Going to Cleveland, Canton

Willoughby Brewing Co., Thirsty Dog (Akron), Fat Heads (several locations), Great Lakes Brewing Company, Market Garden Brewing (Ohio City).

 

Go to Hoppin Frog in Akron. I was pretty cynical about their products but their taproom is great. They have a very robust vintage menu of bottles as well.

 

IMO, skip Market Garden...just an average brewery with nothing really unique.

Check out Lizardville in Bedford and Willoughby on the East Side.

Head to Brew Kettle and Fat Heads - you'll have to drive but those are the two best places to hit and you can do both easily.

Other notable places: Platform & Tremont Tap House downtown.

Akron: Thirsty Dog & Hoppin' Frog (but the vintage bottles mentioned above are a HUGE rip off).

Good luck in Canton, some say Canton Brewing is making decent beer. Not much else that way.

 

You need to define how far you want to travel or you'll be getting BAs who suggest you drive to Jackie Os or Rheingeist because they're "only an hour or two" and you gotta try them!

 

My go-to place in Akron is Mustard Seed Market. So if you hit up HF or TD breweries it's pretty close.

They don't upcharge for single bottles, almost everything is fresh and refrigerated, and the staff is really great. Not as big as the ones you mentioned (which are three of my favorite Cleve places) but they get some great stuff.

 

If you have a whole week, you might as well do the Ohio City tour and hit Great Lakes, Market Garden, Bier Markt, Platform, McNulty's, Nano and the West Side Market (the latter for eats to take back to where you're staying.) Tremont is just a short drive (like 10 minutes give or take) and has some nice locations like the Tremont Tap House, Lily's Chocolates, Lucky's Cafe and Michael Symon's Lola & Lolita.

Yeah, I know, I know, some BAs are just too over Great Lakes, but it's still an icon for Cleveland as well as Ohio craft beer and worth a visit if you've never been there. And the last time I was at Market Garden they had guest taps as well as their own.

 

Check out save on craft beer in mentor and world of wines also in mentor. Save on has a huge selection and world of wines often has stuff that's dried up long ago at other places

 

If you don't mind driving to Kent, I would visit 101 Bottles of Beer on the Wall. Here's an excerpt from their website.

"Housing over 700 different beers and 1500 different wines, as well as offering a rotating craft beer & moonshine/bourbon bar, 101 Bottles of Beer on the Wall has developed a reputation for having one of the largest and most creative selections of craft beer in the state of Ohio."

 

Let us know how your trip went when you get back.

 

If in Willoughby, obviously you must go to WBC that is a no brainer.

Then you have to make the 20-30min drive to visit FatHeads (either location, they are within about 10mins of each other)... Location will depend if you want more bar/pub vibe or to be in the actual brewery. I like the taproom better myself, but everyone has their own preference. Buy some to go right from the source to take home.

Once at Fatheads, you are 10-15mins away from Brew Kettle. The atmosphere kind of sucks there (boring, IMO) but the beer and food is great. Perhaps it is worth just running in and grabbing a flight and a 6-pack of white rajah to go. Hitting both FH and Brew Kettle in a day would be a good duo. When at Brew Kettle you are about 5mins away from Market District Strongsville (supermarket) which has a fantastic beer selection to buy, as well as a bar in-store that usually has some good stuff.

You can easily take two days in Ohio City... Within a mile or so of each other is Platform, Great Lakes, Nano Brew, Market Garden. I really like Platform a lot personally... Have not been to GL yet as I am not a huge fan of their stuff, but people seem to love it.

From Canton, Ohio you are only about 30-40min drive from JAFB which is incredible in Wooster, Ohio... Highly recommended. Probably my #1 brewery in the state alongside Fatheads.

Hoppin' Frog and Thirsty Dog make sense while in Canton as well... I have not been to neither, yet, but Hoppin' Frog will be a go-to if you like barrel aged beers.

As "far out" options just because, from Cleveland you are just shy of a 2hr drive to Southern Tier in NY... One of my favorites in terms of atmosphere, reminds me a mini-Sierra Nevada. Beers are solid as well. Also, Jackie-O's in Athens Ohio is about 2hr 30min drive from Canton Ohio.... Awesome place. If open (usually only on Saturday or Sunday), Hoof Hearted Brewing is about 1hr 30mins from both Cleveland/Canton... Their IPA's are causing quite a stir-up in the state for being up there with Vermont. I have not personally had, yet.

For bottleshops, you can't beat the Lizardville locations (Lakewood & Miles) and Warehouse Beverage.

 

See my post above

and the OP's reply

Nice to be helpful, but JAFB, Jackie O's and HoofHearted are all much father than a one hour drive from the east side of Cleveland where the OP will be staying.

And BTW, Hoppin Frog and Thirsty Dog are both in Akron, not Canton. Akron would be closer to the OP's location than Canton.

 

Being a little liberal on that drive time...

 

@RyanMcFly1985 OOps! At work and didn't check that particular timing... Was more a guesstimate. Looking now from Willoughby to Fatheads is about 40mins. My mistake, but well worth the extra time...

@5thOhio He also mentioned he will be around Canton and not just Cleveland. JAFB is not as far from there as it is Cleveland. Also, he may have said an hour limit, but I figured why not throw the options out there just in case... Even if it may not help him, perhaps someone else will stumble on this topic and appreciate the information.

And Hoppin' Frog and such are only 20mins or so from Canton... They are really close so I didn't think the particular with Akron/Canton was required.

 

Totally agree that it's worth it. I just saw that and was like, yeeeeaaah I wish the drive was that short!

 

Definitely stop in at the Willoughby Brewing Company. You won't be disappointed.

If you find yourself a tad farther East, I can't recommend this place enough. It's the now go-to stop for when I'm in that area visiting friends and family.
http://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/21490/?view=ratings

 

While trying to be helpful, I think you're not factoring the entire situation. Yeah, Jackie O's is "only" 2 1/2 to 3 hrs from the OP, but that's one way. Add the drive back plus at least an hour minimum in the brewpub and you've killed a whole day for just one brewery. Ditto Hoof Hearted. They're both good, but not worth spending an entire day on a limited vacation, IMO.

If the OP wanted to make a whole day trip, Columbus would be the better option at around 2 hrs. from Cleveland, with multiple breweries and public transit so he could park and sample places without driving while buzzed and then take some time for the alcohol to wear off for the trip back to the East side.