Cleveland Trip

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KUbrew

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I got some free Megabus tickets a few weeks ago that enabled my wife and I to go to Cleveland for the day this Friday. The main reason for the trip is to go to Great Lakes Brewery but I was wondering if there were any other places that we shouldn't miss while we are in town.
 
The Melt in Lakewood for lunch. Call ahead.

Buckeye Beer Engine for drinks.

Both have tons of micro brews
 
Hermit said:
http://bier-markt.com/
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I second this. The usually have a great selection of Belgian beers in particular.

The Rocky River Brewing Company is putting out some good beers, too, and is worth the visit. They stole a few brewers from Great Lakes a number of years ago, so if you like one, you'll like the other.

Andy Tveekrem, who used to work for Great Lakes before his Dogfish Head stint, is back in Cleveland brewing at the Market Garden Brewery. It was supposed to have opened recently, but I don't know the latest news. Their website is here: http://marketgardenbrewery.com/

Otherwise, well, what else would you like to do?
 
check out the Brew Kettle in Strongsville right by the airport - WELL worth the visit. Awesome beer, fantastic food (try the bar-BBQ spaghetti, its to die for) and growlers to go. they should still have white rassia on tap, their new award winning IIPA. Also try out the 4-c's pale ale or the dead poet IPA, just some of my personal favorites. By far the best brew-pub in Cleveland. After that, work your way towards down-town and check out great lakes brewery and the rock-n-roll hall of fame. Great lakes is on the west bank of the flats and the rrhof is on the east side next to the Browns stadium, about 5 minutes away from each other. Lots of cool places to visit around here, too bad you only got one day :mug:
 
There's also Fatheads and JW Dover/Black Box Brewing (one of my local LHBS that sells their stuff in a market on site) out in North Olmsted, Cornerstone Brewing in Berea. If you want to venture further, The Willoughby Brewing Company is worth a visit. Also towards Akron there is Hoppin Frog, Thirsty Dog, and a couple others that escape my mind.

I always check out http://beermapping.com/ for everywhere I go. On the left is a drop down for different cities.
 
rudu81 said:
There's also Fatheads and JW Dover/Black Box Brewing (one of my local LHBS that sells their stuff in a market on site) out in North Olmsted, Cornerstone Brewing in Berea. If you want to venture further, The Willoughby Brewing Company is worth a visit. Also towards Akron there is Hoppin Frog, Thirsty Dog, and a couple others that escape my mind.

I always check out http://beermapping.com/ for everywhere I go. On the left is a drop down for different cities.
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I live about 10 minutes away from the willoughby brewing co. good beer and great food, my only gripe is you have to wait about an hour to be seated and they're a bit costly. haven't checked out jw dover/black box brewing or cornerstone
 
I agree about WBC, but I tend to go at odd times. JW Dover is on detroit btwn clague and columbia off on 90. The store is in a small strip center that faces Detroit, and the LHBS and their brewery is around the corner of the building. Cornerstone also has a place out in Geneva. I think that Debonne has a brewery too, Cellar Rats?
 
+1 for the Buckeye Beer Engine and Melt (there are 2 locations; east and west side).

If your only transportation is the megabus, then Bier Market (close) and Tremont Tap House (a few blocks) will be your best bet besides GLBC.
Buckeye is probably one of the best places to go for a great rotating beer selection. Plus they always have 2 on cask!

All of the places mentioned in this thread get really busy on weekends...especially Melt (always an hour, usually 2-3 on evenings).

Brian
 
rudu81 said:
I agree about WBC, but I tend to go at odd times. JW Dover is on detroit btwn clague and columbia off on 90. The store is in a small strip center that faces Detroit, and the LHBS and their brewery is around the corner of the building. Cornerstone also has a place out in Geneva. I think that Debonne has a brewery too, Cellar Rats?
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cool, got a couple new places to check out now and I got an old friend that lives in Geneva who I've been meening to visit anyway. thanks for the heads up rudu
 
Transportation is definitely the problem. We're doing this on a shoestring budget so places within walking distance would be great. We will definitely hit up Bier Market.

