Maize Valley Brewery will hold its grand opening Monday, kicking off with eight draft beers.
The nanobrewery — at Maize Valley Winery, 6193 Edison St. NE, Marlboro Township — will be open from 9 a.m. to 10 p.m. on opening day.
“We’re trying to make real flavorful beers with styles for every palate at this point,” said brewmaster Jake Turner, a full-time Alliance firefighter.
Maize Valley has held a few tastings and participated in this year’s Rhythm & Brews Festival in Canton, but Monday marks its official launch.
The opening day selection will feature a blonde ale, amber ale, pale ale, India pale ale, stout on nitro, American strong ale, imperial pumpkin ale and cask-conditioned stout.
Turner, who homebrewed for seven years before joining the brewery earlier this year, is looking forward to receiving constructive feedback from craft beer fans.
Some of the beers have been made specifically to appeal to the winery crowd — in other words, lighter-tasting fare. But Turner said craft beer fans should enjoy the specialty brews, including the IPA and cask-conditioned stout.
“Hopefully those will go over well with craft beer drinkers,” Turner said.
The hope is that beer sales grow and so does the brewery operation. Maize Valley is using a half-barrel brewing system.
“It’s going to be a challenge to keep up with demand,” admitted Turner, who added that he has no plans to leave his firefighting job.
Maize Valley will sell beer by the pint glass, but cannot offer growler sales right now because of its size, he noted.
Maize Valley is the latest Ohio winery to add a brewery. Others include Cellar Rats/Debonne Vineyards in Madison and Cellar Dweller/Valley Vineyards in Morrow.
For more details about Maize Valley Brewery, go to: www.maizevalley.com.
Craft Oktoberfest
The Cleveland Labor Day Oktoberfest is more than just schnitzel and lederhosen.
The event, held this weekend at the Cuyahoga County Fairgrounds in Berea, includes a beer tasting showcasing 22 craft breweries and a judged competition.
The following breweries are participating: Great Lakes, Rocky River, Market Garden, Sprecher, Cornerstone, the Brew Kettle, Thirsty Dog, Buckeye, Lager Heads, Fat Head’s, Gordon Biersch, Willoughby, Elevator, Cellar Rats, Christian Moerlein, Granite City, Millersburg, Main Street, Nano Brew, Black Box, Portside and Platform.
The beer tasting hours are 4 p.m. to midnight Friday, 2 p.m. to midnight Saturday and Sunday, and 2 to 8 p.m. Monday.
Admission is $8 in advance or $10 at the gate; you pay separately for the beer.
The competition, held Friday night, is designed to pick out the best Oktoberfest and a slew of other honors, including Best of Show. (I will serve as one of the celebrity judges.)
For more details, including a rundown of all the beers available, go to: http://clevelandoktoberfest.com.
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.
