Greetings, Great Beer Now fans and followers! This is the fifth entry in a multi- part series of blog posts relating to the Great Beer Now Rock and Roll Out the Barrel Beer Tour 2018, which took place in Cleveland, Ohio. I traversed the Cleveland, Ohio area making my way to some of the best known and most award- winning breweries in the United States, along with several hidden gems and up- and- comers. Open a can or bottle of your favorite beer and follow along on my journey through one of Ohio’s largest cities. Cheers!
Craft beer lovers take their sacred beverage for granted. With so many thousands of breweries open in the United States and with the bulk of the U.S. population located within a short drive of at least one craft brewery, fresh, delicious craft beer is within relatively easy reach of everyone. But there was a time when craft beer took time and effort to track down and things remained this way until several pioneering spirits from coast to coast decided to go against the popular sentiments and venture into a new malt beverage realm. One of those pioneering brands is Great Lakes Brewing, located at 2516 Market Ave. in Cleveland, Ohio.
Ohio Beer History
Great Lakes Brewing traces its roots all the way back to 1986. It was then, in the mid to late 80’s, that a pair of brothers decided to venture into a business that no one else in the state of Ohio had attempted at the time. Pat and Dan Conway were the siblings: Two brothers with a vision and drive to revive Cleveland’s brewing industry. They quickly recruited two individuals, Thaine Johnson and Charlie Price, from Schmidt’s Brewery, the most recent brewery in Cleveland to close and the only one that remained before it shut down for good.
For the remaining years of the 1980’s and into the 1990’s, Great Lakes Brewing perfected its craft, brewing beers that were reflective of the European products the brothers had grown to love. The Conway’s also relied on local people, places, and legends to name their beers- a practice that resulted in such now iconic Great Lakes Brewing beers as Eliot Ness Amber, Burning River Pale Ale, Edmund Fitzgerald Porter, and others.
The 2000’s brought with them continued success for Great Lakes Brewing. The company remained headquartered in Cleveland, making only a few small adjustments to its precise location. Great Lakes Brewing surpassed the 100,000 barrel mark in 2010 and continues to innovate with new products and expanded markets, all the way up to the present day.
Greatness From the Keg
The initial tasting area at Great Lakes Brewing, known as the Symposium, has 8 beers on tap and there are another 2 or so on tap when you cross the street to take the tour. Here is a listing of the beers I tried, listed alphabetically by name, followed by the style and my Untappd rating on a five point scale:
- Christmas Ale, Winter Ale, 4.5
- Conway’s Irish Ale, Irish Red, 4
- Dortmunder Gold, Export Lager, 4
- Holy Moses White Ale, Witbier, 4
- Ohio City, Oatmeal Stout, 4.25
- Turntable Pils, Czech Pils, 4
Overall Average Rating: 4.12
Great Lakes Brewing beer is solid all- around. I was able to find a few new beers when I visited: Ohio City Oatmeal Stout and Turntable Pils. It was great to find some new beers to try, but I inevitably wanted to sip on the Great Lakes Brewing beers I had grown to know and love, spending the remaining time of my visit enjoying such favorites as Christmas Ale, Conway’s Irish Ale, Dortmunder Gold, and Holy Moses.
No Mistake by This Lake
Great Lakes Brewing is one of the nation’s largest and most beloved breweries and among all of the breweries I visited while in Cleveland, this was the one I was most familiar with. As an Ohio native, I tasted my first glass of Great Lakes Brewing beer- Dortmunder Gold, to be exact- more than 25 years ago and I ranked this brewery’s beers among my favorite craft brews throughout the 1990’s and all the way up to 2003 when I moved away from Ohio, eventually settling in Texas.
Today, I can no longer purchase Great Lakes Brewing beer because it isn’t distributed this far from the home base. This is part of the reason I was so anxious to visit the brewery. I hadn’t tasted a full serving of Great Lakes Brewing beer in quite some time and I was psyched to not only try the beers I knew and loved during my youth, but also to see the actual production brewery and perhaps learn a little bit more about this pioneering brewery that helped change the craft beer scene in Ohio and the nation in so many ways.
Driving to the brewery, I made one discovery that I was not aware of previously: The tasting area and ticket purchase place is called the symposium and it is located across the street from the production brewery, next to the Great Lakes Brewpub. Not knowing this, I made my way to the highly visible production brewhouse, but quickly discovered that I could not get inside. I knew they were open- I made sure to call first and confirm. But I could not get inside and decided that rather than waste valuable drinking time, I had better inquire with someone, and fast. There happened to be a person working a parking booth and I asked him. He pointed me in the direction of the Symposium and I made my way inside, purchased tickets, got my beer tokens, and proceeded to learn more about the history of Great Lakes Brewing and its important position in the regional craft beer scene.
After you walk around the symposium, soak up history, and watch a video, it’s time to take the tour. The guide walks you across the street and into the production brewery where you get to see the massive brewhouse up close and personal. Great Lakes Brewing operates using a 75 barrel brewing system and I learned that the brewery’s total output has reached 150,000 barrels with distribution to 13 different states. The brewery has multiple meeting spaces, too, and it is common to find private parties, wedding receptions, and other events taking place while beer is bubbling away and fermenting in the surrounding space.
Great Lakes Brewing is a large brewery, but in many ways, its approach to brewing, its commitment to quality, and its customer focus remains personal. I loved the friendliness of the staff and the non- pretentious nature of the people I met. I would have loved to rub elbows with Pat and Dan Conway, but they were not around when I was there. It would have been extremely cool to converse with the two brothers responsible for reviving the brewing scene in Cleveland and setting the standard that would be emulated by so many regional craft beer startups over the next three decades.
Craft breweries are large in number, but like any industrial trend, there were a handful of pioneers that helped get the momentum going and served as inspiration to others. Great Lakes Brewing is one of those breweries; a true craft beer original that helped put Cleveland on the map as a craft beer center of innovation and entrepreneurship. Make no mistake about it: Great Lakes Brewing matters and many of the local breweries in Ohio and surrounding states owe their inspiration to the brothers Conway and everything they did to bring delicious beer to the masses. It’s a place of great influence that deserves a place on your travel schedule, so be sure to pay a visit to Great Lakes Brewing the next time you’re in the Cleveland, Ohio area. And tell them Great Beer Now sent you.
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