(330) Area Blog

It was like walking into the adult-beverage version of Candy Land.The festival brought in brewers from across the globe, including the fabled land of ale: Belgium. And if I've learned one thing, it's that Ohio is a veritable Mecca of Beer. We have so many heavy hitters, including (but not limited to...) Hoppin' Frog, Thirsty Dog, The Brew Kettle Production Works, Fat Heads and Great Lakes Brewing Co.

Two of these local heroes Hoppin' Frog and The Brew Kettle Production Works handed out an @$$-beating to the beer world at-large. They took home 14 of Ohio's 36 well-deserved medals between the two of them.

Showcasing their Café B.O.R.I.S. Stout, Hoppin' Frog also brought their other big names to the table, including the B.O.R.I.S. Imperial Stout, D.O.R.I.S. Double Imperial Stout, Barrel Aged B.O.R.I.S. Stout and their Turbo Shandy Citrus Ale - all of which won awards:

CATEGORY: IMPERIAL STOUTS AND STRONG ALES

• Gold:   D.O.R.I.S. Double Imperial Stout
• Silver:  B.O.R.I.S. Imperial Stout

CATEGORY: CHOCOLATE, COFFEE AND SPICE BEERS

• Silver:  Café B.O.R.I.S. Stout

CATEGORY: WOOD‐ AND BARREL‐AGED BEERS

• Silver:  Barrel Aged B.O.R.I.S. Stout

CATEGORY: FRUIT, VEGETABLE AND HONEY BEERS

• Gold:  Turbo Shandy Citrus Ale

Fact: I am a hop-head. I presently have an unnatural attraction to hyper-hoppy IPAs. Luckily, I had the good sense to indulge my IPA sentiments in a froth-fest that ran the flavor gamut. One of my favorites was the Weyerbacher Double Simcoe IPA. It brought a hop-filled tear to my eye. The other notable IPA I stumbled upon was The Brew Kettle's Old 21. (I was happy to discover that ACME No.1 carries both of these hop-gems in 24 oz. bottles.)  Apparently, I missed out by not trying each and every one of The Brew Kettle's entries... They took home 9 medals, including Best of Show. Lesson learned. Here's their haul:

CATEGORY: PORTERS AND STOUTS

• Bronze:  Black Jack

CATEGORY: IMPERIAL STOUTS AND STRONG ALES

• Bronze:  Tunguska

CATEGORY: AMERICAN PALE ALES

• Bronze:  Four C’s

CATEGORY: AMERICAN IPAs

• Gold:  White Rajah

CATEGORY: IMPERIAL IPAs

• Gold:  Old 21

CATEGORY: WILD AND SOUR ALES

• Bronze:  Quick Kriek

CATEGORY: AMERICAN WHEAT AND RYE BEERS

• Gold:  Chief’s Rye

CATEGORY: SPECIALTY AND EXPERIMENTAL BEERS

• Gold:   Dark Helmet

BEST OF SHOW

• Gold:  White Rajah

Another Akron brewery, Thirsty Dog Brewing Company, took home a triplet of medals as well: