Cleveland Beer Week Beckons

Oh what a time to be a beer lover in Cleveland...

Though we missed out on the Bourbon Barrel Blackout Bombers at Great Lakes this week (they sold out in under two hours!), the future looks pretty bright. Cleveland Beer Week, which is exactly what it sounds like, begins today (in four hours and fifty minutes, but who's counting) and runs until Saturday, October 24th. Scheduled are a plethora of events, the choicest of which (in my humble opinion) are listed below:

Friday, October 16th: Dogfish Head Event at Southside
The beloved brews of Dogfish Head will be on tap and in the bottle, including relative rarities like Sahtea and the mysteriously promised "special releases". Unfortunately however, Ohio's archaic liquor laws prohibit the selling of the uber-high octane 120 Minute IPA.

Showing Some Moxie
A little rich for my blood, but sounds suspiciously like heaven: "Join Moxie The Restaurant for a 4-course dinner with beer selections from Merchant du Vin, including breads and meats paired with Lindemann's Cuvee Renee, mushroom fondue with Ayinger Weizen-Bock, fondue with roasted shallots with Ayinger Octoberfest, domestic raclette with Rochefort 8, imported raclette with Samuel Smith's India Ale, and chocolate fondue with Celebrator Double Bock. $45/person. "

Saturday, October 17th: Fat Heads Gets Hoppy
Ohhhh lordy... Relative newcomer Fat Heads hosts a (wait for it) IPA festival featuring more than 30 (!) different brews. On top of that, for the $25 entrance fee, you get a t-shirt, tasting glass, and 6 drink tickets. (To my imaginary secretary; "Cancel all my appointments, something important just came up.")

Sunday, October 18th: Kegs and Eggs at Beer Engine
Preempt your sorrows of another Browns dismal performance (hey, I'm hopeful, but realistic) with more Dogfish Head, poured through the magnificent Randall the Enamel Animal (if you don't know what it is, you don't need to). Plus, eggs.

Monday, October 19th: So Good, Why Not Go Back?
Beer Engine again, but this time with the pro's: "Meet Ron Jeffries of Jolly Pumpkin, Greg Gireszal of Hofbrau Beer, Isaas Hartman of New Holland, Veronica Sanders of Bells Beer, Jim Lutz of Flying Dog, Michael Bell of Founders, Adam Avery of Avery, Pete Larsen of Global, Garin Wright of Buckeye, and Brad Clark of Jackie O's, and tast their brews along with those from Unibroue, B. United, Dogfish Head, Stone, Breckenridge, Two Brothers, Clipper City, and Brewdog." They even have a photo booth on hand, which is weird.

Okay, if you hit all these events, you need to take a break, so I'll skip to the main event:

Saturday, October 24th: Cleveland Becomes Beer Mecca
The underutilized and gorgeous Arcade downtown will host BREWzilla, showcasing more than 50 different breweries, hundreds of brews, and providing general euphoria. Incroyable...

So, like Christmas in October, Beer Week descends on Cleveland with a fury. For (much) more information on the literally hundreds of different events, go to http://www.clevelandbeerweek.org/. Happy hunting!

City Says Good Riddance to Braylon's Rubbish

As a devoted Browns fan, I cannot tell you the elation that I felt when it was announced that the team had rid themselves of the cancerous butterfingers, Braylon Edwards. Now, if the trade works out like typical Cleveland sports moves, he will become the greatest receiver in the history of the world and bring 10 consecutive Super Bowl wins to the New York Jets (for other examples, see: Sabathia, C.C.; Lee, Cliff; Ramirez, Manny; Thome, Jim; Colavito, Rocky). Perhaps a bit hyperbolic, yes, but you know what I mean...

But, you know what? I DON'T CARE. Mr. Edwards consistently acted like spoiled, petulant child, and fit in in blue-collar Cleveland like a Budweiser at a beer festival (that is, not well, not well at all). He complained about the team, the city, the fans; just about anything and everything but himself. And to top it all off? He could barely catch the damn ball, which is what the Browns were paying him millions of dollars to do! He led the league in drops last year, and is well on his way again in 2009. I cannot tell you the frustration when a third down pass bounces off his chest/helmet/hands/etc. and we're forced to punt, yet again.

Now comes the revelation that he punched a man in the face who weighs 130 pounds for basically being friends with Lebron James and having the nerve to be entrepreneurial and capitalize (with the full blessing of LBJ) on the relationship. Not everyone is blessed with the millions of dollars from the genes their parents provided them.

What an insufferable human being.

In all likelihood, he is thrilled with the trade, as it puts him in the bright lights of the Big Apple. But, like the republicans during the Obama administration, I hope he fails. Huge. For someone of that talent to have such a disgusting personality and still be paid handsomely is a smack in the face to every hard-working Clevelander. So, good or bad, we'll see how he responds. In the mean time, we'll work on incorporating our newest team members to the Browns (which shouldn't be difficult, because half the team played for the Jets last year anyway).

Oh, and thanks to musiccitymiracles.com for the pic below:

24 Days and Counting...

If this gives you chills, then you're in the club... God I cannot wait for 8.