scene. A growing beer scene that never seems to stop.

Beer and Academics

On By Chris ElliottIn Alcohol, Brewery, College, RestaurantsLeave a comment

Beer and college go hand in hand. Usually it’s cheap beer and large quantities. I have to admit I didn’t have much of a care for anything that wasn’t sold in a 30 pack in college.

At Case Western Reserve University, there is actually a brewery on campus. While I didn’t know this when I was picking grad schools, I’m glad the one I decided on is Case Western. The Jolly Scholar has been a campus bar there for awhile but they added brewing to their arsenal and sell craft drafts for 3.99. An unbelievable price point and I tried multiple there and was not disappointed, especially considering that price.

This little pub is literally smack in the middle of the campus inside one of the buildings. I know I’ll be making plenty of stops here over the next three years. Definitely a place worth stopping at in University Circle for a good beer no matter if you’re a student or just hoping being amongst a bunch of college kids will make you feel 21 again. Three years of grad school should give me plenty of time to work through their beer list.

The Beast Within

On By Chris ElliottIn Alcohol, Brewery, RestaurantsLeave a comment

Cleveland keeps producing more and more breweries. While Portside did close a few weeks ago, the breweries that produce quality beer I believe will stick around. Saturday night we went out to another.

Noble Beast Brewery is a relatively new brewery having opened up in the late spring of this year. The brewery has that industrial feel as it sits on Cleveland’s Lakeside Avenue not far from the heart of downtown. The location does not get a ton of night foot traffic but is close enough to other areas that it should do fairly well.

They have a good selection of their own beers on tap as well as several guest beers. I’m always a fan of a brewery willing to put guest beers on tap. My favorite beer of theirs that I tried was the Widowmaker. That beer could kill you if you have a few of them or unleash your inner beast. I truly appreciate the name Widowmaker there. I also tried Kolsch and IPA which were both tasty beers as well but the Widowmaker was my favorite by far.

The food was perfect for the place. Simple but with flavor. We had the pretzel and the zesty fries. The kick on those fries was perfect. I was a little worried they may be spicy, or too hot, but they were just right. Well done on those Noble Beast. Overall, everything was really solid. It’s a well run brewery with a very friendly staff that remembered my name quickly. That personal touch is what will enable them to succeed.

Getting Saucy

On By Chris ElliottIn Alcohol, Brewery, RestaurantsLeave a comment

Cleveland just keeps them coming. Saucy brew works is just a couple streets over from the main west 25th strip of Ohio city. This large space, including an outdoor patio, is a nice addition to the Hingetown neighborhood. This brewery opened up a little over two months. While the ordering setup was a little confusing, the staff quickly noticed my awkward standing around while I tried to figure it all out and they came over to direct me to the right place. Good customer service is always appreciated.

The beers were pretty good. While the TPS IPA was ok, but nothing extraordinary, the Save Room for Pie vanilla pumpkin porter was a sweet porter that drinks really easily. The Punchline fruit beer was delicious as well and I think I could easily pound 10 of those back like they were a glass of Welch’s fruit punch.

The pizza was very good as well. The large comes out on this huge serving tray. A large pizza indeed. We had the margherita and was very pleased with it. Overall, it is a great new spot with a pretty extensive tap list for a new brewery with quite a few seasonal brews that I will have to try out next time.