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.
Time to turn the pages on what most people would say is the worst year of their life. To celebrate the year ending, or maybe just to get away from the Cleveland cold, I went to Fort Lauderdale for New Years. While most of my time was spent on the beach, I did manage to get in a few brewery visits.
I have been all over the sunshine state, but this was my first trip to Fort Lauderdale. The three breweries we stopped into were Invasive Species, Hollywood Brewing, and Orchestrated Minds.
Invasive Species was our first stop. I tried out several beers via a flight and had a pint. The brewery tap room is a smaller bar with a decent sized patio out back filled with metal picnic tables. Here was where I had the best individual beer of the trip. The Slurps (a sour beer) was like drinking a beer smoothie. I could have this for breakfast with a side of eggs and bacon. Incredibly delicious.
Next up, on New Years Eve before dinner at Louie Bossi, which is an incredible Italian restaurant by the way, we got a drink at Hollywood Brewing at their Las Olas location. Las Olas is the main strip in the downtown area of For Lauderdale. Filled with higher end restaurants and shops. Hollywood was solid from a beer perspective. Nothing amazing but nothing bad. I wish they had some rotational beers on tap, but they did not. I tried the Brew Hefner Wheat and the Locals Only Light Lager for your reference.
The last brewery visit was Orchestrated Minds. The depth of beer quality here was impressive. I had three really good beers plus a sip of a 4th from the owner when I was checking out. That 4th was incredible and almost made me decide to have one more. It was another sour and I wish I had remembered the name. This place was my favorite of the three from an overall standpoint. Very good beer and the owner was their working in the small tap room making sure each customer was enjoying the beer. The personal touch was appreciated and I would go back in a heartbeat.
Orchestrated Minds Tap Room
Besides the beer, the food at many locations was amazing. Though we did honestly have some slow service at many points and some bizarre waiters. It seemed that every restaurant was short staffed. Pandemic related? Maybe. Regardless, the food was great. Some of my favorites were Shooters, Louie Bossi (mentioned above), Nanou (awesome French bakery), Tinta and Lona Cocina. Here is to more good beer and food in 2021. Now, time to burn this trip off in the gym.
I went down to Amish country on Saturday where I gorged myself on four plates filled with fried chicken, meatloaf, mashed potatoes, noodles and enchiladas at Mrs. Yoder’s kitchen. Surprisingly the Amish like Mexican food. Did not see that one coming.
After that, we stopped at Millersburg Brewing Company. Located in downtown Millerburg, which for those that don’t know is the county seat of Holmes County Ohio. Knowledge is power.
The brewery is in an old brick building and maintains a lot of the building’s character from the exposed brick to the old bar top. The food menu appears delicious but after my Amish buffet destruction I don’t think I could fit any more food in my belly. However, we always have room for beer.
I went with a beer flight to give myself a good variety since I knew I was not going to be able to down multiple full beers at this point. All 4 tastings were very good, but I have to say the Edgy Elf was my favorite. A sweet winter warmer beer that they even put cinnamon on the beer flight glass. That was a nice touch.
The other beers I tried included Belouded (NEIPA), Jolene Jolie (Red Ale), and Haskins 1819 (Blackberry Tart) and were all really solid beers that I would have again. It’s a bit of a drive for me from Cleveland, but I would definitely go here again and would like to sooner rather than later.
Personally, I think this pronunciation of Wooster, Ohio is idiotic. It should be Woo!-Ster like a drunk girl shouting at a bar. However, the locals prefer the WUH so I’ll roll with it.
This past Saturday we took a day trip down to Wooster and walked around the town, had a burger and indulged in some beverages. Traveling during the Covid, is weird. A day trip is easy enough and Ohio has a lot to offer.
First off we visited Muddy’s where I had the cheesiest of cheese burgers. If you have a lactose sensitivity, stay away.
After Muddy’s, the main reason for this trip was to visit the JAFB taproom. Just Another Fucking Brewery, is a pretty spacious taproom and I was able to try several brews. My favorite of the ones I had was the Hefeweizen, though the Summer Forever (New England IPA) was very good as well. The Hefeweizen is a good solid rendition of this beer style with just enough banana taste. I really enjoyed this one. I was told after that I need to try the Apricot one, so next time I’ll give that one a taste.
After the brewery, we had two more stops to make. First off was Minglewood Distilling Company. I am by no means an expert on bourbon but I’m starting to get into it more. They had a variety of alcohols and I did a tasting. I wish the tours were open but again the virus got in the way. I picked up a bottle of the bourbon to take home. Then one last stop at Hartzlers Dairy Farm for some ice cream. Perfect dessert to end the day.
Did I travel during a pandemic? Bet your ass I did. Took a trip up to Grand Rapids this past weekend to visit a good buddy of mine. On Friday, before meeting up with him I stopped at two Breweries in town.
First up was Brewery Vivant. Now this place had the smallest food menu. A regular burger, a veggie burger and some appetizers. They would only cook the burger well done too. Honestly, I am not a fan of red meat unless it’s bleeding. The sauce they put on the burger (a chipotle type sauce with more of a hearty kick) was delicious though and they had some good beer. I really enjoyed the Straw Barb, a strawberry sour. I just wish the food menu had a few more items. Throw a chicken sandwich on there.
Straw Barb at Brewery Vivant
After Brewery Vivant, I meandered over to ELK Brewing and had a couple more beers. The Mango Summer Wheat and Blonde Express were both solid beers. I would say I preferred the Mango Summer Wheat and I’m not a big mango guy. After that, I wrapped up and went to my buddy’s, but it was a couple good brewery visits for a Friday afternoon trip to the Mitten. Have to get back up there to visit the rest of GR. Maybe I’ll wait for this Covid stuff to pass to really enjoy the city.
