Toledo, Ohio is known as the Glass City. Reminders of this can be found everywhere around town. You can watch the University of Toledo Rockets play football in the Glass Bowl, open a bank account at the Glass City Federal Credit Union, run in the Glass City Marathon, or go to Continue reading Designed in Toledo
Steel Town and Iron City
Last week I spent a few days in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. What I found there was a city on the rise, a city in the middle of an economic renaissance, a city where good things (lots of them) are happening. The steel industry has gone of course and the city is re-configuring its Continue reading Steel Town and Iron City
Beer in the Old West End
The Old West End is a beautiful historic neighborhood in Toledo, Ohio. Comprising over 25 city blocks the tree-lined neighborhood is home to one of the largest concentrations of Victorian, Edwardian, Queen Anne, Romanesque, Arts & Crafts, Neoclassical, and Colonial Revival homes in the country. Every June the people that Continue reading Beer in the Old West End
Toledo’s Black Madonna
Last month I was sitting in the taproom of the Black Cloister Brewery. It was a late Thursday afternoon and myself, Spencer, and Tony (all regulars) were there. The three of us were chatting with Black Cloister’s owner, Tom Schaeffer. The conversation was wide ranging but at one Continue reading Toledo’s Black Madonna
What’s in a Name?
One of the things
that I like about the craft beer industry are the names – the names of the beers and the names of the breweries that brew them. The industry is full of clever and amusing names. For beer this includes Hoppy Ending (yes, that’s a hop getting a massage), Polygamy Porter (“Why Have Just One?”), Blithering Idiot (at 11.1% ABV this English style barleywine may turn you into Continue reading What’s in a Name?
The Art of the Beer Label
There has been much discussion in the growing literature on craft beer about neolocalism. Usually that fancy term ‘neolocal’ means the homage paid to the inclusion of local ingredients such as locally produced hops or grains used in the products of microbreweries that have a geographically limited distribution range. Used in this sense, neolocal is similar to the French term terroir usually associated Continue reading The Art of the Beer Label
A Glass Half Full?
I make presentations about the geography of the American craft beer industry to academic audiences all around the world. Earlier this month I spoke about the industry at the Jubilee Workshop of the Tinbergen Institute in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. The day after my presentation Continue reading A Glass Half Full?
Community Supported Ale
Those who frequent brewpubs know that part of the experience of drinking craft beer is the “connection” with the brewer(s) and pub’s staff. The brewer(s) and staff are generally proud of their product and eager to talk about it and the local scene of which they are part. Continue reading Community Supported Ale
Brew Good Do Good
The Black Cloister Brewery in Toledo, Ohio has a motto – Brew Good Do Good. I have been a regular patron of the Black Cloister since it opened in March of this year. I have tasted every single one of the beers Continue reading Brew Good Do Good
Michael’s Memory
On April 8 of this year I went to Mutz Bar at the Maumee Bay Brewing Company. Maumee Bay is an excellent brewpub that appeared on the Toledo scene in 1995. There I met up with Mike Moore, a doctoral Continue reading Michael’s Memory