See what Thirsty Dog owner John Najeway has to say about the annual Art and Ale Festival held at the Akron Art Museum..

http://www.wksu.org/news/story/35059

It's the end of the world as we know it, and we feel fine.

Ho! Ho! Ho! What have we here on the front page of the Cleveland Plain Dealer?

Marc Bona and Rick Armon sat down to blindly compare our 12 Dogs of Christmas Ale with Ohio's 400-lb Christmastime gorilla, and got a surprising result:

A year ago, Akron Beacon Journal beer writer Rick Armon and I sat down to taste Infinium, a holiday brew from Samuel Adams. This year, we blind-tasted a pair of popular seasonal offerings -- Great Lakes Brewing Co.'s Christmas Ale and Thirsty Dog's 12 Dogs of Christmas.

Both bottles were wrapped and labeled No. 1 and No. 2 and poured by an impartial taster.

Read the whole thing for the amusing reaction. For the record, Rick, you're not stupid; you're obviously a man of refined tastes.

Our co-owner John Najeway gives an overview at Ohio.com.

Rick Armon asked these five questions of our co-owner, John Najeway:

Why did you get into the brewing industry?

Thirsty Dog is now available in 14 different states. Are there any differences between beer drinkers in Ohio and beer drinkers in other states?

With so many breweries planning to open in Ohio this year, what advice can you give future brewery owners?

What's your best-selling beer and why do you think it's so popular?

Which beer -- any beer in the world -- do you wish you created/invented/brewed and why?

Go read John's answers.

This was uploaded awhile back, but it's still a good video.

Are you celebrating American Craft Beer Week?

Akron Beacon Journal writer Rick Armon has penned a new beer enthusiast's guide to Ohio:

For "Ohio Breweries," Armon piled mileage on his car to visit 49 Ohio breweries. He sampled the brews, talked with the brewers and compiled a handy guide to all of it.

The book, written in a solid reporter's style, is made for browsing. Each brewery gets an entry. You can read about the giants such as Anheuser-Busch InBev in Columbus, where they produce 10.7 million barrels of Budweiser, Bud Lite, Michelob and more every year. And you can read about tiny Indigo Imp Brewery in Cleveland, where brother-and-sister team Matt and Kathy Chappel are the only two employees cranking out open fermented Belgian-inspired ales.

Breweries are grouped geographically, making it easy to use on your road trips.

There is contact information, so you can see if the breweries you're interested in offer tours or tasting rooms.

Armon also includes information on restaurants and other attractions for each region.

Being a beer buff, Armon includes top picks among the brews at each stop -- making it fun to compare notes. At Indigo Imp, for instance, he likes the Jester pale ale, whereas I prefer the Gatekeeper porter. At Akron's Thirsty Dog Brewing Company, Armon goes with the Siberian Night Russian imperial stout -- and I can't fault that choice.

A wise selection, indeed. We'll buy a copy of the book for ourselves soon.

The confusion you've seen in the news is due to someone else's plan to open a restaurant with a name very similar to ours. Reports indicate that they hope to name their establishment "The Thirsty Dog Grille and Brewery." We here at Thirsty Dog Brewing Company have serious concerns about that name, for obvious reasons.

They're not us, and we're not them.

Sounds delicious to us!

So...it's the day after Easter and one look in the fridge triggers the question "What do we do with those slices of leftover roast lamb?" Reheating the slices will just dry it out. Here at the home of the Your Beer Network, Harvey announces that he has a yen for Akron's own Thirsty Dog Brewing Company's Siberian Night Imperial Stout.

A visiting amateur cook suggests that everyone stays out of the kitchen for half hour or so. The result was Joe's Day-After Easter Spiced Lamb. Goes fine with rice, left over mashed potatoes, stuffing, baked potato, grits, toasted sourdough bread...whatever carb is at hand.

Here is the way to do it step by step. Cook without fear! Minor modifications and/or slightly imprecise spicings will not kill the dish.

We won't spoil the surprise by reproducing the recipe here. Try it yourself and let us know what you think.

If you're wondering why you can't yet find the Ohio Craft Brewers Collaboration Sampler in stores anywhere, here's the scoop. The friendly folks in the federal and state governments have some unexpected demands that we and the other brewers must meet before they'll allow us to distribute those special sampler packs you've all been waiting for:

The sampler pack is now expected to arrive in stores between Thanksgiving and Christmas.

