Beer lovers of Ohio will be in hops-heaven for a week in Athens when their favorite beverage takes center stage.
Ohio Brew Week will take over the streets of Athens July 11 to 19 for a week packed with events centered around what is a very important commodity of uptown Athens — beer.
“For nine days, 41 breweries come down and take over the bars and restaurants in Athens,” said Weston Lombard, executive director of Ohio Brew Week. “We'll have over 150 different Ohio craft beers on tap uptown and on E. State St. It's an opportunity for people to come up to one place and sample all the Ohio craft beers.”
Ohio Brew Week has been a long-standing pillar in Athens culture since 2005.
“We've got a well known, local food scene in Athens. Brew Week has a similar concept of showing off the local Ohio products,” Lombard said. “It's a unique festival. It's not craft beer from all over the country, it's just Ohio.”
Events include a historical walking tour of the Athens pubs and taverns, a homebrew competition and a keynote speech from Joe Tucker, founder and CEO of ratebeer.com.
Lombard expects nearly 4,000 attendees of the week-long event.
Rock-N-Roast will kick off Brew Week on July 11, at 5 p.m. at the Ohio University Inn Patio. The event will feature a variety of BBQ cuisine, the release of Cherry Saison from Elevator Brewing Company, based out of Columbus, and a performance from Backwords on the patio.
The week is also filled with restaurants and bars own tastings and entertainment. There are a variety of Brew Week sponsored events that no beer lover will want to miss.
The annual Jackie O’s Pub & Brewery keg-tapping ceremony will be held at 5 p.m. on July 14. The brewery will tap the official Brew Week beer, Sparbock, which is brewed in honor of John Sparhawk, the founder of Ohio Brew Week. Mayor Paul Wiehl serves as toastmaster, followed by the keynote speech from Tucker at 5:30 p.m.
“Jackie O's has been a proud supporter of Ohio Brew Week since day one,” said Matt Spolar, creative strategist for Jackie O’s. “As the only brewery in Athens, we love to see all the other Ohio breweries gather in Athens to showcase all of the great beer made right here in Ohio.”
As the only brewery in Athens, Jackie O's has a particularly busy schedule planned for the week, including releasing two new brews.
“Our new production brewery has allowed us to do some collaborative brews with other breweries and on July 12, we will be releasing two new beers, one with Warped Wing Brewery called Secret HOPeration and one with Fat Heads Brewery called After Hours,” said Spolar.
All three brewers will present before a performance from Hold: Same As It Ever Was, a Talking Heads cover band.
The Athens, Ohio Homebrew Club has sponsored a homebrew club each year of the event. Sanctioned by the Beer Judge Certification Program, the judging will take place on July 12, and is open to contestants, judges and stewards. Results will be announced to the public.
The Ohio Brew Week Symposium will take place at Casa Nueva, 6 W. State St., at 2 p.m. on July 16. It's designed for potential regional hop growers. There are a wide-range of scheduled panelists, including Athenians Melissa Christen of Jackie O's Barrel Ridge Farm and Steve Patterson of Hop 'n' Pepper Farms.
The Backyard Brew Fest will begin at 4 p.m. On July 18 at the Athens Train Depot at West Union and Depot Street. Along with live music, there will be a craft beer garden and beer themed games that will be familiar to the college crowd. Also at the event is The Plains Lion's Club Classic Car Show.
The week will wrap up with Last Call, a street festival where attendees can sample beer and check out local food and art from Athens and Ohio vendors. Musical performances from Lennon Orchestra and more will also join the event on Court Street. The street festival starts at 2 p.m. on July 19.
But no matter what bar attendees prefer to frequent, there will be more events for them to attend than possible.
“Every night and every day, all the bars are having special events. Every day, there will be at least a half-dozen events for people to choose from, starting at noon and going until 2 a.m. There will be an event happening somewhere all the time,” said Lombard.
For a full list of events and the 2014 Brew List, visit
Contact Sophie Kruse via email at sk139011@ohiou.edu or on Twitter @Kruseco
