The ninth annual Ohio Brew Week — a celebration of Ohio-made beer — returns to Athens this week for nine days of tastings, educational events, dinners, music and one high-profile beer celebrity.
The event will showcase 41 Ohio breweries and more than 250 beers, Director Weston Lombard said. Those familiar with Ohio Brew Week will find it comfortably the same this year.
“We haven’t really changed it up a whole lot,” said Lombard, who took over as director this year. “We’re sticking to the same format.”
The festivities kick off at 5 p.m. Friday with the Rock-N-Roast at the Ohio University Inn.
Joe Tucker, the founder of the influential RateBeer.com, will be the keynote speaker. He will talk at 5:30 p.m. Monday at the official Keg-Tapping Ceremony at Jackie O’s Pub & Brewery downtown.
Tucker’s visit also will include a bar crawl starting at noon Sunday at The Pub. He will sample many Ohio beers and offer up recommendations on how to judge a brew.
Asked about other events that craft beer fans shouldn’t miss, Lombard offered these recommendations:
• Last Call, the culminating beer festival that takes place downtown on Court Street from 1:30 to 10:30 p.m. July 19.
• New Crafts on the Block, a tasting sponsored by the Ohio Craft Brewers Association and focusing on new Ohio breweries from 6 to 10 p.m. July 18 at ARTS/West.
Obviously, there are many, many more events. For the full schedule and more details, including the cost of individual events, go to www.ohiobreweek.com.
Brew at Zoo
Christmas is coming to the Akron Zoo.
The next Brew at the Zoo beer tasting will feature a holiday theme and Christmas beers.
The event runs from 6 to 9 p.m. July 16 and will include music by the band Cold Blue Steele. Participating breweries are: Alltech, Black Box, the Brew Kettle, Elevator, Fat Head’s, Jackie O’s, MadCap, Ohio, Stone and Thirsty Dog. Tramonte Distributing also is attending.
Tickets are $17 for zoo members and $23 for nonmembers. Attendees receive six samples, and full-sized beers are available for $4. Additional tasting cards are $10. Food will be available for purchase.
Two other Brew at the Zoo tastings are set this year: Sept. 10 and Oct. 1.
For more details or to register, call 330-375-2550, ext. 7231. Only guests 21 and older are permitted.
Wilderness tasting
Using the slogan “Beer just tastes better outdoors,” the Wilderness Center, 9877 Alabama Ave. SW, Wilmot, will hold an Ales for Trails beer tasting from 7 to 10 p.m. July 26.
The fundraiser will support trail and bridge repairs.
The beer will include Great Lakes, Sierra Nevada and Blue Moon. There also will be live music by Wormz and The Decomposers, and food for purchase from the Stone Pelican Rolling Cafe.
Tickets are $15. For more details, call 330-359-5235.
Big-name collaboration
The sixth annual Cleveland Beer Week will put a special twist on its collaboration brews this year.
Five Cleveland-area breweries are teaming up with five award-winning out-of-state breweries to produce exclusive beers for the weeklong celebration Oct. 10-18.
Here’s the rundown:
• Great Lakes Brewing and Oskar Blues Brewery in Longmont, Colo.
• Buckeye Brewing and Saugatuck Brewing in Douglas, Mich.
• Fat Head’s Brewery and Devils Backbone Brewing in Roseland, Va.
• Thirsty Dog Brewing and Brooklyn Brewery in Brooklyn, N.Y.
• The Brew Kettle and Full Pint Brewing in Pittsburgh.
Each team will produce a small-batch, session beer with 6 percent or less alcohol by volume. The beer styles and names will be announced the first week of August, when tickets go on sale.
“For the past two years, we have enjoyed great success with collaborations that focused on area breweries,” director Christine Montague said in a prepared statement. “At the same time, we are mindful of our audience. Our patrons are in touch with the worldwide craft beer scene and seek out new offerings. This year, we have included out-of-state breweries to continue to garner national attention for Cleveland and our craft beer community, bring a new level of excitement to the project and appeal to our patrons.”
Beer sampler
• Mashable.com reported on the 150 most popular U.S. microbreweries on Pinterest. Hoppin’ Frog Brewery in Akron was one of those.
• Catawba Island Brewing Co. in Port Clinton celebrated its one-year anniversary last week.
• ABC News reported on a Maryland couple who have been tracking and keeping notes on each beer they’ve drunk since 1979. Bob and Ellie Tupper just hit 25,000. That’s more than 714 beers a year.
• The trade newsletter Shanken News Daily reports that domestic light beer sales in the U.S. will hit a 10-year low next year.
Rick Armon can be reached at 330-996-3569 or rarmon@thebeaconjournal.com. Read his beer blog at www.ohio.com. Follow him on Twitter at @armonrickABJ.