R. Shea Brewing - Merriman Valley

 

 

Love this place. A bit small but they’ve opened a new place in downtown Akron. Always friendly staff and good pub food. The angry pig is a good sandwich. Beers are very good and they have crowlers for take home. Fun spot due to good beer and friendly staff.

I recently visited R'Shea Brewery in Akron, Ohio, to try some of their brews. I am glad I did. They had some good stuff. I had five beers and dinner. It is a small cozy place with the brewing equipment in full display behind the counter. The beer list is extensive and so are their food offerings. It's basic bar food but good quality. It was also surprisingly inexpensive. Our waiter was helpful, friendly and funny, but could have used a little bit more beer education. Overall this brewery was a very pleasant experience.

Always has a good mix of standards and experimental brews. If you're particularly interested in test brews Wednesday is "Lab Rat" day. The service is "relaxed" so have patience. The food started as a branch of the great Akron gem, the Diamond Deli. Unfortunately due to some state BS the Diamond Deli no longer runs the food service, but they trained the staff well and the sandwiches are better than most pub food.

Lived in the valley. Driven by like a 1000 times. Never stopped for some stupid reason. I’m an idiot for not.

Vibe is great. Tanks behind the bar.

Stout collabs with local coffee roaster Nervous Dog are so very Akron (and great).

Everything is insanely fresh. And great. I’ve yet to have a bad beer here.

What a local treasure. Their new location downtown should do very well.

 

Found this place by driving by it on the way to Cuyahoga Valley National Park.

It's a lot smaller than it looks and has a slightly industrial feel with high top tables.

The menu is somewhat limited but has plenty of apps and sandwiches to choose from.

Our server was fantastic, family friendly and extremely knowledge able about the beer.

13 beers on tap from traditional to very experimental and a nice variety of beer styles as well. All of the beers I had were interesting and very high quality. Beer flights are very popular here.

I was expecting another mediocre boring start up brewpub but this place has very special beer. Definitely worth the stop.

Stopped in brewery hopping. Walked into the place about an hour after open on a Friday. Vibe is great. The beer tanks right behind the bar as this is a working brewery. The quality of the beers was outstanding. Service also very good as we talked to one of the Brew Masters at length about their search for a new production facility and about their trip to the Ohio Craft Brewers Association convention in Cincinnati. My buddy was from the Cincy area so they had a good conversation about the Cincy area brewery scene. Food service started about a month ago and it was awesome. The Brewery is about 44 minutes from our house and we will definitely make the trip regularly. Also, this is one of the first breweries around that I have seen Crowlers. Of course we had to grab a couple.

 

 

 

Nice clean, modern interior. Off to the side is a room reminiscent of a living room, main room has ample space at the bar and several small tables. Fairly new brewery as of this writing, served about 11 of their own beers on tap (no guest taps); all of the beers my group tried ranged from good to excellent. Staff did an excellent job managing many customers coming in for growler fills with serving bar patrons. Most people seemed to be ordering flights of beer, and all staff worked well together to keep the beer flowing. Staff was knowledgeable and friendly. No food served as of April 2016, but they had takeout menus and accommodated us ordering a pizza for delivery to the bar. They even gave us plates and napkins.

 

 

 

 

 

EDIT: Stopped back here on in August 2016 again to try them out again. Opinion still stands on most points, especially the under-carbonated issue. A shame, as the beers have potential if they had the proper amount of carbonation. Almost nitro-esque on nearly every style. Bummer. IPA's have improved in aroma/flavor, but not in mouthfeel.

The overall atmosphere of the brewery is fantastic... There was sacks of malt, the brewhouse, fermenting tanks and kegs in plain sight which I really like. I want to feel as if I am in a brewery when I go to one, not a bar, so this was a welcome sight. The bar area was spotless, bright and vibrant. Really great vibe. The side area with the couches and TV was a well done thought... Love the lack of TV's in the main bar area.

Service was good. It was relatively slow the day I went, but the bartender was friendly and welcoming. The owner/brewer was walking around at the time, unfortunately he was busy so I did not get a chance to talk with him.

The beer selection was quite diverse considering how small the brewery is (3.5 bbl brewhouse I believe).

The beer was hit or miss for me…

The hefeweizen for example, I found the mouthfeel to be a bit on the heavy side for the style. Quite a few of the beers actually I noted had a heavier body typical for the style that was a little off-pudding to me. Some of the carbonation levels seemed to be on the lower side was well, furthering the perception.

The IPA’s were far more malt dominant than I would expect, tasting a bit “muddled”, missing bright hop flavors or aroma. Both IPA’s had little to no aroma, which was a bummer. Just speculation on my part, but for the muddled flavor I am wondering if it is water-related to be honest… As a brewer myself, my first hoppy beers had a similar profile until I start adjusting my water profiles for the beers being brewed (mash pH adjustment, sulfates/chloride ratios, etc…) which made a significant difference in the end product.

The blonde, red ale, saaz tripel and coffee chocolate stout were the best beers of the lineup. Solid beers.

Overall, I found the beers below-average for the quality found in NE Ohio. I have no doubt with the brewers passion that the beers will significantly improve going forward, there is always going to be a learning curve with a new space and brewing system. I will be sure to revisit in a few months as I really do feel that R. Shea has potential to be excellent.

This is a nice, recently opened brewery that has obviously had a lot of thought and care put into it. There is long wooden bar, with the fermenters and brewing equipment right behind, grains and hops in glasses right on the bar, and kegs aplenty all around. There is also a separate room with more comfortable, laid back seating, and for those looking to have a little less conversation, that's where the TVs are located.

The owner is frequently pouring your beers for you. He, and everyone else working there, is open to conversation and very knowledgeable about the process, ingredients, and able to describe what you should be experiencing in a particular brew, what you else you might like, or simply what's going on in the area.

Their selection is strictly their own brews, which are fresh as can be, with an excellently delicate and full-bodied feel to all of them.

2017 update: there is food now and plenty of it! After an introductory partnership with a local deli, they've learned the ropes and are preparing food in house, pulling out tasty, large sammies and nice hot appetizers. Everything is quite filling and brewery appropriate--meshing with the Akron vibe well.

Nice long bar where you can sit drink & watch the brewing process. This place is nothing fancy inside but it doesn't need to be. The product speaks for itself. Great variety of beer styles all of which are top notch. The staff (includes the owner) are all nice and easy to strike up a conversation with. They go into great detail about their beers & you can tell there is a lot of hard work & love that they put into their products. No food yet but you can byof. They are working on a kitchen for the near future. We are fortunate to have some great breweries in the northeast Ohio area & this ranks at the top with any brewery (not just around here)!