Christmas in July: My Cleveland Beercation Part 1
In 2006, an auspicious visit to Great Lakes Brewing Company sparked my passionate interest in craft beer. I had never been to a craft brewery previously. That evening I became enamored with the beverage, the people, and the stories behind craft breweries.
This summer, thanks to a few other like-minded individuals wanting to explore a city for craft beer, I got to travel back to Cleveland where it all started. This trip turned out to be special for a myriad of reasons, but above all else, it showcases the dynamic Cleveland craft beer scene that is very much on the upswing.
Why Cleveland???
When most people thing of Cleveland, they think of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame or the fact that The Christmas Story was filmed there. Growing up, I always associated Cleveland with punclines comedians would use to make fun of the place, or the city where a river once spontaneously burst into flames. However, Cleveland is much more than that. Cleveland is vibrant and diverse from its residents to the shops and eateries that populate the city.
No Suitcase, No Problem!
The trip to Cleveland was smooth and uneventful until I landed. I rolled the dice on randomly being assigned a seat and wound up with a middle seat. Luckily, the flight, barely and hour and a half, flew by and there wasn’t enough time for my body to hate being crammed between two strangers. Before I knew it, we were rattling to a stop at the Cleveland Hopkins International Airport. They announced our baggage carousel number and I headed up the ramp into the airport.
I like visiting different airports because they all have a different flavor and feel. I get out into the main area and instantly chuckle because of the gigantic sign festooned on the wall right in front of me. It is a shame I am not hungry because I am sure that the lunch specials at Quaker Steak & Lube are simply divine. Is it a religious place or an auto shop with snacks? I guess I will never know.
Quaker Steak & Lube: When You’re Here, You’re Probably Not Happy About It
I head down to the baggage claim area to retrieve my suitcase and then get an Uber. While waiting and watching as everyone on my flight gets their belongings and disperses. It gets down to a handful of us waiting for our bags. As feelings of trepidation start to dampen my regret about not stopping at Quaker Steak & Lube for their Burnt Rubber and Ends Combo that comes drizzled in their 5WThirsty bbq sauce, I check my Delta app to double check to see where my bags might be. Like an atomic wedgie from the gods, the app explains that my bag never made it on the plane from Minneapolis.
Service With A… Smile???
I report to the Delta customer service desk and see a little bit of a line ahead of me. After about 15 minutes, it is my turn and the woman is very nice. I guess I am just conditioned to expect that anyone working at an airport despises the rest of humanity. I have had so many encounters with TSA agents and their demeanor suggests that they are on day 5 of a cleanse that isn’t going well.
The woman says, “I don’t know what’s up with Minneapolis, but five of y’alls bags didn’t make it on the plane.” She is so friendly and helpful. She explains that my bag should arrive around 4:30 and that it will be sent out for delivery no later than 10pm. It is refreshing to experience the kindness of humanity when you are fully expecting to be put through the gauntlet of a harsh exchange with someone at the airport.
I am moving lighter without my bag, so I head to the Westin Downtown Cleveland hotel to drop off my bags. I know that the rest of the contingent of my group is still at the Twins/Guardians game, so I have some time to myself to find something to do. Luckily, I know that there is a pretty exciting thing happening at Great Lakes Brewing Company, so I order an Uber and try to contain my excitement.
Great Lakes Brewing Company
Great Lakes Christmas Ale Tapping-Christmas in July
I first discovered Great Lakes Christmas Ale at the Winter Beer Dabbler in Saint Paul in 2011. In fact, the folks pouring it had a fire and were poking pitchers of it as a special way to enjoy the beer. I remember being so enamored with the flavor profile of the Christmas Ale.
Since 2012, Great Lakes Christmas Ale is key component of my holiday celebrations. I order a half-barrel keg of it every year for my holiday party. Craft beer nerds and non-beer drinkers, alike, rave about how delicious it is. For me, the blend of cinnamon, honey, and ginger in the Christmas Ale make it a fantastic beer to celebrate togetherness during the winter holidays.
I Love It When A Plan Comes Together
It will come as no surprise that when I realized Great Lakes Brewing would be having their Christmas Ale on tap the day I arrived in Cleveland, I was on cloud 9. As my Uber drives toward the place where my craft beer journey started 20 years ago, waves of nostalgia crash over the bows of my soul. I recognize the condo where my sister lived as we pass through the flats. I didn’t realize when she took me there that they were only about a five minute drive from the brewery.
