The Great Taste Caper 2018 - Day 1: Hello Cleveland!!!

2359 miles...

197 beers...

44 breweries...

11 days...

8 bars...

6 states...

2 travelers...

1 monkey.

It had been six long years since our previous trek to Madison, WI for the amazing Great Taste of the Midwest, a 5-hour marathon of beer-soaked sampling from the cream of the mid-western crop of craft breweries. Last time around, we spent some time in Grand Rapids, MI, and its periphery before heading to Madison for the festival. For this year's epic excursion, we had our sights set on Minnesota's Twin Cities: Minneapolis and St. Paul, a mere 4-hour drive from Madison. After numerous revisions and tweaks to my initial itinerary, we finally honed in on an ambitions schedule that would traverse us from our home state of Pennsylvania with stops in: Cleveland, Ohio; northern Indiana; northeast Illinois; Milwaukee, WI; Minneapolis and St. Paul, MN; and finally Madison, WI, before heading back home. Just thinking about it makes my legs and back feel sore and fatigued. 

On the Thursday night before we departed, I could barely contain myself. I felt like a kid on Christmas Eve lying in bed thinking of the coming day's barrage of presents. Actually, I felt more like a middle-aged man gearing up to see Rush at Red Rocks. Needless to say, it took my mind a while to finally succumb to my body's impending (and much-desired) slumber.

I worked a half day on Friday, August 3 and waited for our neighbor to drop off Brewslut at the brewery. I must admit that I was already "checked out" from work. I was in full-on vacation mode. Finally, the moment arrived, and we B-lined it straight to Cleveland, arriving in a record-breaking 5 1/2 hours with a bathroom break along the way. We were ready to get our drink on! Pleeps was getting pretty antsy, too. 

We decided to skip places we'd visited on previous trips, like Great Lakes, Platform, and a few others, in lieu of some brand new places. First up was Masthead. I must say that this place set the bar extremely high for the rest of the trip, as the beers here were stellar!

Outside Cleveland's Masthead Brewing Co.

Speaking of setting the bar high, my first beer of the trip was pretty friggin' amazing. Perhaps I'd built up a vicious thirst during the 342-mile drive to Cleveland, but Ten Minute Double NEIPA was a welcome reward for my patience. Brewed to celebrate the 4th Anniversary of Small City Taphouse in Sandusky, OH, (I'll spare you any snide remarks about Penn State) this heavily dry-hopped special release is only available at two locations: Small City and Masthead. So the added rarity of the beer was a bonus. Let me tell you, I crushed it like it was going out of style.

Pleeps looks ready to dive into my Ten Minute!

Shortly after we arrived, two guys set up shop next to us at the bar, and one of them commented on my Selin's Grove work shirt. Turns out they were visiting from Berks County, PA, and hitting some breweries before attending the NFL Hall of Fame induction of some famous Philadelphia Eagles player. They were both extremely friendly and conversing about sports, cars, and (more my forte) beer helped pass the time nicely. Of course, I was hoping to hit three additional breweries that evening. We exchanged social media handles and what not, so if you guys are reading this, "'Sup?"

My vantage point from the bar at Masthead.

Up next, I felt I needed to try Masthead's flagship IPA (named simply that... IPA). Brewed with massive amounts of Simcoe and Mosaic, this beer boasted a blend of pine, passionfruit, and grapefruit notes. While enjoyable, it paled in comparison to Ten Minute. I probably should have started with the IPA, but I didn't want the Ten Minute to kick before I had the chance to try it.

For "dessert," Brewslut and I shared a pour of a delectable stout with an equally succulent moniker, Raspberry Espresso Torte. Brewed with raspberries, locally roasted Six Shooter coffee, and lactose, this thick, rich imperial stout was brewed in collaboration with Heinen's Fine Foods (an OH-based grocery chain). This served as the proverbial icing on the cake of an amazing visit to Masthead and a well-deserved first stop of the trip.

Up next was Collision Bend, a place Deuane recommended. Turns out he recommended them more for the food than the beer. However, we needed to eat at Masthead, as I find it's not necessarily wise to drink beer (especially DIPAs and imperial stouts) on an empty stomach. After all, we were still in fasting mode when we landed in Cleveland. The location of Collision Bend is situated in a seemingly trendy, upscale neighborhood. We noticed many signs for valet parking, and lame modern dance music could be heard everywhere once we stepped out of the CRV. Luckily, we found free parking right outside the brewery. I might have been the only guy in glancing distance wearing jeans and a T-shirt.

From the bar at Collision Bend.

Inside, we were greeted by the middle-aged yuppie, BMW-driving crowd (apologies to BMW drivers... but hey, I needed a description for these folks). The place was nice, but something just wasn't jiving with me. We ordered a pair of beers at the far end of the bar, and after a minute or two, some folks informed us they were leaving soon. Another minute had passed and they paid their tab and vacated the premises. With bar stools occupied, we carried on with our beers.

I opted for something light, so I settled on Iron Wind, a German-style pilsner. Brewslut went with C-Town, an American Pale Ale brewed with Jarrylo and Azacca hops. After the stellar beers we'd just encountered at Masthead, both of these offerings felt lackluster in comparison. They weren't terrible, but they weren't memorable either.