We get in early in the morning, anything fun to do in the Tower City area before the bars open?
 
++++1 on Fat Heads. They are a relatively new up and coming brewery & have won a bunch of national awards already, mainly for the Head Hunter IPA. They currently have a pair of nice Belgians on tap with an Imperial Head Hunter on deck.

Brew Kettle is another solid choice. However, every time I go there I wait about an hour for a table.

I would stay away from Rocky River Brewing. The head brewer, Matt Cole, left for Fat Heads when it opened. Ever since, the beer just hasn't been quite as good.

Just my 2c.

Sent from my iPhone using HB Talk
 
I can't believe no one has mentioned the West Side Market. It's right across the street from Great Lakes. It's a must see and a great place to get lunch. Sokolowski's University Inn is pretty close to the brewery. They serve some of the best Polish food you can find. It's the stuff that'll put meat on your bones. Cleveland has a fantastic metropark system. It makes for a very nice drive. Very pretty all times of the year. If you're up to it, I bet it's pretty muddy right now, check out the nature center. There are some nice paths there. The park system is nicknamed the Emerald Necklace as it encircles the entire area. In the summer, everyone visiting Cleveland should do a dinner cruise on the Nautica Queen or the Good Time III. They travel the up the Cuyahoga river and along the waterfront. You get a really nice view of the city and the sun sets over the lake.
 
KUbrew said:
Transportation is definitely the problem. We're doing this on a shoestring budget so places within walking distance would be great. We will definitely hit up Bier Market.

We get in early in the morning, anything fun to do in the Tower City area before the bars open?
Click to expand...

there's the science center and rrhall of fame within walking distance of tower city, and tower city itself can keep you busy for over an hour
edit - dress warm
 
+1 on the West Side Market, a really cool place for eats. I'd eat lunch over there, myself.
 
Pick said:
+1 on the West Side Market, a really cool place for eats. I'd eat lunch over there, myself.
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I can never get out of the WSM without stopping @ Johnny's Hot Dogs.

It's been a while since I've been there so I hope they are still around.

Bull
 
Oh hell yeah. Sokolowskis is some of the best food in town. I'm surprised man vs food didn't stop by.
 
The drummer from Faith No More used to work at rocky river brewing a few years ago. My sister was a server and he worked in the kitchen. Shoulda saved some money! Although I bet he's making some money off dirty jobs with Mike Rowe now.
 
KUbrew said:
Transportation is definitely the problem. We're doing this on a shoestring budget so places within walking distance would be great. We will definitely hit up Bier Market.

We get in early in the morning, anything fun to do in the Tower City area before the bars open?
Click to expand...

Sorry, missed the MegaBus part. Walking will suck. You can get a rapid pass for $5 all day ride I think. That will get you to the rock hall and to the market/Great Lakes. There's also a good Cuban sandwich place on W.25th, and I just saw something about a new brewery opening right next to the West Side Market on 25th.
 
Cafe Lelolai is the place with the Cubanos. It's on W. 25th, just a block north of the West Side Market on the same side of the street. The Cubanos are to die for! You should try a café con leche made with Yaucono espresso. They also have pastelillos and a variety of Puerto Rican confections.
 
itsme6582 said:
How was the trip? It was pretty nasty Friday. Did you even make it?
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The trip was awesome!

The Megabus trip there too 9 hours instead of 6 because of the snow. After we got there we decided to walk to a coffee shop near the West Side Market because my wife needed to take a conference call. So we walked a mile in 8 inches of snow and blizzard conditions only to find that the coffee shop was out of business. We decided to go to West Side Market to get out of the storm, which ended up being closed because the power was out. So we found a random Subway to hole up in until the brewery opened for lunch. I was cruising around Facebook while my wife was working and found a post from Great Lakes about how they were still brewing despite the snow so I commented how glad I was because we had come all the way from Chicago just for them. Great Lakes replied back that we could come on over so that is what we did.

As we were eating lunch we were approached by the marketing person, the manager and the owner all who were glad we had come all this way. They even gave us some free shirts and stickers and bought our beers we had for lunch. Our server even gave us an impromptu tour of the brewpub and the history of the building after her shift.