Eventually, I am dropped off at 25th St. and Market Ave. I hear the cacophony of revelers enjoying what I can only assume are fresh flagons of Christmas Ale. Market Ave is barricaded and basically a pedestrian thoroughfare now. Although, I seem to remember there being a street where cars could drive when I visited the brewery the first time. Folks are wearing Hawaiian shirts amidst a sea of Christmas decorations. Upbeat holiday music emanates from the outdoor speakers adding a festive layer to the festivities.
I walk into the bar area and realize the place has changed quite a bit in the 20 years since I first darkened th doorstep of Great Lakes Brewing. The booth area where I sat the first time is gone. Folks are packed in the bar and there is nary a barstool to be found on the main level. I head downstairs to the second bar which has ample seating. More decorations hang from the low ceiling everywhere and it has a speakeasy feel down there.
Kielbasa: Learn It, Live It, Love It.
The bartender is incredibly friendly and makes some great conversation with me in between feverishly keeping up with the onslaught of pints of the holiday goodness that need pouring. I go with a a bowl of pierogis that come with sauerkraut, kielbasa, onions, and the world-famous Cleveland Stadium mustard with Dortmunder Gold. The idea of putting a bunch of expertly prepared simple ingredients together creates a masterful serving of food. The realization that, in Cleveland, the foundation of the food pyramid is kielbasa brings a smile to my face. In fact, this is just the beginning of my almost gluttonous intake of this Polish culinary staple. There would be many more kielbasas consumed during my time in Cleveland.
Of course, one cannot survive solely on food alone, so I order the requisite pour of Great Lakes Christmas Ale. I take my first sip and relish the familiar and iconic palate awakening that immediately occurs thanks to the intense aroma of ginger and cinnamon in the beer. One of the special things about Great Lakes Christmas Ale is the sense of balance. Nothing is too overdone. I don’t get hammered with cinnamon, ginger, or honey, but rather, they all seem to harmonize together.
My Moment Of Zen
Now I am in heaven. I take a minute to let the gravity of the situation wash over me. The music, the beer, the food, and the place-all so meaningful. I think about the 20 years since I first visited Great Lakes and how life has changed, both personally and societally. In life I have learned to take stock of the special moments and hold them close in my heart. This is one of those moments. Beer travel has a way of creating space for me to reflect and this is one of those times. I eventually finish my food and order up another pint of holiday cheer.
I decide to head upstairs and check out the main floor to see what other fun things I can find. Right after creating a little Instagram reel to show the folks how enjoyable the mood is at Great Lakes Brewing, I get a message on social media. It is Marissa, who is in charge of their marketing and social media. She asks if I am still at the brewery because she wants to say hello. I tell her that I am just hanging out right inside the door at a little half bar counter.
She pops in and we chat a bit. I explain to her why I love Great Lakes Brewing so much. She explains that she just started after the former social media person had moved on. I initially reached out to try to schedule a time to interview the owners, Patrick and Dan Conway, but I didn’t hear back. This explains why my message got lost in the shuffle. We have a nice chat and part ways. As much as I would love to have seven more pours of Christmas Ale, I have some friends to meet now that the Twins have defeated the Guardians in extra innings.
Good Golly, Guardians Game Gridlock
I order an Uber and I go to wait down on Market St. since the road outside the brewery is only accessible by foot. As I am sitting there, a man gets off the bus and immediately becomes quite concerned. He looks down the street and upon seeing throngs of people dressed in Hawaiian garb, some of whom are obviously intoxicated, says to me, “Um, is there something happening down there that I should know about?!?!?” I assuaged his fears and told him it is a festive brewery event. Then he asks, “Do you think that I’ll be able to get to the store?” I told him I would think so and he scurried away. I don’t know if he thought it was some sort of militia meeting or a cult gathering. Heck, maybe the dude just didn’t like Christmas music. Either way, my Uber was almost there and I went to the curb to wait.
I know that when a sporting event lets out, the traffic around the ballpark can be a little dense. However, what I realized almost immediately after getting in the Uber was that I should have just walked from where I was. I think that to get from where I was to the City Tap, where my friends were, was probably a less than a half hour walk.
I am pretty sure I was this woman’s last ride of the day. She didn’t explicitly say that, but I used context clues based on her using every work you can’t say on the radio under her breath, but still oud enough for me to hear her, and figured that she probably regretted picking me up, too. At one point, I thought about asking if she could just let me out on a random street and I would walk the rest of the way. I am sure that she probably would have murdered me if I pulled that because while being able to walk away and unburden myself from relying on traffic, she was still stuck in her car. At this point, I feel like we had to exist in this tense, bumper to bumper, obscenity-laden ride together.
