Craft Beer 101: Where are the brewpubs in Northeast Ohio?

July 15, 9:02 PMCleveland Craft Beer ExaminerKaren Bujak

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BREWkettle taps                                        © 2008 K Bujak

The Cleveland area has lots of places to find good craft beer. Let’s start with the brewpubs. The biggest, oldest, and most well known nationally is, of course Great Lakes Brewing Co (2516 Market Avenue, Cleveland, 216.771.4485). No longer a microbrewery, but classified as a regional brewery, Great Lakes beers are the recipients of many awards and are widely available in Ohio and the U.S, but the brewpub on Market Street near the West Side Market is where you need to go to get special brews that aren’t available anywhere else!

Two other brewpubs are found in the downtown area: Cleveland Chophouse (824 W. St Clair Ave NE, 216.623.0909) and Rock Bottom (2000 Sycamore Street, 216.623.1555), both part of the Rock Bottom Brewery chain. While owned by a national chain, each location has its own brewer and will have a different selection of beers, brewed locally. Home to the annual Winter Warmer Fest in February, Rock Bottom is in the flats in the old powerhouse, and the Chophouse is on W. St. Clair.

To the east side we find Willoughby Brewing Co (4057 Erie Street, 440.975.0202) in the heart of downtown Willoughby. They always have at least 9-10 craft brews on tap, and currently have one called Peanut Butter Cup Coffee Porter! And their Railway Razz has won three medals at the Great American Beer Festival.

In Madison, Ohio, even farther east, there is the area’s newest brewery, the second location of CornerStone Brewery (70 & 74 West Main Street, Madison, 440.983.4520). There’s another brewery in Madison, the Cellar Rats Brewery  (440.466.3485) at Debonne Vineyards, but as I haven’t visited as yet, I don’t know if food is available there or it’s just a microbrewery.

To the southwest, there is the original CornerStone Brewing (58 Front Street, Berea 440.239.9820) in Berea, and the BREWkettle (8377 Pearl Rd, 440.239.8788) in Strongsville, both great brewpubs, with the latter having been voted the best brewpub in the US on ratebeer.com. CornerStone has a fine selection of their own brews on tap, as does the BREWkettle along with an impressive selection of guest brews.

Lastly, the west side has Fat Head’s Brewery & Saloon (24581 Lorain Rd, 440.801.1001) in North Olmsted. Open since March they have about 10 of their own taps and 20 or so guest taps and their own amazing root beer! In North Ridgeville, you’ll find the Brewkeeper (34445 Center Ridge Rd, 440.377.6599) with 18(!) of their own beers on tap and 4 guest taps, and you'll find award-winning brews at Rocky River Brewing Company (21290 Center Ridge Rd, 440. 895.2739) in Rocky River. I wasn’t sure whether to mention Buckeye Beer Engine (15315 Madison Ave, 216.226.2337) in Lakewood as a brewpub or not, as their actual brewery is a few miles away. But they do serve Buckeye Brewing beers there along with a wide selection of guest beers, and they have been known to brew on location with a small portable brewing system, so yes, I’ll add them to my list of Northeast Ohio brewpubs!

So, no matter what part of town you live in, there’s a brewpub not too far away!

For more info: Ohio Beer Guide Breweries