Florida is well known on the internet for “Florida Man”. Sometimes, the place gets a bad rap for that. While the inland areas may have some questionable residents, I’d argue the coasts are some of the best places around for a relaxing getaway. The past week, I vacationed in Siesta Key with my girlfriend’s family. Now, I consider myself the leading expert of Sanibel Island and I have been to Orlando and all over the Palm Beach area as well as Panama City Beach (PCB13!) but this was my first time to the Sarasota area.
Most of my time was spent crushing Corona Lights on the beach, but I did try a couple breweries out and had a few beers at various restaurants.
On Wednesday, as the slices of bread on either side of my dinner at Brick (fantastic BBQ by the way) we visited JDub’s Brewing Company and Calusa Brewing. Calusa leaned towards having a lot of high alcohol content IPAs, but it definitely had some solid beers on their list and the tap room was pretty busy. The best beer of the trip though was at JDub’s. Brad Popped His Berry was so good. This Blueberry sour was jammed full of flavor. Loved this beer like seagulls loves bread crumbs.
For a beach town, the beer overall was pretty good. But of course you have to have a daiquiri or two (or three). Which I did. However, it’s back to work this week. Monday after a vacation is definitely a level of hell. Just imagine if you had to relive that type of Monday for eternity. How far off is retirement?
I’ve been out there before, but I was in town for work and I got to explore a few more places.
San Diego never has rain and it decided to rain the three days I was there a few weeks ago. Not sure who up top I pissed off, but come on you couldn’t give me a little sun shine?
San Diego is a truly beautiful area. I really enjoy La Jolla. We grabbed dinner one night at George’s at the Cove. Amazing short rib.
Also had the chance to visit a couple breweries too. I checked out Karl Strauss and 32 North. The bartender at Karl Strauss was fantastic and the beer was good but the food kind of reminded me of food from the frozen aisle. At 32 North, I enjoyed a good Hefeweizen but I was the only patron in the place. Damn you rain.
My last night I went down to the little Italy area to meet up with a former coworker that was also in town for work. We grabbed drinks at the Waterfront, this old navy bar. Then we proceeded to have dinner at the Kettner Exchange. Thanks to my company for the 75 dollar dinner of duck meatball, Philly cheesesteak toast and fried turkey leg. Corporate travel ain’t bad and San Diego never disappoints.
Again I’m late on this like a girl who forgot to take her birth control. While I still hate their football team, I have to say Pittsburg was a fun time. About a week ago, we spent a Saturday across the border bouncing around from different bars. Shoutout to Mark and Katie for being great hosts and tour guides.
We hit up quite a few bars and I even had Pittsburgh’s version of bud light, IC Light. I’ll pass on that next time. We stopped at the Sly Fox, a Philly based brewery and I had a delicious IPA, Route 113 IPA.
While the beer was good throughout the city, I had to satisfy the belly too. The full size wings, you know the kind with both parts, at Coughlin’s Law were some of the best I’ve ever eaten. The banana bread French toast for brunch the next day at Urban Tap was a nice twist on a classic. Despite the questionable actions of their QB, Pittsburg had quite a lot to offer.
As I sit here on the stationary bike, trying to burn off the 7.3 lbs I gained this weekend and sweat out my disappointment that tribe playoff baseball doesn’t exist this year, it is a challenge to describe how awesome Boston is. Cleveland will always have my heart but Boston has so much to offer. Easy to get around, clean, a lot to do no matter your interest. It’s New York without all the terrible aspects of New York. Only downside is they allow Tom Brady to live there.
Now, I have been to Boston before but this time I visited a bunch of new places and walked the whole freedom trail. Drinking a beer in the Green Dragon Tavern evokes a sensation knowing that some of the most important decisions and conversations in American history were had there.
And have I mentioned that Boston has such good beer. I’ve wanted to go to Trillium for years and finally made it. The variety of sours they have is splendid. The Sour Cherry Soak was my favorite there. Just around the corner from there was Hopsters. Another cool Boston brewery right in Seaport.
My favorite beer of the trip though was a can I had at Bell in Hand Tavern. Another revolutionary era bar. The 617 Title Town Hazy IPA from Lord Hobo Brewing Co. was so delicious. Perfect New England style IPA. I just wish it had a different name in stead of honoring all those damn championships. Have I mentioned I hate Tom Brady?
On the last day, we also visited the Fenway area. Boston Beerworks has a good IPA as well and the area was full of energy as the Pats played and the last Red Sox game of the year was about to start. To finish her off we grabbed food and drinks in the Bleacher Bar. This is a bar like no other as it’s located under the stadium and literally looks out to the field. During warmups the players can look right into the bar in outfield. I can only imagine a guy like Manny Ramirez slamming a beer out there. It’s an experience like no other and Boston is a town like no other (despite Tom Brady).
In West Lafayette born and raised, on the playground…ok I’ll stop. I took a work trip last week to Indiana to the home of Purdue University. Boiler Up! While I was only there for just over 24 hours, I did manage to make a stop into downtown Lafayette and visit Lafayette Brewing Company.
Now, I know this is a college town and the school year hasn’t started, and this was a Wednesday night, but downtown was dead. More dead than a Clinton opponent (cough Jeffrey Epstein).
Nevertheless, I still enjoyed a great dinner at East End Grill and then a delicious EZPZ Lemon Wheat beer. This was like drinking a large lemon drop shot or maybe a better version of a summer Shandy. I enjoyed this one.
The city looks like its downtown area could be a great Thursday night drink spot in college and I’m sure the place comes alive for college football Saturdays. It just was not doing much on an early August Wednesday. But if you find yourself in this little part of America, there is good food and beer to be had.
Average Browery 