Tales of ales from the heart of Ohio to the ends of the Earth
Craft beer enthusiasts have a strong tendency toward what some might call stamp collecting. Constantly seeking out new beers, the harder to find the better. Making convoluted justifications for spending their weekends queuing up in nondescript industrial spaces and muddy farm fields. Violating the 10th commandment in a way that would make Robert Redford’s character in... Continue Reading →
Last month while attending an event at Barley's Brewcadia, Mary MacDonald, Executive Director of the Ohio Craft Brewers Association (OCBA), asked if I would be interested in a media pass to attend the Ohio Craft Brewer’s Conference in Cincinnati. I think we can all agree it’s a rather liberal interpretation of the term “media” to include... Continue Reading →
A couple of weeks back I was attending an event held downtown at Brewcadia, upstairs from Barley’s Ale House on High Street across from the Convention Center. I noticed a new house beer on tap, a double IPA dubbed Tour de Hops. Whenever I come across a new beer made by Ohio’s longest tenured brewer,... Continue Reading →
For the past two years I’ve made a list of my favorite Central Ohio beers of the past year. Before this January slips away entirely it’s time for my 2016 list. To be eligible a beer should be new (or at least new to me), newly packaged, flying under the radar, or have made waves in... Continue Reading →
Looking for something to do this weekend? If your idea of a good time involves travel to pseudo-exotic locales, counting in foreign languages, and great craft beer, I've got just the event for you. This Saturday (Jan 14) Homestead Beer Co. is throwing a party to celebrate their fourth anniversary. The event comes with all of... Continue Reading →
I know the holidays can be a hectic, for some downright stressful, time of the year. There are parties to attend, gifts to buy, carols to sing, and stockings to stuff. While acknowledging those demands on your time, you need to do whatever it takes to clear your calendar for this coming Saturday (Dec. 17),... Continue Reading →
It's been eons since I posted the last installment of my Ohio vs the World series, a sporadic feature where we see how local favorites stack up against highly respected competitors from all corners of the globe in a blind taste test. In case you have forgotten the score, and who could blame you after a 20 month hiatus, the... Continue Reading →
It’s a beautiful fall day and I’m driving southeast to visit one of Ohio’s up and coming breweries, Little Fish Brewing in Athens. Over the course of the ninety minute drive the flat landscape and urban sprawl of Ohio’s largest city give way to the rolling western foothills of the Appalachian Mountains. Downtown Athens has a... Continue Reading →
Today the Ohio State Buckeyes and Michigan Wolverines will square off on the gridiron for the 113th time. What pairs better with the granddaddy of football rivalry games than a tasty craft beer, but for those who bleed scarlet and gray, not just any beer will do for today's game. Fortunately, there are several locally... Continue Reading →
When the Columbus Brewing Company expanded and moved out to their new location on the west side of Columbus one of the most tangible benefits to local beer lovers was the promised expansion in their lineup of packaged beers. While their award-winning hop bombs, Bodhi and Creeper, have captured most of the attention let’s not forget... Continue Reading →
For the first time the Pat’s Pints Podcast goes on the road as Mark and I head down to Athens to hang out with Sean White and Jimmy Stockwell of Little Fish Brewing. Our wide ranging conversation touches on various aspects of the Little Fish story and brewing farmhouse ales—saison yeast, brett, barrel aging, paw paw beers, turning a... Continue Reading →
Awards were handed out this past weekend at the Great American Beer Festival. The popularity of the 30 year old festival continues to grow with a total of 7,227 beers entered by 1752 breweries. That’s up from 6,647 beers and 1552 breweries in 2015. Out of that sea of beer only 286 entries, roughly 4%, were... Continue Reading →
Time for another Pat's Pints crossword puzzle. This one focuses exclusively on the Columbus Ale Trail. So print it out and take it along for your adventures on the trail. A key will be posted next week. Click here for pdf file of Crossword puzzle: cbus-ale-trail-crossword Click here for pdf file of puzzle clues: cbus-ale-trail-crossword_clues Across... Continue Reading →
The 2nd annual King of Ohio contest is now in the books. For those not familiar with this contest it started two years ago when a group of Ohio beer bloggers teamed up to sponsor a contest designed to pick the best Ohio-brewed IPA. The eventual winner, Hoof Hearted’s Musk of the Minotaur, was an unknown... Continue Reading →
Tomorrow afternoon at the North Market Beer Festival the King of Ohio contest returns. Organized by beer bloggers and writers from throughout Ohio including Rick Armon from The Beer Blog Ohio in Akron, Tom Aguero from BrewMinds in Cincinnati, Cory Smith and Ron DeGregario from the Brew Review Crew in Toledo, and yours truly. Every... Continue Reading →
Soccer leagues throughout most of the world practice the concept of promotion and relegation. At the end of each season the teams that finish at the top of a given division are promoted to the next higher division, while those that finish at the bottom are relegated to make room for the newcomers. Anticipating more revenue,... Continue Reading →
Given the hot weather we’ve been experiencing it may not feel like fall is upon us, but once football season kicks off it can’t be long until the leaves start changing color. If the deluge of pumpkin beers invading the shelves has you cursing fall beers as an egregious affront to the Rineheitsgebot don’t despair,... Continue Reading →
The Pat’s Pints Podcast is back from summer vacation. This month we sit down with Mike Byrne from Lineage Brewing and talk neighborhood breweries, kettle sours and off flavor tasting. Mike shares his approach to making the tasty kettle sours featured at Lineage and we sample some Blushing Bernice, their raspberry Berliner Weisse. We also delve into tasting... Continue Reading →
This Saturday (August 27, 2016) Ill Mannered Brewing up in Powell (30 Grace Drive) is throwing a party to celebrate their first year in business, and everyone is invited. Given the burgeoning craft beer scene in Central Ohio, brewery anniversary parties come around more often than a full moon, but in my experience the first one is usually... Continue Reading →
Back in July Tom Aguero, the man behind the Brewminds blog (formerly Queen City Drinks) contacted Rick Armon, Ohio's beer writer laureate and the man responsible for the most up-to-date and informative beer blog in the state, The Beer Blog - Ohio, and yours truly to see if we were interested in participating in the Six-Pack Project — an idea developed several years... Continue Reading →
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