Visiting Cleveland, looking for bottleshops/breweries to try

How far are you willing to drive? Cleveland has many options, but not all are downtown (Fat Heads, Brew Kettle for example).

Downtown your probably looking at Great Lakes and Platform.

 

I like Butcher & the Brewer and Brick & Barrel downtown. As mentioned above though, the best breweries are outside of Downtown IMO. Fatheads and Brew Kettle are definitely worth a half hour trip outside of downtown and are where I usually guide out of towners.

 

Although some BAs are sooo beyond the breweries & beer bars in Ohio City and Tremont, for a visitor they are still pretty good stops. Easy to park & walk around in Ohio City. Tremont requires a short (5 minute) drive from Ohio City and the locales are a little more spread out, but both are in the metro area. Here's a decent guide for Ohio City:
http://www.ohiocity.org/guide
and here's one for Tremont:
http://www.clevelandpress.com/tremont-restaurants-happy-hour-guide/

Note: waiting for some BA to recommend Hoof Hearted because you gotta try it and it's "just two hours away"...

 

I think "must try" is a stretch, but Platform is doing good things. They are not Downtown, per se, but a short cab ride west of Downtown. Butcher & Brewer was ok the one time I went, but they had just opened and may have improved a bit.

 

Uber is in Cleveland so you can always get to some of the further out places. Aside from that, depending on where you're staying and how far you want to walk, Butcher & Brewer is a cool place to check out. Winking Lizard is a great local chain that always has a decent draft list with plenty of local options.

 

Two Winking Lizards Downtown - one in the Galleria off E 9th and one in the Gateway District on Euclid. There is also City Tap, which is pretty much right next to Winking Lizard on Euclid. I think there is a good bar right by Horshoe Cleveland but I can't remember the name and I have never been there.

Edit:

Hofbrauhaus is Downtown too. You may not be in to that, but I like their Dunkel and atmosphere. They usually have one beer brewed only there, as well.

 

If you're walking, take an Uber to Ohio City. Best locale for walking to various places.