The seventh annual Art and Ale beer tasting returns March 14 to the Akron Art Museum.
The event, set for 6 to 9 p.m. in the museum’s atrium, includes Hoppin’ Frog, Fat Head’s, Thirsty Dog, Elevator, Main Street, Actual and Jackie O’s.
It’s the first appearance for Actual, Jackie O’s and Fat Head’s. Actual’s visit is a special treat for local beer drinkers because the Columbus brewery isn’t normally available in the area.
Crafted Artisan Meadery and beer distributor House of LaRose, which handles such craft brands as Goose Island, also will attend. The museum is still accepting breweries so the event may grow.
Guests will be able to sample a cask version of Multiplicity Belgian Pale Ale, a beer made by Thirsty Dog and sold exclusively at the museum.
The beers will be paired with food from the Pierogi Lady, Lucky Penny Creamery, Mayfield Road Creamery, Old Carolina Barbecue, Frankly Frank’s Kettle Corn, Pure DeLite Guilt-Free Cupcakery and Label Peelers Beer & Wine Making Supplies. There also will be an opportunity to win beer-making supplies and breweriana. The galleries will be open for the first hour of the event.
Tickets are $40 for members, $50 for nonmembers. All tickets purchased at the door are $50. For more details or tickets, go to www.akronartmuseum.org.
Acme tasting
The Acme Fresh Market, 3979 Medina Road, Bath Township, will celebrate the grand opening of its expanded beer/wine/liquor department and new growler station with an Ohio beer tasting from 6 to 8 p.m. Friday.
The event will feature six beers that will warm the hearts of discriminating craft drinkers: Jackie O’s Oil of Aphrodite, Fat Head’s Hippy Sippy, Columbus Bodhi, Great Lakes Chillwave, the Brew Kettle Kitka Stout and Thirsty Dog Citra Dog aged in rum barrels with mandarin oranges.
There is no cost to attend. Samples will range from 25 cents to $1. Growlers also will be filled.
Winter Warmer Fest
The eighth annual Winter Warmer Fest this weekend in Cleveland has assembled a phenomenal and lengthy beer list.
The event, a fundraiser for the Ohio Craft Brewers Association, features winter and limited-edition beers. More than 30 Ohio brewers are participating, including many that aren’t usually available in Northeast Ohio: Actual, Buckeye Lake, Homestead, North High, Rhinegeist, Seventh Son and Wolf’s Ridge.
The Winter Warmer Fest runs from 2 to 6 p.m. Saturday at Windows on the River, 2000 Sycamore St. Tickets are $45 and include a souvenir glass and 20 taste tickets for 4-ounce samples. The event is expected to sell out in advance.
To see all the beers or to order tickets, go to www.ohiocraftbeer.org.
West Point tasting
West Point Market, 1711 W. Market St., Akron, will hold a “St. Patrick’s Preview” beer tasting from 7 to 9 p.m. March 14. (Yes, it’s the same day as the art museum event.)
The tasting will feature Bell’s, the Brew Kettle, Clown Shoes, Fat Head’s, Flying Monkeys, Founders, Great Lakes, Revolution, St. James Gate (Guinness) and Thirsty Dog. There also will be appetizers and live jazz.
Tickets are $30 in advance or $35 at the door. Reservations are recommended.
For more details or to make reservations, go to www.westpointmarket.com or call 330-864-2151 ext. 129.
Old beers are in
Barley’s Smokehouse & Brewpub in Columbus and Great Lakes Brewing Co. in Cleveland each attempted to re-create ancient beers from Egypt and Sumeria last year.
And now the two breweries are joining together for a four-course beer dinner that will feature those brews.
The event, dubbed “From the Tigris to the Nile: A Sumerian-Egyptian Beer Dinner,” is from 6 to 9 p.m. March 29 at Barley’s Smokehouse.
Both KA Amunet, the beer made by Barley’s Smokehouse, Actual and North High, and Enkibru, the beer made by Cleveland’s Great Lakes with guidance from the University of Chicago, will be served.
The event will include guest speakers. A portion of the proceeds will benefit the Ohio Historical Society.
Barley’s Smokehouse describes the evening as: “Part Art. Part Science. Part Magic.”
Tickets are $60. For details or to buy tickets, go to www.smokehousebrewing.com/events_032914.html.
Rockmill bottles
Don’t adjust your eyes. Yes, those are small Rockmill Brewery bottles showing up in stores, bars and restaurants.
The Lancaster brewery, which specializes in Belgian-style farmhouse ales, has released a line of 375ml bottles complete with corks and cages just like the larger 750ml version.
Owner and brewer Matthew Barbee said he wanted to offer a smaller alternative because some people were scared off by the big bottle. It’s also more inviting at bars and restaurants, he said.
Beer samplers
• Millersburg Brewing Co. in Millersburg announced that it has inked two deals with distributors, expanding in central Ohio and moving into southern Ohio.
• Fat Head’s Brewery co-owner and brewer Matt Cole is headed to England again to brew a collaboration beer. He’ll be brewing at Wadworth Brewery and his beer will be available at JD Wetherspoon’s 900 pubs around the country.
• The Columbus, Cleveland and Cincy Winter Beerfests attracted more than 33,700 people combined this year, the organizer said. The inaugural Cleveland Winter Beerfest, held Jan. 31 and Feb. 1 at the Cleveland Convention Center, drew 7,500.
• The Cincinnati Business Courier reports that Boston Beer Co. is spending nearly $6 million to expand its Samuel Adams brewery in Cincinnati.
• A Vancouver group is teaching alcoholics how to make their own beer and wine. “Obviously, we’d rather they didn’t drink,” Portland Hotel Society Executive Director Mark Townsend told the Vancouver Sun. “But if they do, we’d rather they didn’t drink hand sanitizer.”
• MillerCoors reported that its Miller64 will become the first U.S. beer to feature new, more detailed nutritional labeling permitted by the federal government.
Rick Armon can be reached at 330-996-3569 or rarmon@thebeaconjournal.com. Read his beer blog at www.ohio.com/beer. Follow him on Twitter at @armonrickABJ.