The sixth annual Art and Ale will return March 8 to the Akron Art Museum.
The beer-tasting event, which will be held from 6 to 9 p.m. in the Beatrice Knapp McDowell Grand Lobby, features Ohio breweries and regional food makers. For the first time this year, the galleries also will be open for the first hour.
The participating breweries are: Hoppin’ Frog, Indigo Imp, Main Street, Rockmill, Thirsty Dog, Lagerheads, Ohio and Elevator. Crafted Artisan Meadery and House of LaRose, a distributor that represents many craft brands, also will be there.
Food will be provided by Lucky Penny Farm Creamery, Nuevo, Pure Delight Cupcakery, Mayfield Road Creamery, Frankly Franks Kettle Corn and Old Carolina Barbecue.
There also will be brewing experts available, homebrewing demonstrations and prizes, including a grand prize of brewing at Thirsty Dog.
Tickets are $50, $40 for museum members. All tickets purchased at the door are $50. Nonmembers who attend will automatically receive a one-year “green” museum membership.
For more details, call 330-376-9185 or go online to www.AkronArtMuseum.org.
Bell’s Brewery tasting
Acme Fresh Market, 2630 Bailey Road, Cuyahoga Falls, will hold a special tasting from 6 to 7 p.m. Friday featuring Bell’s Brewery.
The tasting will include the new Black Note Bourbon Barrel Aged Stout, a blend of Expedition Stout and Double Cream Stout that’s aged in oak bourbon barrels. Only 25 places in Ohio received the beer, said Jon Albrecht, beer buyer for the Akron-based grocery chain.
Acme will pour a flight of 2-ounce samples of Expedition Stout, Double Cream Stout and Black Note for $5. Smitten Golden Rye Ale, Two Hearted Ale and Pale Ale will be available.
People will be able to purchase growlers (64 ounces) of the Bell’s beers, but not the Black Note because it’s only available in bottles.
Wooster response
JAFB Wooster Brewery owner and brewer Paul Fryman admits he’s been caught off guard by customer demand since opening last year in Wooster. On a couple of occasions, he sold more than 700 pints in a single day.
“We’re at 100 percent capacity and we’re selling 98 percent of it on premise,” he said. “I didn’t think it would be like that right away.”
To keep his sanity, Fryman has adjusted hours for the tap room. The brewery is now closed on Sunday and Monday. It’s open from 4 to 9 p.m. Tuesday through Thursday, 3 p.m. to midnight Friday and 1 p.m. to midnight Saturday.
He also launched a new website (www.jafbbeer.com or www.jafbwooster.com).
The tap room usually has 11 or 12 beers on tap. Fryman said he doesn’t want to dip below 10.
Ohio City Ice Carving Festival
Market Garden Brewery in Cleveland will hold the second annual Ohio City Ice Carving Festival and release its new Ice Breaker Ale, a Belgian-style India pale ale, at noon Sunday.
The family-friendly event will feature the University of Akron Ice Carving Club. The Lake Erie Energy Development Co., which plans to install nine wind turbines in Lake Erie, is partnering with the brewpub on the event. There also will be fruit- and vegetable-carving demonstrations throughout the day.
Big business
Beer is big, big business in Ohio.
A new economic impact study released by the National Beer Wholesalers Association says Ohio beer distributors employ 4,527 workers and contribute $1.6 billion to the economy.
“The beer distribution sector is a hidden gem that has been tremendously undervalued in previous economic reports,” co-author Dr. Bill Latham said in a prepared statement.
The study — America’s Beer Distributors: Fueling Jobs, Generating Economic Growth & Delivering Value to Local Communities — was done by the Center for Applied Business and Economic Research at the University of Delaware.
To read the full report and see state-by-state breakdowns, go to www.nbwa.org/sites/default/files/NBWA-Economic-Report-2013.pdf.
Home, flowers, beer
The 19th annual Akron Home & Flower Show will include something new this year — a place to get a glass of beer or wine. Guests can visit The Cambria Courtyard area to grab a beer from Thirsty Dog Brewing Co. or wine from the Winery at Wolf Creek.
The event, put on by the Home Builders Association Serving Portage & Summit Counties, is Friday through Sunday at the John S. Knight Center in downtown Akron. For more details, go to www.akronhomeandflowershow.com/.
Winter Warmer Fest
The seventh annual Winter Warmer Fest, a fundraiser for the Ohio Craft Brewers Association, will be held Saturday at the FirstEnergy Powerhouse in Cleveland.
The festival — which has sold out — will feature 25 Ohio craft breweries and offer beer drinkers an opportunity to sample their winter ales, big brews and rare releases.
Jackie O’s news
Jackie O’s — the 97th best brewery in the world according to Ratebeer.com — has started brewing at its new production brewery in Athens, Ohio. That’s the good news.
The bad news is that the boiler broke at the brewpub about six weeks ago. That means no new beer at the brewpub for a few more weeks as a new boiler is purchased and installed. It’s a painful situation for a brewery that’s used to having about 20 of its own beers on tap.
Rick Armon can be reached at 330-996-3569 or rarmon@thebeaconjournal.com. Read his beer blog at www.ohio.com/blogs/the-beer-blog/.
