Thirsty Dog Brewing Co. is on a roll.
The Akron brewery was named “USA Brewery of the Year” last month at the third annual New York International Beer Competition.
And now, Thirsty Dog has won a bronze medal for its barrel-aged Siberian Night Imperial Stout at the prestigious World Beer Cup, which is sponsored by the Boulder, Colo.-based Brewers Association.
The awards were announced Friday night in Denver during the Craft Brewers Conference.
“It’s always an honor to win any award that’s through the Brewers Association, whether it’s the [Great American Beer Festival] or World Beer Cup,” co-owner John Najeway said.
The brewery released the barrel-aged version of Siberian Night in bottles last year. It is available in bottles at retailers, and on draft at the brewery tasting room, 529 Grant St.
Winning at the World Beer Cup isn’t easy. This year, there were 4,754 beers entered from 1,403 breweries in 58 countries. Siberian Night won in the wood- and barrel-aged strong category, which had 72 entries.
The competition is held every two years.
Thirsty Dog wasn’t the only Ohio brewery to nab a medal. The others are:
• Willoughby Brewing Co. in Willoughby won a gold for Peanut Butter Cup Coffee Porter in the specialty beer category. It’s the brewpub’s first win at the event and its first-ever gold.
“We’re more than pretty stoked,” brewmaster Rick Seibt said.
• Columbus Brewing Co. in Columbus won a gold for Uncle Rusty in the imperial red ale category. “We’re pretty excited,” brewmaster and owner Eric Bean said.
• And Fat Head’s, which has a brewpub in North Olmsted and production brewery in Middleburg Heights, won silver medals for Head Hunter IPA in the American-style India pale ale category, and Bonehead in the imperial red ale category. Head Hunter also won a silver in 2012.
“I’m still kind of floating in the clouds,” said brewmaster and co-owner Matt Cole, who has now won 12 medals at the World Beer Cup and Great American Beer Festival since 2009.
New Hoppin’ Frog series
Hoppin’ Frog Brewery has launched a new series of small-batch beers available exclusively at its Akron taproom, 1680 E. Waterloo Road.
The first, Infusion A Coffee Porter, was released on draft and in bottles Tuesday at the Tasting Room. Infusion A is Hoppin’ Frog Silk Porter infused with “super-tasty swirls of chocolate and peanut butter flavor.”
The Tower Tuesday Series is an offshoot of the brewery’s popular Tower Tuesdays program, in which beers are run through a giant tower filled with various ingredients that infuse the beer with new flavors. For example, the tower can be filled with coffee beans that bring a coffee flavor and aroma to the brew.
Some of those infused brews became crowd favorites and people kept requesting them so the brewery opted to make them in limited batches. “We plan on doing a ton of them,” owner and brewer Fred Karm said.
He said they will be called Infusion A, Infusion B, Infusion C and so on. A new infusion won’t be released every Tuesday, though.
Karm expects Infusion A to last only a week — if that long. A 22-ounce bottle is $8.99 and there is a one-case limit.
New museum beer
Thirsty Dog has released a new beer at the Akron Art Museum as part of the Tony Feher exhibit opening. Buoys Ginger Honey IPA is a traditional English-style India pale ale with honey and ginger.
Thirsty Dog is brewing exclusive beers for the museum’s iQcafe. The museum offers new exhibits quarterly and Thirsty Dog has agreed to provide a brew for each opening. Buoys Ginger Honey IPA is the second to be released.
California beer
West Point Market, 1711 W. Market St., Akron, is holding a beer tasting from 7 to 9 p.m. May 9 that will center on California breweries.
Called “California Dreamin’,” the event will feature Sierra Nevada, Anchor, Ballast Point, Stone, 21st Amendment, Lagunitas, Knee Deep, Mission, Anderson Valley, Bear Republic and Green Flash. It also will include appetizers and live music.
Tickets are $30 in advance or $35 at the door. Reservations can be made by calling 330-864-2151, ext. 129, or going online to www.westpointmarket.com.
Wooster event
The sixth annual Wooster Wine and Beer Festival is 6:30 to 10:30 p.m. April 26 at the Greenbriar Conference and Party Center, 50 Riffel Road.
The event benefits the Wayne Center for the Arts. Tickets are $45, and include 10 tasting coupons and the Bountiful Tasting Buffet prepared by the Wooster Inn.
The beers will include Elevator 3 Frog IPA, Deschutes Black Butte Porter and Mirror Pond Pale Ale, and Great Lakes Rye of the Tiger and Eliot Ness.
Tickets are on sale at the Wayne Center for the Arts, 237 S. Walnut St., Wooster; Wooster Inn, 801 E. Wayne Ave., Wooster; and online at www.wayneartscenter.org.
Big Chuck Barleywine
Big Chuck Barleywine, the beer named after Cleveland television icon Chuck Schodowski, is hitting stores now.
The beer, a powerful brew at 11.7 percent alcohol, was produced by the Portside Brewery in Cleveland. It’s being sold in four-packs of 12-ounce cans.
It’s available at Heinen’s, selected Acme stores and other craft beer stores throughout Northeast Ohio, brewer Dan Malz said.
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.