52 Weeks: Fathead’s Brewery and Saloon, Cleveland, OH

Damn that's a fat head!

33 out of 52

(so close to being caught up. So close, I can taste it!)

Fathead’s Brewery

24581 Lorain Rd.

North Olmstead, OH 44070

440-801-1001

Rank: 3.5/5

Type of Establishment: Brewery, Family Restaurant, 2010 GABF Award Winning Beer Making Facility

Visit: Ohio. A place I visited often as a child. A place where many family members live. A place I went to college and a place I met my husband. This visit I had mother, brother, sister and brother-in-law in tow. Of course we found all of the beer bars around Elyria, Ohio where my grandma lives and convinced the family to venture out for dinner, to a place with epic guest beers, award winning beers on tap and massive (seriously massive) sandwiches. I present to you, Fathead’s Brewery and Saloon.

Beers on Tap– so many, but here are some highlights (FH= Fathead):

Great Lakes Blackout Stout

Flying Dog Raging Bitch

Petrus Aged Pale

Dark Horse Sapient Trip Ale

FH Head Hunter IPA

FH Koko Head Chocolate Coconut Cream Stout

FH Hop JuJu Imperial IPA

Bottles: I honestly do not recall if they had a bottle list. With all those taps and in house beers, it wasn’t necessary or a focus of ours at the moment.

Food Options: Wings, Sandwiches, Pizza, Wings, Sandwiches, Pizza and some salads for you health nuts. Smoked wings, full wings for an intense, dedicated wing eater. For the main course, a term coined by Fathead, a “headwich” is a really massively large sandwich. Seriously, the size of your head. Delicious cheeses, vegetables and meats on soft, fresh bread. Its heaven on a plate, next to a beer, among family, in Ohio. The Southside Slope was voted #5 Best Sandwich in America, just sayin’. This place is receiving a ton of good press!

BAR OPINION: When we visit Ohio, we aim to eat some damn tasty wings, indulge in other hearty foods and drink, what us West coasters consider, “rare beers.” Here at Fathead, all of our needs were met and then some. The space is rather large. We walked in the front entrance with a small merchandise shop next to the hostess – one pint glass, Check! The hostesses wear uniforms consisting of black pants and blue polo shirts with Fathead icon (which is a big fat guy head, pretty sweet) printed on them. The hostesses and our waitress were very patient, accommodating and willing to take the time and answer our long line of questions.

Our family of 6 walked past the bar area, light wood glistened with a glass backdrop behind the bar. We sit down and I dive for the beer menu. What, oh what does this brewery have to offer. Petrus Aged Pale ON TAP!!! Granted the keg was kicked during my pour, but I walked away with a half of a Petrus for free. Such a great beer. One of my favorite Belgium beers. The beers were impressive, both the Head Hunter IPA and the Hop JuJu Imperial IPA were absolutely stunning. A flavor explosion followed by a lingering sweetness and a well balanced experience. Congrats to Fathead’s Head Hunter for taking the Silver at GABF this year for best American style IPA.

Due to our party size, we were seated in the back. This brewery can accommodate the best of them: beer buddies out to knock a few back as well as the family of six (plus small children if we had any). It could use a little more ambiance, but their beers, their epic sandwiches, smokey delicious wings and hilarious brand make Fathead’s Brewery and Saloon a must visit in the Cleveland, Ohio area. Take the whole fam!

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9 weeks and Counting: Beer and Belgium on the Brain

Orval, Trappist Ale: A Beer of Belgium Night

Last night, the creators of Beer Blotter joined forces to learn about Belgium culture, learn the Dutch language and most importantly learn about Belgium beers (with the help of Michael Jackson’s Great Beers of Belgium).

Basically each week until our trip, we plan on getting together and sampling Belgium beers, eating Belgium foods and becoming more familiar with the arts, cultures and languages that we will encounter. Wij zijn Beer Blotter. Wij zijn van Amerika. Wij zouden van een bier houden. Thats all we have thus far. We are Beer Blotter. We are from America. We would like a beer.

Last night, we embarked on a journey of four Belgium beers, one Tripel, two Trappist and a sour pale. For your viewing pleasure, I bring you:

Brouwerij Bosteels, Tripel Karmeliet: This beer smells like a Pilsner, is light in color, tastes grainy at first (it is brewed with three different grains after all) and finishes with a sweet, berry flavor. All in all, this beer is not very complex and lacks character. However, kudos to the history of the Tripel Karmeliet as it is brewed from the same original 1679 recipe.

Petrus, Aged Pale: Let us just say, WOW. This beer is sour, sweet and does actually have some hop presence, although barely detectable. Michael Jackson named this beer “aged pale” back in 2001 when the beer was first released. In his book, he states that the brewers we concerned that “pale” meant weak and “aged” meant stale. This beer is quite the opposite and named appropriately. The pale characteristics are reminiscent in the smell, the color and body of the beer while the aged portion provides the sour qualities and complexity of flavors. This beer comes highly recommended!

Orval, Trappist Ale: One of the six trappist breweries in Belgium, this ale is not constrained by a style and goes above and beyond expectation. Brewed in Abbey Orval, this Trappist Ale is the only beer produced and is perfection. Orval is a very dry (like so dry you need to sip on water), yet rich beer. As time passes during your enjoyment, the flavors develop, open up and thats when you know its a damn good beer. The commercial description reads: In contrast to all the others, the Orval Trappist brewery makes only one beer for the general public. It has an intensely aromatic and dry character. Between the first and second fermentations there is also an additional dry-hopping process. Through this the beer acquires its pronounced hoppy aroma and extra dry taste.

Trappistes Rochefort, 8 or “Green Cap”: Another Trappist brewery from Belgium, Rochefort, makes three beers, 6, 8 and 10. This beer truly knocked our socks off, but lets start with the commercial description: Deep brown color; the flavor is vigorous and complex, with firm body to support the strength. The aroma has elusive notes of fresh fruit, spice, leather and figs. Vigorous is right! The smell is all consuming and utterly complex. Smells sweet almost like soda, candy apples, maple syrup and cherries with hints of a roaring fire. The “datey” flavor is very prevalent even through all of the joining flavors. This beer is like a perfectly composed melody with a bitter, coffee quality to finish. Please, do yourself a favor and get this beer because you can and why the hell wouldn’t you?

Next week Beer Blotter will have four more Belgium beauties, some mussels and frites and will hopefully learn another Dutch phrase or two. If you have any recommendations on which Belgium beers we should try and/or some Belgium food recipes, please leave a comment or email us at beerblotter@gmail.com. Your input is valued and needed!