PEACH WEEKENDER | RAISE A GLASS

Glass City Beer Festival set for March 3

Event will take place at Lucas County Recreation Center

2/9/2017
BY BRIAN DUGGER
BLADE STAFF WRITER
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    BLADE ILLUSTRATION/TOM FISHER

    • There will be something very familiar about this year’s 11th annual Glass City Beer Festival.

    Since the beginning, it has always been about raising money for good causes, giving people the opportunity to try beer they have not previously tried, and listening to music from cover band 56Daze.

    The one noticeable difference from those early years is that there will be a lot more people this year having a beer with you.

    In the first year of the event at downtown Toledo’s Erie Street Market, there were a couple hundred people, then more than 500. The rapid growth forced a move to the Lucas County Recreation Center in Maumee. Last year’s event attracted 2,200 people, mirroring the explosion of craft beer popularity across the country.

    “My agency was looking for something new and exciting when we started this. I wanted something that I would actually want to go to, that my family would go to,” said Carla Wells, the executive director for the Northwest Ohio Hemophilia Foundation, which will split all of the proceeds with Camp Courageous/​The Arc of NW Ohio. “It’s a great way to try different microbrews that maybe you wouldn’t try otherwise. This beer is more expensive than your Budweiser, so it gives you a chance to try it out.”

    There will be close to 50 breweries on site, offering about 250 beers. Local breweries will be well represented. Earnest Brew Works, Black Cloister Brewing, Black Frog Brewery, Flatrock, Great Black Swamp Brewing, Maumee Bay Brewing Co., and North River Brewing Co. will each have beer samples available.

    This year’s event takes place from 7 p.m. to 11 p.m. March 3 at the Lucas County Recreation Center. Tickets are available at The Andersons or online at glasscitybeerfest.com. A general admission ticket is $30 in advance and $35 at the door. It includes 12, 3-ounce pours. A VIP ticket is $50 in advance and $55 at the door. With that ticket, you will be admitted at 6 p.m. and have 18 samples. Once again, 56Daze will be the entertainment, and food will be available from Deet’s BBQ and PizzAroma.

    “It’s a really great time, vibrant, and lots of people to socialize with,” Wells said.

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    Black Frog owner Chris Harris is featured this month on the Ohio secretary of state website. Minority owners are being recognized throughout the month of February. Mr. Harris is the only African-American craft brewery owner in the area and one of a few in the country. His brewery’s profile can be found at: bit.ly/​2kmUZmL.

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    Swig in Perrysburg has partnered with Lakefront Lines to provide round-trip rides for $20 to Port Clinton’s Burning Snowman Fest 2017 on Feb. 25. Buses leave at noon and return by 10 p.m.

    The Burning Snowman is a weekend long festival of bands, hot tubs, food, and a variety of craft beer offerings, including beers from Phoenix Brewing Co., Flatrock, Brew Kettle, Rivertown Brewing, and Catawba Island Brewing Co.

    More information can be found on the Burning Snowman Fest 2017 Facebook page. To reserve a spot, call Lakefront Lines at 216-267-8810, extension 158.

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    Glass City Pub Cycle is beginning business in downtown Toledo on March 1. It will be a 15-passenger pub cycle that will have bar crawls, history tours, art and mural tours. A spot can be reserved for $20 on the weekend and $17 during the week.

    More information can be found at glasscitypubcycle.com.

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    It will take awhile to get off the ground, but Tiffin has announced that a brewery and taproom will move into the historic Laird Arcade building downtown. Local entrepreneurs Eric Kuebler and Rob Weaver are backing the project.

    Contact Brian Dugger at: bdugger@theblade.com or on Twitter @DuggerCountry.