Triggered By Traffic
I also know that sometimes, the people who drive to see a sporting event are not necessarily built for city driving where traffic is heavy. I am reminded of a time when, early on in my marriage, I drew the short straw to walk the short distance with my Father-in-Law to go and get the family station wagon so that we would be able to pick up the rest of the family after a Twins game and potentially save time sitting in traffic.
My Father-in-Law doesn’t handle traffic well. He is often flustered by the bustling metropolis of Moorhead, Minnesota, after a Red Hawks game. So, handling the traffic of a well-attended game at the Metrodome in the early 2000s when the team used to draw better attendance is a Herculean task to say the least.
We get to the car and Big-D, as we will call him, had a penchant for using plastic stir-straws as a chew toy in times of duress. He would chew on the stir-straws and eventually bit them in half. I am not sure of the exact measurements of these little plastic straws, but they couldn’t have been more than 5 inches. He starts chomping away on his straw as he pulls the maroon panzer tank of a car onto Washington Avenue. We have roughly 4 blocks to go in order to meet up with the rest of the family at the planned rendezvous point. An easy task on a normal day. A doable task on a game day with traffic. However, to the man who in his own words admits, “I don’t know how you deal with the traffic down here,” it is a pert near impossible task.
I think one of the worst parts, even more so than the crazy riding the brake and periodic ripping of the plastic straws and swearing, is the fact that all this is happening without anything playing on the radio.
A frustrated passenger in a station wagon
The kind Midwesterner in him is letting everybody and their brother turn ahead of him because that is what happens in the town where he lives. The problem with this is that we need to get 4 blocks and when a light turns red, the folks who need to get on Washington Avenue are driving aggressively and are glutting the right lane as they turn on from the perpendicular streets. What should have only taken 10 minutes at most, has turned into a 27-minute odyssey.
I think one of the worst parts, even more so than the crazy riding the brake and periodic ripping of the plastic straws and swearing, is the fact that all this is happening without anything playing on the radio. The only sounds that are attempting to break the silence are the occasional honk of a car horn, a swear, and the gnawing of plastic straw. All of this is to illustrate the point that post-game traffic can be a nightmare because you often get folks who have no business driving in the heart of the city populating the roads.
This gridlock is triggering for sure. I see the location on the map and the ETA going up and up. All that Google Maps is showing is a grid of red on the map. There are cars turning the wrong way onto one-ways and people creating lanes that aren’t there. We are constantly being passed by people on foot who look so footloose and fancy free. If I had walked, I would be on beer number three by now, instead of being trapped in the backseat of a Twonna’s Toyota Corolla. Finally, our 31 minute relationship comes to a close. I get out and head in to the bar.
Meeting Up With The Minnesota Crew In Cleveland
I love being in a place where I can try beers that I do not get in Minnesota. As I walk into City Tap, I see a wall of taps as I walk to the table where my friends are at the back of the bar. I say hello and scan the QR-code to reveal the Untappd menu. I have a love/hate relationship with this method of menu for breweries and bars. On one hand, it is nice because there is a lot of information. The negative is that you are assuming that the menu is current, which I have found seldom to be the case. So, I order a Dortmunder Gold from Great Lakes which I find is actually not on tap. I settle for a Troeg’s Brewing Sunshine Pilsner. It accomplishes the same thing as the Dortmunder Gold would have with its crisp and satisfying bite.
It is nice to be among friends, finally. Don’t get me wrong, I love some alone time. In fact, there was a certain peacefullness to being at Great Lakes Brewing by myself with my thoughts and reflections to keep me company. However, now I am ready for some laughs and more beer. The five of us (Marcus, Andrea, Rick, Paige, and myself) are all from Minnesota and see each other quite frequently.
There is something to be said for a venue change every now and again. We certainly love to travel and enjoy our fair share of barley pops when on the road. When you have a fun group of folks to be around on a beercation it is the perfect environment for inside jokes that last a lifetime. We are bemoaning the fact that we couldn’t go to the Southern Tier location across the street because they are closed for a private event this evening. I don’t think that there is going to be any shortage of beer for the next 4 days so we don’t shed any tears about it.
