Craft Beer Downtown Cleveland?

If you need to stay near downtown then the Ohio City area and Winks at the Galleria should suffice. You will find Fat Heads beers at Winks and Nano and maybe an odd Willoughby one as well.

 

You hit the Trifecta - Indigo Imp, Portside and Bottlehouse are probably the three worst breweries in the Cleveland area in terms of beer quality.

The four best are Great Lakes, Fat Heads, Brew Kettle and Willoughby. If you can hit just one do Fat Heads.

If you indeed end up sticking close to downtown, hit Great Lakes & Town Hall (brand new spot across the street from GL) in Ohio City, Tremont Taphouse in Tremont and Winks Downtown.

 

Good to know about the "worst breweries"! Will still probably try to hit Portside due to the distilled spirits and the proximity to stuff I'll be doing.

As it stands, it looks like I'm going to make a case for Fat Heads and we will hit Great Lakes for sure as well. AND at least one bottle shop. You guys know we don't get Bells or 3Fs out in Cali, right?

 

We have better local beers here(many not bottled); don't need them. I know there is a small bottleshop on W 6th and if you go to Tremont, hit up Lilly's Chocolate... they have some bottles. But downtown/Ohio City isn't the best place to shop. Winks will most likely have a few Bells' beers and maybe a FFF or two, but that won't help if you want bottles. Lakewood is your closest option for good bottle shopping...

 

Checked out the Rozi's site.... they have a good draft list, good selection and they ship. Arm twisting is in order!

My long-time g/f is seeing family in Cleveland and we will only have a couple of chances for beer-themed outings for me (though I'm going to try to steer the groups to a good taproom/restaurant at every opportunity).

 

Not sure if you've made it to CLE yet or not, but if not...

Don't know what kind of group with which you'll be traveling, but if you want to get Fat Head's done and people aren't looking for something fancy, Fat Head's food is good. (I'm sure you'll get both corroborating and conflicting posts right here too.) And the amount it pretty ridiculous. Their headwiches are huge and I've never been disappointed in any of them I've had, both in CLE and PGH. Loved the Spinach/Artichoke with chicken dip too. Pierogies are awesome. If she's a long-time GF, I'm guessing you've tried pierogies before, but if not, definitely worth it. Maybe they're more than just a regional thing too, but love being from here and having them available just about everywhere.

If you can get one lunch steered here, you'll find so many good beers, you'll be more than happy if you're only able to make it to a bottle shop the rest of the trip. (And there's not much, but they do sell Head Hunter and a couple other beers to go.)

 

I made it out to Fat Head's Saloon and it was a hit for the food. I had some really good beer there, too.

Hit the Ohio City strip a day or two later with stops at Nano, Market Garden and Great Lakes. All good, though I think Market Garden is probably tops for me.

Made a trip to Portside and LOVED their beer. The infused rum was great, too.

Also made a rum to Lakewood to Rozi's and shipped myself a bunch of stuff I can't get out in California.

Next time I go, there are lots of interesting places in Lakewood to hit.

Thanks to everyone who had some advice!

 

Never even HEARD of them before this trip and she and I have been together for almost 12 years! didn't try any on this trip, but will next time.

 

Lakewood is where its at

 

Yeah, I saw Melt as we were driving around. Will definitely hit Rocky River and Buckeye next time I'm over there. Saw plenty of bars/pubs/taverns as we got closer to Rocky River (we were coming from the east, headed west on Detroit).

 

What amazes me most is that Cleveland has less than a half million residents in the city and there are so many good beer options. I'm used to where I live (Los Angeles), where I have to drive for almost half an hour to reach the nearest brewery. It's getting better here, but we have nothing like the Ohio City area. Three breweries in two blocks!

In case you didn't know, you guys have it good there. I'm coming back some time before too long and will make sure to hit Brew Kettle, Rocky River, Indigo Imp, Willougby, Bottlehouse, Cornerstone... maybe Lagerheads if we have time...

 

Skip Indigo Imp and Bottlehouse and go to Fat Heads three times.

 

Yep.... Going to walk up to Melt later, and if there is a wait I'll sit at the patio at Rozi's and have a pint.

Going east on Detroit, you pass the World of Beer (screw that place) and then 30 yards up on the right is Rozi's, then 20 yards further you're at Melt, then 5-10 blocks later you've passed mini-mart with their random bottle finds, and Ross Deli with their $12 Bodhi fills, then you make it towards the end, another 5 blocks or so, and you pass Avenue Tap House (which has $2 everything on Tuesdays..... and they always get fresh kegs of Head Hunter.... can't beat a pint for $2!) on your way to Simone's which has a very nice beer selection, kegs, and liquor.

If you keep heading west for 5 minutes, you've got Lizardville in Rocky River, which is great, and if you can handle a 12 minute drive (timed it ) you're at Fat Heads.

You gotta leave Detroit to hit Buckeye Beer Engine, Barrio, Sam's, North Coast, etc... but all within 5 minutes.....

Land of milk and honey I tell ya..... and don't get me started on Tremont and Ohio City!

 

Should say "Going from the east" or "heading west" on Detroit..... I've never been too good with directions.... Head East and you'll probably find yourself at "Twist" and you'll have other issues to deal with.

 

Hahahaa

 

I'm primarily interested in breweries. Great to see all the tap houses you guys have, though. And I don't get the hate for Indigo Imp. I bought a bunch of bottles from them while I was in town. So far, I've only opened one beer and it was... interesting. Maybe it was their best beer. I hope not.

I love the idea of using wild yeast, though. I get bored with all the standard beers after a while...

Like Headhunter IPA. Great West Coast style IPA. But I've had so many of those that it's not such a big deal to me. Give me something weird, different, interesting! "Good" would also be nice, of course...

 

Indigo Imp has zero consistency and zero quality control. At their best, the beer is OK. At their worst, the beer is absolutely undrinkable, yet they continue to sell it. I'm shocked they're still in business. I wish they would embrace the funk, inoculate and become the Artisan bug brewery that we're missing.