Akron / Cleveland recommendations

You'd be better suited to go to the great lakes portion of the forum and ask there. There may already be a post with answers for you

 

Draft is hit or miss but any Winking Lizard, especially those with a Lizardville, often have FFF in bottles available to cool and purchase in house, or to go. Market Districts should have plenty of FFF to go.

If you're going to be in Akron, don't leave Hoppin' Frog off your list. Thirsty Dog can be a fun visit too.

 

My bad, great point

 

Tremont Taphouse is one of the best bars in Cleveland

 

Tremont Taphouse, Townhall, and Beer Engine are the better beer bars in CLE IMO. All three have great food as well. Just avoid Townhall on the weekends after like 6... not the crowd you're probably looking for. Beer Engine is in nearby Lakewood and is also pretty close to Rozi's which I think is the best bottle shop in town.

Definitely get a bite to eat at Sokolowski's near Tremont Taphouse.

 

If on the southern part of Akron, you can drive 15 mins or so south to Canton for the new Fat Heads brewery. It's within sight of the highway so convenient for a short trip. Great taplist last weekend if you like the hoppy offerings. Many brews not available at North Olmsted. Unfortunately, the old tap house (production facility) has closed and the new one isn't open for a few weeks.

 

Bedford Winking Lizard has Zombie Dust on tap and next door at Lizardville they have bottles plus lots more Floyds.

Winking Lizard is a bar/tavern with 24 taps and full menu. Lizardville has 8-10 taps but 750+ bottles all via singles (and like 400 kinds of whiskey) and a limited menu.

 

Most of the lizards that I have visited have alpha king as an everyday handle. Not much Floyd’s around here on tap beyond alpha king & gumballhead unless someone is doing something special.

 

Lot's of Zombie Dust in bottles around town though. Probably the rest of those as well.

 

This list seems up to date. They have Lazer Snake on tap.

https://www.tremonttaphouse.com/beer

 

I'll be visiting family in Stow this weekend, and I've read through this post to see that both Hoppin' Frog in Akron and Fat Heads in Canton will likely be worth a visit.

I'm curious about places in the Stow/Hudson/Kent/Cuyahoga Falls area that would be good bottle shops. Specifically I'd like to try to "sample" local beers so I'm looking for places that allow single bottle sales or perhaps a "mix-a-six" option.

One more question - is the Brew Kettle location in Hudson worth a stop for beers and food?

 

For bottle shops in that area, I'd suggest either 101 Bottles in Kent or the Giant Eagle in Cuyahoga Falls. For breweries I'd highly recommend R. Shea in Akron, my favorite to visit in the area. There's also Missing Mountain and HiHo in Cuyahoga Falls, Headtrip in Stow and Madcap in Kent.

 

also If you're specifically looking for single bottles, your best bets may be Lizardville in Copley or the Mustard Seed in Akron

 

Absolutely. Food is stellar - get the ribs, BBQ spaghetti or BBQ burrito. Beer is great too. 36 taps including around 12 BK selections. Mad Cap and Missing Mountain are also fun places with good to excellent beer. RShea is good if you like pastry stouts.

 

Brew Kettle dry rub wings have to get a mention as well.

 

Thanks for the help everyone! I definitely want to try Brew Kettle and Lizardville if I can. Unfortunately the trip plans are evolving and I may have less time than I hoped to do much "beer tourism" in the area. If I'm in a pinch, I may have to settle for a quick local grocery store trip only.

It looks like I'll have the option of Heinen's, Giant Eagle, or Acme Fresh Market in close proximity. Any opinions on which one is best for beer (and particularly if any of those chains tend to offer "mix-a-six" or individual bottle sales)?