Ohio Brew Week 2015 (It's a must)

Craft Beer Lovers,

For those of you who are unfamiliar with Ohio Brew Week, you better do your research before next July. Since 2005, Athens, Ohio has hosted a week long festival dedicated to craft beer-- pretty damn awesome, right? The festival showcases hundreds of beers from breweries all over Ohio. Many local restaurants, bars, and venues participate in brew week events, such as outdoor beer gardens & BBQ's. There's even an app for your phone where you can click on the participating businesses and see what beers they'll have on tap that week. You can then check off the list as you go, even "favoriting" ones you enjoyed the most.

Although the entire week was fun-filled (beer-filled), I was spoiled early in the week. Last Monday, Pat Conway, the co-founder of Great Lakes Brewing Company was giving a keynote speech, presentation, & a beer tasting. GLBC opened in Cleveland, Ohio as the first craft brewery in 1988, and continues to grow in popularity despite the increased number of microbreweries in the area. My admiration for Pat Conway and GLBC as a whole now goes far beyond the taste & styles of the beer. Conway stressed many ways that his business promotes environmental sustainability, and how other businesses can do the same. For example, Great Lakes has a ride service called Fatty Wagon that takes customers from the brewery to Cleveland sporting events. The best part is...the Fatty Wagon runs purely on vegetable oil from leftovers in the kitchen. Also, low filled bottles (beer bottles that aren't filled up to 12 oz during the bottling process) are sent to                                                           Mitchell's ice cream for use rather than throwing them away.

However, my favorite takeaway from his presentation was GLBC's unofficial slogan:

"Moderation can be overdone"- Pat Conway

After the presentation, I had the opportunity to chat with Conway. What a cool start to the week.

Later on in the week my family drove down from Ann Arbor and Cleveland to join me in my OBW festivities. Friday night after we went to the beer garden BBQ, we visited to our usual stomping grounds-- Jackie O's Brewery. There's nothing like drinking beers with the people you love on a Friday night. 

One of Athens' hidden gems is the Cider House, a neighborhood corner pub with homemade cider. Knowing how much my sister and her fiance would enjoy the environment, we went Saturday afternoon for some cider and time out of the heat. Later on we ended uptown to the Last Call Festival where there was live music, beer/food trucks, and an abundance of people celebrating the end of brew week. My sister Alli loved Cider House so much we ended back there again that same night.

It's safe to say beer isn't on the menu for me this week... 

Cheers & Happy Monday.

Don't forget to support your local breweries, people!


Kyra