It is getting to be time to order an Uber to head to our dinner spot to meet up with the rest of the crew. Some of whom went to the Thirsty Parrot, a fantastic bar to visit before, during, and after a Guardians game. We have a reservation at a BBQ place, which I think is going to be really fun.
A Pit Stop At The Corner Alley
We set our course for Mabel’s BBQ, a quintessentially Cleveland place that incorporates Bertman’s Stadium Mustard into their bbq sauce and eastern European flavors into their food to give it a unique flair. We arrive and learn that it will be about a 45 minute wait before our tables are ready. Lucky for our group, we know how to fill the time when there is a beer bar nearby. We meander down the street to The Corner Alley. This establishment is billed as Cleveland’s Premier Bowling Alley and Sports Bar Experience. This wouldn’t be the last watering hole that combined indoor sports with a fantastic drink selection of the trip.
Our group literally takes over the entire side of the bar. By my count, we are a party of 16 now and we are raring to go. Everyone is in various states of enjoyment. The beer list is quite robust and I am happy to see that they have a Rhinegeist Brewing offering on tap so I order their Truth IPA. This is a very old school IPA with a nice punch of bitterness and a dry finish. I really like it and have only heard fantastic things about Rhinegeist Brewing.
We are chatting and laughing and I am scrolling down the line of goofballs as we are all enjoying ourselves. It is a special thing to see so many different people who have al come together because of beer. After each of us have had a few beers, it is time to go put a dent in the menu at Mabel’s and order a one-way ticket to destination meat sweats.
Mabel’s BBQ: A Quintessentially Cleveland Experience
We walk down the road and there is such an energy out on this street. This is another example of a pedestrian-only thoroughfare that has quite a few places to eat and drink. I am not sure if this is a Covid-leftover thing to allow for places to maximize outdoor seating or not. We head into Mabel’s BBQ and make our way up to the mezzanine level seating where we have our 2 long tables waiting for us. I join Marcus, Andrea, Rick, Paige, and Daniel at our spot and the rest of the group is seated next to us. The menu isn’t too overwhelming despite the fact that I am quite hungry and would easily order one of everything.
More Kielbasa is More Better
After perusing the menu, I land on the Polish Girl. A kielbasa with Cleveland bbq sauce, cole slaw, and pulled pork all on a hoagie roll. The kielbasa had a perfect snap to it and the flavor was dynamite. I really love coleslaw on anything. Heck, that is really now the only reason I get the newspaper. The hoagie roll is not too dense while at the same time having enough structural integrity to not fall apart. The Polish Girl is a saucy experience; between the juicy kielbasa, the coleslaw, and bbq sauce, a lesser bun would have been a catastrophe.
I was hydrating with water, but now I see that the only way to assuage the meat sweats is going to be a Kentucky Old Fashioned with Old Forrester 100 proof Bourbon. Everyone else got all sort of incredible dishes from the This Is Cleveland Platter to the Boss Hog, the meals looked and smelled phenomenal.
A Night Cap At The Winking Lizard Tavern
Usually, a sensible individual would think that it has been a full day and it might be wise to go back to the hotel for a nice night’s sleep. Not our crew. We decided that we would check out the Winking Lizard Tavern for a night cap since it is right next to the Downtown Cleveland Westin. We walk over which is nice because it is beautiful weather.
It is kind of a tricky thing to find the door. The Winking Lizard Tavern is attached to a bigger building and we had to go through 3 different doors from the street to find our way to the sanctuary of great prices on Bourbon. It is kind of a tradition that Rick, Paige, and I have that we find some pours of a brown spirit to cap of a day’s fun. The Winking Lizard Tavern is an apt place for that as I see they they have healthy pours of Rabbit Hole Dareinger Sherry Cask Bourbon for $8.50 on happy hour.
It also helps when the server has a snarky attitude and sense of humor. We got into a whole back and forth about ice water. It was fun. Sipping on spirits and enjoying beers is a great way to the a full day of activities. I really am thankful for the folks on this trip that make it a priority to stay in touch. Friendships are important.
As we are laughing and I am taking it all in, the conversations we are having are reminiscent of the first times I chatted with any of these people. Whether it was meeting Daniel in Milwaukee at The Sugar Maple when we both noticed the boob art on the wall at the same time, or chuckling with Marcus at Minneapolis Town Hall in 2021 during their Barrel Aged Week when a stoner asked us if we wanted to see some psychological magic, the connections built and strengthened over the years have added such meaning to my life. I am excited that we get to spend the next few days adding to the list of stories and inside jokes.
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