By this time it 5pm and time for our tour, which was great. The tour guide was very informative about the brewery and its history. After we came back from the tour we were going to head downstairs to look around some more and then head to Bier Market for some belgian beers. But when we came in the door, the manager and owner were standing there and so we spent the rest of the night drinking with the and talking with them about the brewery, their beers, how they got started, etc. It was great getting to talk one on one with them, I've never had the opportunity to do this before.

So we never made it out of Great Lakes, but the trip was awesome. I guess we'll just have to go back someday and hit the rest of the places everyone suggested.
 
I'm so jealous. Whenever I go there, it's a mad house. Forget about trying to sit down with the owner. I'd love to sit down with a brewery owner and talk about how he got there. Great Lakes is quite the gem. Did you get to try some of their famed Christmas Ale? I can't imagine they had any left. They can't make enough of it. Who knows though, after sitting with the owner maybe you got lucky. I guess Anheuser-Busch has been trying to buy that recipe off of them for years.
 
It was a great time. Unfortunately they weren't pouring the Christmas Ale, I really wanted to try it. I didn't think about asking the owner if he had some around, probably should have though, I bet they have some bottles stocked away somewhere.
 
KUbrew said:
It was a great time. Unfortunately they weren't pouring the Christmas Ale, I really wanted to try it. I didn't think about asking the owner if he had some around, probably should have though, I bet they have some bottles stocked away somewhere.
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Hey, I have some Christmas Ale stocked away...I'd be up for a trade for things I can't get in Ohio (3 Floyds...etc).

Let me know!
 
Definitely. I can get you anything around Chicago that sounds good (3 Floyds, Metropolitan, Half Acre, Two Brothers). I'm also going to New Glarus Friday if you want anything from them.
 
I like to keep a 6er of Christmas Ale for Christmas in July. It would be pretty cool to brew it. I think that just like homebrewing a clone can give you a nostalgic feeling. I don't think there's any way I could reproduce that Christmas Ale. There's a lot more to that beer than just the taste. You just can't match the buzz that beer gets in season. It's quite the phenomenon around here.

I'm glad your day in Cleveland worked out so well, especially with how lousy the weather was. We get a bad rap around here but there are a lot of great things in this town. I think the media has a big part of the negativity but I feel the number one contributing factor to the city's rep is how Clevelanders talk about it.
 
So you met the Conways :) or at least the one still running the business I guess. They have been "on the edge" of the full blown brewery/restaurant business for awhile. I used to just about live there at night for years....Andy was the brewmaster back then. Didn't know he was back in town. Ted L used to be the manager but he's now one of the main partners at Fathead's, which I highly recommend you visit next time....just hop the bus on Lorain, one block S of GLB and ride out to it. :) You might time the next visit to coincide with the Lakewood pub crawl. And always look out for Nosferatu at GLB....
 
bthomas9 said:
...I have some Christmas Ale stocked away..
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I tried to save a six pack one year. Had it in a dark spot in the basement, but it still went south. Think I tried one in Feb or March and it wasn't the same so I drank the rest. Maybe in a fridge would help?

itsme6582 said:
...It would be pretty cool to brew it...I don't think there's any way I could reproduce that Christmas Ale...
Click to expand...

My first brew was a holiday ale that definitely wasn't ready for the holidays. So I've got a case plus left over. I was going to try and brew for July, but I might just keep what I have and brew for the holidays this year instead.
 
rudu81 said:
I tried to save a six pack one year. Had it in a dark spot in the basement, but it still went south. Think I tried one in Feb or March and it wasn't the same so I drank the rest. Maybe in a fridge would help?
Click to expand...

I keep mine in a closet in my non-air-conditioned apartment. It gets very hot in here. We get full sun nearly all day. The beer does fine. The spices seem do seem to mellow over time but they don't disappear.
 
I've started going to JW Dover for my brew supplies. But I have yet to try some beers from his Black Box Brewery. Dover used to make/sell wines when we were young. Have to go around front & check out the beer...
 

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