Fishers Foods now has its own beer.
The Stark County grocery store chain has teamed up with Thirsty Dog Brewing Co. in Akron to create Nutty ProFisher, a nut brown ale.
Alex Fisher, the fourth generation of Fishers to work for the grocer, helped design and brew the beer with Thirsty Dog co-owner John Najeway and head brewer Brandon Benson.
Fisher called it “one of the coolest experiences I have ever had.
“I truly love brown ales,” he added. “It’s a nice change from the Oktoberfest and pumpkin beers.”
Nutty ProFisher will be sold mainly on draft, but there also are about 300 22-ounce bottles available at Fishers stores.
It’s the first time that a Thirsty Dog-made beer has been released in bomber bottles, Fisher said. The beer is 5.2 percent alcohol by volume.
Fishers Foods will unveil Nutty ProFisher from 4:30 to 7:30 p.m. Friday during the Night of the Living Craft Beer Tasting at the store at 4403 Cleveland Ave. NW, Canton. The tasting will feature zombies — yes, people dressed as zombies — and live music.
Local Canton artist Jorge Cervantes designed the Nutty ProFisher label — a fish swimming in a bowl with a scientific flask and vials. Local artist Matt Media also carved special tap handles for Fishers growler stations. Fisher said he wanted to support the local arts community by engaging the two artists.
The relationship between Fishers Foods and Thirsty Dog may continue, depending on the reception for the beer.
“I could definitely see me doing this in the future again,” Fisher said.
He and Najeway have talked about other collaborations and other styles.
Nutty ProFisher also will be available on draft at Tapas 218, Basil Asian Bistro, Buzzbin, the Auricle, George’s Lounge, Picciano’s Martini Lounge, Lucca and Table Six.
Thirsty Dog has collaborated with plenty of local businesses. It makes exclusive beers for the Akron Art Museum, West Point Market, Nuevo in Akron and Retro Dog in Cuyahoga Falls.
It also brewed Beacon Brown 175 to help celebrate the Beacon Journal’s 175th anniversary.
Beer and a movie
The Akron Craft Beer Festival returns Friday to the Akron Civic Theatre, 182 S. Main St.
The event pairs a screening of the documentary Craft with a beer tasting. The doors open at 8 p.m. and the movie begins at 9 p.m.
The tasting will showcase beers from BrewDog, MadTree, Fat Head’s, Thirsty Dog, Revolution, Stone, Great Divide, Left Hand, Hoppin’ Frog, North Coast, Two Brothers, Breckenridge, Boulder, Jolly Pumpkin, Sixpoint, Jackie O’s, Dogfish Head, Alltech, Unibroue, La Trappe, Meantime and Schneider.
Crafted Artisan Meadery will bring a special keg.
Tickets are $30 and are available at the Akron Civic Theatre Box Office; by calling 330-253-2488; or online at www.akroncivic.com.
Gambrinus crawl
Twelve Cleveland-area breweries have created collaboration beers to raise money to restore and place a historic statue of King Gambrinus in Market Square Park in Cleveland.
The breweries also are sponsoring the Gambrinus Brewery Crawl from 6 to 10 p.m. Wednesday in Cleveland. Nano Brew Cleveland, Platform Beer Co., Butcher and The Brewer, and Market Garden Brewery are hosting the crawl and serving the beers. The Cleveland Brew Bus is offering a free shuttle between the locations.
The other participating breweries are Rocky River, Lager Heads, Willoughby, Indigo Imp, Black Box, Brick and Barrel, Cornerstone and Cellar Rats.
For full details, check out the event’s Facebook page at: http://tinyurl.com/lxjtx5g.
Cleveland Beer Week
Cleveland Beer Week is growing — by a day.
The sixth annual celebration, which kicks off Friday, will be spread over 10 days instead of nine this year to accommodate new flagship events that raise money for the Malone Scholarship Program.
Cleveland Beer Week usually ends on a Saturday with the big Brewzilla tasting, but will roll into Sunday.
The new events range from a booze cruise on the Nautica Queen to concerts to tailgating for the Browns-Steelers game. Cleveland Beer Week will feature more than 350 tappings and tastings. Here’s a peek at some of the key events:
• Collaboration kickoffs: This serves as the official opening ceremony Friday for Cleveland Beer Week.
