Trip to Canton and Cedar Point

I've been to Brew Kettle and recommend it. I would also hit up Willoughby if you're going that way.

 

There's really no beer excitement around Cedar Point, so enjoy the time that you might have by spending it in the Cleveland area. Great Lakes Brewing is a cool experience, but I'm with you, I'd put Brew Kettle and Fat Head's first on the list.

I can't speak for the Canton area, so you might want to look at Akron for your beer experiences there if no one chimes in with any recs for Canton.

 

The Hoppin Frog Tasting Room is not far from Canton so I would definitely check that out. Make sure you review their hours on their FB page or website.

If you go from Canton and take 77N to 80W to 71N, you can easily stop at Brew Kettle or Fat Heads. Both are really cool places in their own way. Fat Heads has so much great beer but no guest beers, whereas Brew Kettle is a full brewpub so they have plenty of beer (and guest beers) and a full menu, plus they have much more flexible hours depending on when you travel. They are very close to each other as well, so time permitting, you could do both, if only to grab a quick beer at one of the places.

The original Fat Heads brewpub location in North Olmsted has a full restaurant as well as guest beers but that might take you a little out of the way.

If you follow 77N from Canton, you can also stop at Lizardville in Copley. I haven't been to that location, but they tend to have some of the best selections around. They also have limited hours though.

 

Are you looking for bars / breweries / bottle shops, or all of the above?

If you are in Canton, come north to Akron & definitely stop at Hoppin' Frog's tasting room, Thirsty Dog near downtown Akron is nice and has a decent tap room as well, and there are several decent beer centric bars in d-town Akron (Lockview and Baxter's come to mind), some nice bottle shops - Acme # 1 in west Akron and West Point Market close by, Mustard Seed Mkt, Primos Deli. 101 Bottles in Kent is a short hop east and is the best around for bottles...

The Cleveland area spots already mentioned - Fat Heads Tap Room at production brewery in Middleburg Hts is right off I-71 and great place, Brew Kettle also great and close by.....if you go up to Ohio City area where Great Lakes BC is, stop at Market Garden, Nano Brew and many many bars around and the newly opened Platform Beer close by is nice as well...

 

Bottle Shops in the Canton area: I'd go to Wales Rd. and Fishers foods first.

Massillon/Canton, Ohio (in no particular order).
1. Wales road one stop - good selection, most beer is stored cold and lots of singles.
2. Butts and Brews Rt 62 Canton - great selection, singles, gets 3 Flyods ($5/single bottle)
3. Erik's Grocery bag - Lots of singles all stored cold (watch for old beer) as a lot of it sits.
4. Fisher Foods Fulton Road - Good selection, Growler fills, just added mix-a-six (not a lot to choose from at the moment).
5. Meyers Lake Beverage & Drive Thru - Drive thru, but you can park and ask to look around at the beer selection. Great selection, lots of bombers and 6/4pks stored cold.
6. Buehler's nobles pond - Grocery store with a decent selection and some singles (most singles are $2 each so a little overpriced on those).

If you're looking for bars then I recommend The Winking Lizard on Fulton Rd. (down the street from Fishers) and The Rail at Beldon Village Mall. They have 24 Ohio beers on tap and almost all beef and ingredients are Ohio sourced.

 

Actually near Cedar Point, there is one very nice establishment called Mekong. Fantastic Vietnamese food and a fall out of your chair surprisingly good beer list for being in the middle of nowhere. They had $3 Revolution Bean Gene last time I was there.

 

I'll second Mekong and actually suggest small city tap house over it. Not 5 minutes from the cedar point entrance/exit causeway.