2015 Cleveland Beer Week was one of epic proportions in the Schur house.
What started off as a “nice topic” for my blog, ended up being a nine day, 21
event beer retreat. The Cavs hosted three home games, including one in
Columbus, so I flew solo for a few events. We were so impressed with the 2015
Cleveland Beer Week - the events were solid and the great people of Cleveland
represented well. We talked to several beer representatives who are so
impressed with the Cleveland beer scene and it’s only getting better. We really
had a great time, saw a few new places, met some great people from all of over
the country…and used Uber…a lot!
Day one of Beer Week had us at the Garth Brooks concert at The Q. Although there were countless kick-off events, we steered clear. We enjoyed the concert, dinner at Greenhouse Tavern and then spent the night at the Westin Downtown. When we woke up on Saturday morning, we were excited to get Cleveland Beer Week underway. We headed to our first stop at Tremont Tap House for their annual Bell's Ruins Beer Week; an impressive tap takeover with Bell’s Brewing including special timed tappings and rarities. We shared a sandwich, enjoyed a Bell’s sampler as well as two of the timed tappings - Oracle at noon and Wild One at 1:00 pm.
On
Sunday, we headed back to Tremont to Edison’s Pub for their Platform Beer and
DonutLab Go Local event. It sounded unique and unique it was! For $15, we
received four Platform Beer samples paired with four specialty mini donuts featuring locally
produced toppings, a full pint of our favorite beer…and we kept the glass.
The pairings were great and some of the donut toppings were very unique. The New Cleveland Palesner was paired with a donut topped with Cleveland Kraut & West Side Market's J&J Czuchraj Meats smoked kielbasa. The Speed Merchant White IPA was paired with a donut topped with Cleveland Vegan's pineapple salsa and avocado. The Supra Saison was paired with a donut topped with Mackenzie Creamery's blueberry lemon chevre & dried blueberry. Finally, the most decadent was the Chocolate Rye Porter Barrel Aged with Raspberries paired with a donut topped with chocolate mousse, Adrianne's raspberry chocolate truffle and Malley's chocolate & country kettle jam! Wow!
Steve had a game in
Columbus on Monday night, so my mom joined me for my 6th beer week
event at Forage Public House in
Lakewood for their Barrel-Aged Night. We
enjoyed rare, barrel-aged brews from the cellar of Great Lakes Brewing, including
the 2014 & 2015 Barrel-aged Blackout Stout, 2013 Jaberwocky, Barrel-aged
Nosferatu, and a special Barrel-aged Edmund Fitzgerald infused with chiles
& Civet Kopi Coffee beans. We met the Great Lakes Brewer and took home some new glassware. I mostly enjoyed the Nosferatu, but have come to like sours more and more so I thought the Jaberwocky was quite nice. At 69-years-old, my mom is a solid beer week sidekick. Not only did she try (and mostly hate) all of the beers, but she picked me up and drove me home. A Great Lakes representative came over and gave her a really educational session on bourbon barreled beer. She liked it, but was sure to tell them the Jaberwocky tastes like vinegar.
Free = good.
There was no Cavs
game on Wednesday, which meant that Steve was able to join me again! We first
stopped at Forage Public House in Lakewood (again) to partake in their Smouldering
Soiree with New Belgium and Fat Head’s. There were representatives from both
Fat Head’s and New Belgium. We drank some rare beers, including Fat Head’s Jungle
Juiced Head Hunter and a Fat Head's Head Hunter Firkin with Mandarin and Habanero. New Belgium brought
their Love Apple Oscar, a very special brew and one of the only kegs to make it
to Ohio.
Next was one of my
more anticipated events; the Columbus Brewing Bodhifest at Deagan's Kitchen & Bar in Lakewood. The
event actually started at Rozi's Wine House with a Bodhi happy hour, but we
didn’t get home from work in time, so we walked to Deagan's where they had six different
Bodhi's on tap. Columbus Bodhi is an Imperial IPA and one of my favorite beers. It's not incredibly easy to find, so when a place has it, I usually order it. When we walked through the doors at Deagan's, I realized I must have pretty good taste in beer - the place was totally packed! The six flavors were Habanero, Pineapple, Coconut, Mango-Peach, Breakfast and Cucumber-Lime.
As we walked back
home, we decided to stop at Melt Bar & Grilled Lakewood for dinner. We always sit at the bar and we
always share. They were scheduled to have Three Floyds Zombie Dust on tap and were pairing it with a Zombie Dust
Themed Sandwich. We quickly learned that they had run out of the Zombie Dust
after only 2 ½ days. Cleveland loves their beer! Instead we drank two Beer
Week collaborations - Platform and Brick & Barrel's Mad Tree Budabest Blend, and Platform and Melt's Schmeltzen Rye Kolsch. The best part of the night? Our $0.54 bill. We’re part
of the Melt Big Cheese Club and redeemed our $20 credit, leaving our check to
only $0.54. A nice surprise during this costly voyage.