Pleeps being Pleeps.

Midway through our beers, a group of twenty-something "woo girls" (readers of the Pour Travelers should be well-familiar with this term) showed up and set up camp right next to us. I could hear Brewslut's eyes roll as they asked dumb questions about beer, then ordered wine anyway. We should be used to it by now, I guess. I hate being negative, but we get annoyed easily. Perhaps this phenomenon can be attributed to hanging out with Deuane a lot over the last decade. (Love you, buddy.) So, we took that as our cue to finish up and head on to the next place.

Situated a mere three-or-so miles from Collision Bend, Terrestrial was much more up our alley, both beer and vibe-wise. For starters, there was a very good solo acoustic guitar performer playing some tunes for the small number of patrons occupying the ample tasting room. I believe there was an outside beer garden, which is why the inside area seemed a bit lightly attended. This set the tone nicely, although there were three very loud, obnoxious baseball fans in close proximity that drowned out the music at times. I thought Brewslut was going to get into a fight with one of them. All three, however, had DB written all over them. (Again, apologies for the negativity, but it makes for good storytelling.)

Sweet chalkboard at Terrestrial.

Immediately, I was drawn to the names of the beers here. One in particular, I Love it When I Save the Turtles, was my first choice at Terrestrial. I love turtles, I love beer, and I love saving turtles, so naturally I thought I would love I Love it When I Save the Turtles and decided not to save I Love it When I Save the Turtles for later. Brewed to raise money for the Splash Fund at the Greater Cleveland Aquarium to save the spotted turtles, this porter was inspired by "turtle candy" - the decadent chocolate treat filled with pecans, caramel, and sea salt. Add coffee to that mix and you have a winning combination, as far as I'm concerned. Plus $1 of every pour benefits the turtles. Hence, I love I Love it When I Save the Turtles!

By now, I was in dark beer mode, so Barrel Aged Ween Heavy (yes, that's not a typo and most likely a reference to the band Ween) sounded like a wise choice. I opted for a small pour of this guy, as we still had one more place to visit tonight. This sweet, chocolatey Scotch ale was aged in OYO rye barrels doused with wild yeast. This was another winner in my book.

Meanwhile, Brewslut was working on a pour of Bruh Lite Lime, a refreshing, crisp, American-style premium lager. The addition of grilled limes and salt give this light lager a gose-like flavor with just a hint of tartness. Pleeps also had his eye on a beer, something called Space Chimp. With a name like that, there was no way we weren't ordering a pour. We typically shy from Witbiers, but this slightly tart Belgian-style ale features coriander and bitter orange peel for an added dimension of aroma and flavor, accentuating the floral and juicy characteristics of the star of the show: passionfruit. It was pretty... pretty... pretty good. Right, Pleeps?

Pleeps hangin' with Space Chimp.

By now, the musician had finished up and the douche crew rolled out. I threw in a few bucks as a tip for the musician after I noticed he was implementing a loop station into his set. I always appreciate someone who does something a little different and doesn't regurgitate the same Van Morrison and Jimmy Buffett tunes that most acoustic guitarists rely on to win over their audience. So, on to our fourth and final stop before heading to the hotel to retire for the evening.

Outside Bottlehouse's Lakewood Tasting Room & Mead Hall.

Situated in nearby Lakewood (where our hotel was located) Bottlehouse's Tasting Room and Mead Hall was a pleasant discovery. It didn't look like much on the outside, but once we got situated, I knew we were in for a treat. If you enjoy sours, ciders, and meads, or just experimental beers in general, then this place is for you. Upon perusing the varied menu, I was intrigued by most of them. This time, I glossed over the hoppy offerings and focused on the Belgian-inspired, barrel-aged, sour, and fruit-forward ones.

Tap handles at Bottlehouse.

Since there were so many beers that interested me, I settled on a flight of four beers. Here's the low-down:

• Obsessive Compulsive Vampire - sour blackberry stout
• Vox Maris - Based on the first sour Bottlehouse ever released, this quad-like ale features dark candi syrup and sour cherries aged in-used bourbon barrels for years before blending. Yowza! This beer was tart, complex, strong, and amazing!
• Pina Sour - sour pineapple saison aged in wine barrels with Brettanomyces. Another stellar beer!
• Idol - sour apricot ale

4-star flight at Bottlehouse!

Everything was killer! The Vox Maris was far and away my favorite, followed by the Pina Sour, but all four beers were fantastic and stand-outs of the trip. I'm also glad we worked up our appetite for a late-night snack, because the cheese plate we devoured was one of the best we've ever encountered.

Racks of wood!

Bottlehouse proved to be the perfect conclusion of a long, productive day. The sense of accomplishment of working a half day, driving 5 1/2 hours (with no traffic jams, thank God), and hitting four breweries before finally succumbing to slumber wasn't lost on me. It was a good omen for things to come. But now, we were ready to settle in back at the hotel for some much-needed rest. Stay tuned as we continue on with the Great Taste Caper and head through Indiana and Illinois. Until next time...