''It's gone from a Cleveland Beer Week release to the Christmas collaboration,'' joked John Najeway, co-owner of the Thirsty Dog Brewing Co. in Akron and president of the Ohio Craft Brewers Association. ''It'll be well worth the wait.''

He said he's been inundated with phone calls from beer lovers asking why they can't find the sampler, which will retail for $19.99.

The delay related to how the beer was being packaged and distributed. Since the beers were made at different breweries, they couldn't be packaged at one of the sites, Najeway said. Instead, the beer has to be shipped to a distributor who will assemble the 12-pack and then send it to stores.

As soon as Uncle Sam tells us it's OK to sell it, we'll let you know here, on our Facebook page, and on Twitter via @ThirstyDogBeer.

To kick off the holidays and help spread some Christmas spirit at Akron's Christmas tree lighting ceremony, we arranged for Lazy Husky Ranch to deliver the first keg of our new Lock 3 Lager by dogsled:

You can only get this specially crafted beer at Lock 3 for a limited time, so don't miss out!

We suspect our beer would be popular even if you weren't being dragged toward the fires of Hades.  The beginning of Steve's kind review:

Those who would pass through the gates to the Underworld must first confront Cerberus, a terrifying three-headed hound.

So says Greek mythology, anyway. But at Thirsty Dog Brewing Co., Cerberus is the name of a very elegant, high impact golden beer.

I suppose that if I was trying to sneak past the netherworld gates, this beer would make a good guardian. I'd stop in my tracks, pop open a bottle and sit down to enjoy. The honeyed smoothness would entice me to have another, and I'd probably soon forget all about passing through the gate. Because the beer is 10 percent alcohol by volume, I'd probably be easy enough to handle when the fanged minions of the Underworld came along to drag me off to my torment.

Read the whole thing, but go get a few bottles of Cerberus first.

[Mike Cardew/Akron Beacon Journal]

In anticipation of Cleveland Beer Week, our own John Najeway turned up on WMMS today to talk about the joys of beer on the Alan Cox Show.

We're looking forward to the week-long festival, and our schedule is pretty extensive, but don't limit yourself to just those events; check them all out.

Maybe so!  Thirsty Dog has been in the news.

We made Channel 5: 

You'll find two Akron Beacon Journal stories here and here.

http://www.columbusalive.com/live/content/features/stories/2009/08/06/ca_u_list.html

James Jennings of The Cleveland Beer Examiner attended a beer tasting at Heinen's in Aurora and tried two of our brews:

Thirsty Dog of Akron was definitely the best of the three breweries featured at the tasting. They offered a nice selection of beers to please anyone's palate. The beers available ranged from light fruity beers to hearty stouts. Of the six beers available for tasting, I had the pleasure of sampling the Whippet Wheat and the Siberian Night.
 

Whippet Wheat: This beer was certainly the best beer of the night. Whippet Wheat is a Hefeweizen that is an unfiltered yeasty wheat beer. It features a cloudy gold color from the pure German yeast. The beer also has a moderate aroma filled with clove, vanilla, and banana. What makes this beer unique is the banana flavor. This beer is perfect for summer and is great for those who want to move away from the citrus flavors that many summer beers feature.
 

Siberian Night: This Russian imperial stout features an Abv. of 9% and is full of flavor. There are strong hints of coffee in both the beer's taste and smell. Siberian Night has dominate malt that does well to wash down the slight hop flavor. This is a great choice if you are looking to try a stout other than a Guinness.

Thanks for the kind review, James!

Especially in a recession.

Rick Armon of the Akron Beacon Journal recently stopped by the brewery to get background on today's piece about the craft brewing industry's performance during this long dip in the economy.

Craft beer lovers haven't let the poor economy affect their drinking habits.

Sales of craft beer hit $6.9 billion last year, climbing 10.3 percent over the previous year, according to a new annual report by the Brewers Association of Boulder, Colo.

...

''In a down economy, quality beer drinking is up,'' said John Najeway, one of the owners of Thirsty Dog Brewing Co. in Akron and head of the Ohio Craft Brewers Association.

An interesting read. Be sure to flip through the seven behind-the-scenes photos of our brewery, too.

The Cuyahoga Valley Scenic Railroad has introduced something new this year with their Beer-Tasting Trains. ... The most recent one "Brussels Comes to Cleveland" was June 12, and was my first excursion on the "Ales on the Rails."

...

