The News Herald (Willoughby, OH)
Bringing home the honors
Locally brewed beers are making a name for the region in competitions
If you’re in the mood to drink an award-winning beer, you can find a growing number of selections that are brewed right here in Northeast Ohio.
Here’s a look at some of the breweries in the region and the beers that have earned them accolades in a variety of noteworthy competitions:
On top of the world
Willoughby Brewing Co. has gained worldwide recognition for two of its beers in recent years.
Peanut Butter Cup Coffee Porter captured the gold award for Specialty Beer at the 2014 World Beer Cup in Denver, Colorado. The event, held every two years and sponsored by the Brewers Association trade group, is often referred to as “the Olympics of Beer Competitions,” the association stated.
Peanut Butter Cup Coffee Porter was judged as the gold-award winner among a field of 30 specialty beers.
“We’ve always had a tremendous customer response to this beer, but to be recognized by our peers in a competition of such magnitude is a brewer’s dream,” Willoughby Brewing Co. Brewmaster Rick Seibt told The News-Herald in 2014. “Bringing an award like this home to small-city Willoughby is such an honor.”
Peanut Butter Cup Coffee Porter is described on the willoughby brewing. com website as a “complex, robust porter brewed with seven different malts, then infused with peanut butter, chocolate and fresh roasted coffee.”
At the 2016 World Beer Cup, held in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Willoughby Brewing Co. earned a bronze award in the Specialty Beer category for its Nut Smasher Imperial Stout. Sixty entries — twice as many as at the 2014 World Beer Cup — battled for Specialty Beer supremacy in 2016, with the gold medal going to the Maple Bacon Coffee Porter produced by Funky Buddha Brewery of Oakland Park, Florida.
Nut Smasher Imperial Stout is “brewed with inspiration” from Peanut Butter Cup Coffee Porter, according to willoughby brewing. com.
One notable difference is Nut Smasher’s alcohol by volume is higher — 11.5 percent compared with 5.5 percent for Peanut Butter Cup Coffee Porter.
In addition, Nut Smasher Imperial Stout is “best enjoyed when allowed to warm up to 55 degrees and served in a snifter,” willoughbybrewing.com states.
Earning their wings
Double Wing Brewing Co. rose to the occasion at a Northeast Ohio microbrew competition held over Labor Day weekend, winning two awards.
The Madison Townshipbased microbrewery battled other regional beermakers in the 2016 Cleveland Labor Day Weekend Oktoberfest Best Oktoberfest Microbrew event. The competition, which took place Sept. 2-5 at the Cuyahoga County Fairgrounds in Berea, was conducted through blind-judging evaluation of panelists that included certified beer judges and invited celebrities.
When the results were announced, Double Wing earned a second-place award in the German Light Lagers category for its POC (Pride of Cleveland) Pilsener, while its India Pale Ale gained third spot in the Best IPA class.
Joel Sandrey, director of sales and marketing and co-owner of Double Wing Brewing Co., said the microbrewery was pleased to capture the two awards.
“Especially based on the competition in a difficult, heavily competed category like IPA. It’s an incredible honor and we’re thrilled about that,” he said.
The Double Wing microbrewery is located on the grounds of Debonne Vineyard winery at 7840 Doty Road in Madison Township.
Head of the class
Fat Heads Brewery, which operates locations in North Olmsted and Middleburg Heights, has made a habit of winning awards in beer competitions.
If you need proof, just go to the fatheadsbeer.com website, and you’ll have no problem finding the vast number and assortment of awards that the brewery has won in recent years.
Here’s a sample of those honors: • World Beer Cup 2016: Gold award — Hop JuJu Imperial IPA in the Imperial India Pale Ale category
Bronze award — Midnight Moonlight, American Style Black Ale category 2014: Silver awards — Head Hunter, American Style India Pale Ale category; Bonehead, Imperial Red Ale category
• Great American Beer Festival 2016: Gold award — Aspen Glow, German Style Wheat Ale category
Silver Awards — Midnight Moonlight, American Style Black Ale category; Black Muddy River, Other Strong Beer category
Bronze Awards — Hop JuJu Imperial IPA, Imperial IPA category; IBUsive, Fresh or Wet Hop Ale category 2015: Gold Awards — Midnight Moonlight, American-Style Black Ale category; Bone Head Imperial Red, Double Red Ale category; Hop JuJu Imperial IPA, Imperial India Pale Ale category
Silver Award — Black Knight, German-Style Schwarzbier category 2014: Gold Award — Alpen Glow, German Style Wheat Ale category
Fat Heads’ Brewery and Tap House is based at 18741 Sheldon Road in Middleburg Heights; its Brewery and Saloon in North Olmsted is at 24581 Lorain Road.
“Especially based on the competition in a difficult, heavily competed category like IPA. It’s an incredible honor and we’re thrilled about that.” — Joel Sandrey, director of sales and marketing and co-owner of Double Wing Brewing Co., on the brewer’s win at a Northeast Ohio microbrew competition