Five Ohio breweries teamed up with five award-winning, out-of-state brewers to create special low-alcohol collaboration beers.
The beers will be available at select bars in the East 4th, Lakewood, Tremont and Ohio City neighborhoods from 7 to 10 p.m. Friday. In the Cedar/Lee neighborhood only, Collaboration Kickoffs will run during the same hours Saturday and in partnership with Heights Music Hop.
Advance tickets are required and cost $25.
• Belgian social: The newly opened Butcher and the Brewer, 2043 E. 4th St., Cleveland, will host a Belgian social from 2 to 5 p.m. Saturday.
The event, featuring Belgian beers and food, is sponsored by Duvel USA. Tickets are $40 and include 15 beer samples and unlimited food sampling.
• Ales on Rails: Heidelberg Distributing will host a tasting on the Cuyahoga Valley Scenic Railroad from 4:30 to 7:30 p.m. Saturday. The Ales on Rails trip includes seven craft beers and a boxed supper. Tickets range from $49 to $82.
• Browns/Steelers tailgate: Gather in the Huntington parking lot from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. Sunday to tailgate before the Browns/Steelers football game.
The event will feature Great Lakes beer and will include a tapping of Cleveland Brown Ale. The Jolly Scholar, winner of numerous regional BBQ awards and seen on Food Network, will offer a sausage bar. Tickets are $25.
• Culture yourself: This popular beer and cheese pairing will be held from 6 to 9 p.m. Tuesday at the West Side Market, 1979 W. 25th St., Cleveland. It will feature beers paired with artisanal cheeses and other fare from market vendors. Tickets are $40 for 20 beer samples and food pairings.
• Offshore Pour: Premium Beverage Supply will host a nighttime cruise on Lake Erie aboard the Nautica Queen from 6 to 9 p.m. Oct. 15. It features 16 craft breweries. Tickets are $40 for 20 beer samples and appetizers.
• Brewzilla: The big Brewzilla tasting takes place from 6 to 10 p.m. Oct. 18 at the 5th Street Arcades, 530 Euclid Ave., in downtown Cleveland.
It will showcase more than 80 breweries, hundreds of beers, an Ohio brewery feature, a Gnome Garden with Belgian beers and appetizers. General admission tickets are $50, while Brewer’s Circle tickets are $75.
For more details, to see all the events or to buy tickets, go to www.clevelandbeer
week.org.
Brewing course
Cuyahoga Community College is once again offering a brewing course through its Community Education program.
The Brewing Craft Beer class, held at Market Garden Brewery, 1947 W. 25th St., Cleveland, begins Oct. 21 and runs from 6 to 9 p.m. over four Tuesdays. Students will learn the science of brewing, while also finding out how to set up their own homebrewing operation. The cost is $74.99.
Aaron Morford, a homebrewer from Cleveland’s Old Brooklyn neighborhood, serves as the instructor. He’s described as “a self-professed science geek who works as an energy engineer and got bit by the beer-making bug several years ago.”
Class size is limited. For more details or to register, go to: http://tinyurl.com/n6284uj.
King of Ohio IPA
Given the growing beer industry in Ohio and the rising popularity of India pale ales, a ragtag group of Ohio beer bloggers decided it’s time to put the state’s best IPAs up against each other in a blind taste test.
On Nov. 1, Tom Aguero of Queen City Drinks, Bob Lesher of the Artful Pint, Patrick Woodward of Pat’s Pints and Cory Smith and Ron DeGregorio of the Brew Crew Review and I will gather at Elevator Brewing Co. in Columbus to sample the best of the best that Ohio has to offer and crown a King of Ohio IPA.
We’re asking for some help in determining which IPAs to sample. Starting Monday, we will launch online polls on each of our blogs. Readers will be able to vote for their regional favorites through Oct. 25. For full details, go to: http://tinyurl.com/kea39x2.
We can’t wait to crown and announce a winner. Thanks for helping out.
Beer samplers
• Land-Grant Brewing Co., Ohio’s newest brewery, will open Oct. 18 in the East Franklinton Arts District in Columbus. For details, check out: https://landgrantbrewing.com.
• Market Garden Brewery will hold its third annual Pumpkin Beer Fest starting at 4:30 p.m. Thursday. For details, go to: http://marketgardenbrewery.com/news-and-events.
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.