Each Belgian style beer was paired with a different food. Duvel with cheese & crackers; Ommegang Witte with salad, Victory Golden Monkey with sandwich wraps, Thirsty Dog Orthus with fruit, and Thirsty Dog Cerberus with brownies.

Cameron Russell from Heidelberg Distributing was on hand in the coach car to explain the first three beers and pairings. Then John Najeway of the Thirsty Dog Brewing Company in Akron introduced us to two of their Belgian-style beers. John says that every beer-tasting train features at least one Thirsty Dog beer, and the August train will be entirely Thirsty Dog beers.

Most fellow beer train riders were not really beer connoisseurs, and some were not even beer lovers. It's a great way to try new beers and enjoy a scenic train ride with your friends. One group bought tickets in the executive car for a surprise birthday present. All I talked to said this was their first beer-tasting train experience and they would definitely do it again! If you'd like to go on the next one, call 800.468.4070 for reservations. Upcoming trains include: July 3 - "Red, White, and Blue Beers" A taste of Chimay; August 7 - "Thirsty Dog Days of Summer", October 2 - "Oktoberfest", and November 6 - "Seasonal Beers."

Hoppus Maximus - American Amber Ale from Independence-based Thirsty Dog Brewing Co. Bronze-medal winner this year in the Great American Beer Festival, and it has captures silver and bronze medals at previous festivals.

Why hoist one: No false advertising here: hops, hops and more hops. Bitter like a Stone Pale Ale, but a better balance between hops and caramel mailts give Hoppus Maximus a complex - and satisfying - flavor. Pleasant amber color and a firm white head make for an appealing glass. Not as citrusy as many pale ales. Very satisfying brew.

Find it: Specialty beverage stores and some Northeast Ohio supermarket chains carry Thirsty Dog beers. We found ours at Giant Eagle, 75 Graham Road, Cuyahoga Falls.
You'll pay: About $8 or $9 a six-pack.

-Scott Stephens
-Featured in The Plain Dealer newspaper, Wednesday, December 7, 2005.

Each week, Scott Stephens spotlights a brew from anywhere around
the world that's worth trying. Availability will vary, and so will prices.

Siberian Night Russian Imperial Stout - Very popular and successful entry from the highly regarded, Independence-based Thirsty Dog Brewing Co. Gold Medal winner at this year's Great American Beer Festival in Denver - one of two Thirsty Dog brews to capture a medal and one of only four beers from Ohio brewers to take home hardware this year.

Why hoist one: Is this the best stout brewed in the United States? The long list of medals and honors - as well as enthusiastic word-of-mouth - certainly make that case. Creamy, black brew with a light brown head gives way to intense, smoky flavors that suggest chocolate and coffee. Extraordinarily smooth for its 9 percent alcohol content.

Find it: Specialty beverage stores and some Northeast Ohio supermarkets. We found ours at North Coast Wine & Beer, 1630 West 117th St., Cleveland.
You'll pay: About $8 or $9 a six-pack.

-Scott Stephens
-Featured in The Plain Dealer newspaper, Wednesday, November 9, 2005.

Two beers from Thirsty Dog Brewing Co. won medals October 1 at the Great American Beer Festival in Denver. The area Brewery won a gold medal for its rich, dark Siberian Night Russian Impial Stout and a bronze for its Hoppus Maximus, an American -style amber ale. The competition is the largest in the country for craft brewers.

-Jane Snow
-Featured in The Akron Beacon Journal Wednesday October 12, 2005.

Ohio breweries captured four medals - including two golds - at the Great American Beer Festival last week in Denver.

Rocky River Brewing Co. received a gold medal in the experimental beer category for Mexicali Smoke, a version of the brewery's Kohlminator Smoked Bock spiked with chipotle peppers. The brewery also received a silver medal in the specialty beer category for Neptune's Nemesis.

The Independence-based Thirsty Dog Brewing Co. received a gold medal in the imperial stout category for its Siberian Night. The stout captured a bronze during the 2003 festival.

Thirsty Dog also received a bronze medal in the American-style amber/red ale category for Hoppus Maximus. The beer captured silver and bronze medals at previous festivals.

Nine Ohio craft breweries competed in the competition, which ended Saturday. In all, U.S. breweries placed 2,335 beers and ales in 69 categories, earning 206 medals.

A record 29,500 people attended this year's festival.

-Scott Stephens
-Featured in The Plain Dealer newspaper, Wednesday, October 5, 2005.