As we continued our
trek home, we just couldn’t say no to one final stop at Winking Lizard Lakewood for their Stone IRS Verticality. Stone Brewery was offering vertical flights
with Stone IRS 2008, 2010, 2012 and 2015 Odd Year. While the event was only
scheduled to last until 8:00 pm, we were able to get there just in time for one
final pour. The Stone IRS is an Imperial Russian Stout and I don’t love Russian stouts so Steve
took on the “burden” of most of these.
Thursday brought on
another home Cavs game, so I attended my 12th Beer Week stop alone.
The Winking Lizard Lakewood hosted a Pucker Up with New Belgium event
and it was pretty awesome. I have come to enjoy some sour beers and this event just
encouraged my taste buds. On tap was New Belgium’s La Folie 2015, Eric's
Ale - an oak aged sour blended with peach beer, Love Apple Oscar - aged in apple whiskey barrels and Love Peach Oscar - aged in peach
whiskey barrels.
It was time for me to grab some dinner, so I walked over to Angelo's Pizza for a meet and greet with Charlie Carson of Anderson Valley. Being poured for the first time in Ohio, the Anderson Valley Doosley Barl Hornin was a salted caramel porter. Also on tap was a special Oatmeal Stout. Although I love their pizza, I opted for the Bosco bread and side salad.
Happy Friday! In
honor of my 14th Beer Week stop, Steve and I headed to one of our
favorite spots in Lakewood for Oskar Blues Taps and Tacos at Barrio Lakewood. The Oskar Blues taps included
Mama's little Yellow Pils, Ten-Fidy, and Mash Appeal (an awesome Oskar Blues/Great
Lakes collaboration beer). We talked with Oskar Blues' own Wes Mock about their
collaboration with Great Lakes as well as the impressive beer scene in
Cleveland.
While we were at
Barrio, we decided to partake in two other beer week specials. I did not count
these toward my Beer Week event count, but thought they deserved some
representation on the blog. Southern Tier Brewing Company from Lakewood, New York took over 12 Barrio
taps. Drafts included Pumking, Warlock, Harvest, Live and a special Cleveland
Beer Week brew made just for Cleveland called I-90.
Lagunitas was another
brewery that took over the Barrio taps, including IPA, Dogtown Pale Ale, Little
Sumpin Sumpin, Maximus, Hop Stoopid, Gnarley Wine, Imperial Wheat Wine,
Imperial PILS, Fusion XXX, Dopple Sticky, Fusion 32, and HotSide SourMash
Daytime. I enjoyed the Southern Tier Harvest ESB while Steve polished off a Lagunitas Maximus.
Next we stopped at
the Barrel Aged Mini Fest at the Winking Lizard Lakewood. On tap was the Epic Big Bad Baptist, BBC 2009
Brandy Barrel Queens Knickers, Revolution Gravedigger Billy, MadTree Axis
Mundi, Humboldt Black Xantu, and Heavy Seas Red Sky at Morning.
Saturday morning had us pursuing the Beer
Week event listings again. By this time I had attended 16 events. Why stop
there? I set high standards for myself and decided that 20 was the magic
number. In 2015, I would attend 20 beer week events. Wow. We decided to start
the day at Platform Brewery for their 13 beer Founders Beer Week brunch. Beer for breakfast? Not typically, but it is beer week.
The Founders CBS was the special beer for the day. The CBS is a Canadian Breakfast Imperial Stout brewed with coffee and chocolate and aged in bourbon barrels. With only 80 (5 oz) pours available, we had to purchase tickets on-site starting at 10:00 am. Platform had one of only two CBS kegs in Cleveland during beer week.
We didn't actually eat at Platform, so it was time for us to get some food. We opted for the Belgium Brunch at Tremont Tap House. We enjoyed their green chili burger
and a Belgium beer sampler. Beers featured included Brugse Zot UnfiItered Belgium
Brunch, Weyerbacher 20th Anny, 2004 Saison Dupont Dry Hopped, Butcher & The
Brewer Faltchen Oben Berlinerweiss, Chouffe Houblon Chouffe, Duvel, and Ommegang
Trisket Hennepin.
There was a really long line so Steve assumed it was for a premium beer. Nope. Just Bernie. Steve and I are the anti-celebrity, but were so impressed with how kind he was to everyone.
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