Ohio Shenanigans - Great Lakes Brewing Company and Beautiful Cleveland

While I was visiting Pittsburgh and surrounds, waiting for my daughter to finish up classes before Thanksgiving, I found myself with a free day on Monday.

I figured "Cleveland isn't too far away, I'll go to Cleveland!"

I made the arrangements for face to face meetup with Bill and Stacey of Nothing But Love. I've had mutual admiration and blog friendliness with them for going on a decade now through my official blog (a)musings. It would be great to meet them live and in person.

I picked the Great Lakes Brewing Company so I could sample their food and brews. With a two hour drive ahead of me and a smile on my face, I departed for what some people call "The Mistake by the Lake." More on that later.

The restaurant was doing a booming business for a Monday lunch. The place was packed, one could even say mobbed. It was almost like everyone in Cleveland was there all at once. I got the impression that it isn't just the beer people are there for, but the food. At some brewpubs,  you know people are there for the beer first and foremost... this was definitely the eatery destination for the district.

Shenanigans by Fireside: Angry Orchard Ginger Apple Cider and Magic Hat Sampler

My husband and I (without Dave) took our dogs for a long hike and swim yesterday, seizing a beautiful and amazing fall Saturday afternoon. On the way home Doug had a hankering for some cider, so we stopped by Georgetown Liquors to pick up provisions.

Doug got Angry Orchard Apple Ginger Cider, from Cincinnati, Ohio. Seeing as we're in Woodchuck country, he thought he'd give it a try.

He also grabbed the latest and greatest mix from Magic Hat.  Marketed as Winterland, it has four brews for the sampling.

We built a fire in the fire pit as the sun was setting. The air got cold good and fast, and we set to sampling.

The Apple Ginger Cider was delicious. I was afraid of the "ginger" content because I've had ginger beers and stuff with ginger as an ingredient, and always have found it not to my liking. This was more like regular ginger ale with a touch of apple cider. It was crisp and smooth, and went down easy.


Too easy one might say if one liked to say such things. I really enjoyed it.

Then to Magic Hat.

I started with the Encore, which is a mix of IPA and wheat beer. It was great. Loved it. Really wonderful flavor and a great aftertaste.

Doug had  Ravell, which was slightly disappointing. It lacked body, was a touch watery for something supposed to be a porter, wasn't quite the beer we had hoped it would be.

It was dark, you could barely see through it, but it was in the end just kind of boring. The hints of vanilla weren't barely noticed by either of us. It was an "odd porter" for sure but just didn't really do anything for either of us.

We moved on to their "Howl" which was much better. It is listed as a Dark Lager, and like the Ravell it sure is dark, but so tasty and filled with flavor.

Then we had the classic #9, which we've enjoyed a million times. Doug said he though this tasted different than he recalled, it was much crisper, cleaner, deeper, and maybe just fresher than what we'd bought in the past.

Shenanigans Hiatus of Sorts

So last Wednesday was off for us, and this Wednesday is on hold until Saturday Night. I'm taking Dave to a Trivia Night Fundraiser for our school district's education foundation. Cash bar, not sure if there is beer on tap, or just in bottles, but we'll have a nice time nonetheless. Doug will be joining us so our team of awesome trivia experts will put a hurt on anyone else.

Apologies to the shenanifans who sit and wait for an update.

In other news, I will be making a trip to Pittsburgh later this month. My sister in law told me there is a new craft brewer who has a partnership with a restaurant in Rochester PA, so I'm going to pre-arrange a meeting or tour and write them up. Also, there are two destinations I have in mind for my solo shenanigans while I'm there and I can't wait to write about them. One is a brewery that used to be a church, sort of like the Holy Grail concept with the restaurant and everything, but they brew their own beers there, so it is a destination not to be missed for sure. Second is the Hoffbrauhaus in Pittsburgh, which is owned by the famous Munich Hoffbrauhaus folks. They brew all their own as well, and my daughter has been there once or twice and said the food is great.

If time allows, a trip to Cleveland on Monday to see friends who live there and possibly visit the Great Lakes Brewing Company brew pub.

Greatly looking forward to branching out with the shenanigans!