Craft beer will always belong on holiday tables. But there’s another genre of fizzy fermented beverage that ideally complements turkey, pork and other victuals: English-style cider. And we don’t have to cross the pond to get it. Griffin Cider Works, an Ohio-based company, makes authentic English-style ciders from the bounty of local orchards.

“Cider is drunk like beer but made like wine. We don’t boil anything; it’s juice from fruit and yeast,” says Richard Read, cider master and owner of Griffin Cider Works based in Westlake. Read started the company in 2010 because he wanted to create the kind of cider he drank at home in Britain. He hails from Herefordshire, where he first sampled cider at eight when a neighbor with a stone press gave him a taste. He started making it at 14. “In the [English] countryside cider is almost as popular as beer,” he added.

Read uses 15 varieties of Ohio apples to make his mainstay product, Griffin Original Cider. The mix is proprietary and he’ll only divulge that each cider has a primary apple, providing the bulk of flavor, and secondary apples for blending.

At 7 percent alcohol, Original is a deliciously refreshing sipping cider. Griffin’s Burley Man Cider is a traditional farmhouse style that’s drier than Original and unfiltered. Griffin also makes specialty ciders such as mango-infused Lolo Romy and Lemon Blues. Country Cottage is made with elderflower. All ciders retail between $5.99 and $9.99 for a 22-ounce bottle.

These ciders are available in grocery stores, restaurants and pubs in Northeast Ohio. But Read wants the rest of the state to know: “The next step of the British invasion is Columbus.”

See www.griffinciderworks.com or Griffin Cider Works on Facebook.

Caipirinhas may be the national cocktail of Brazil but restaurateur Sergio Abramof, owner of the Brazilian-themed restaurants Saravá at Shaker Square and Sergio’s in University Circle, likes to let his employees follow their potable passions.

So when Saravá Manager Jon Khanna came up with the idea for a five-course Ohio beer pairing dinner last spring, it was game on.

At Saravá’s Tour of Ohio Beer Dinner, Khanna featured samples from Ohio’s 3 Cs: Cleveland’s Great Lakes Brewing Company and Cellar Rats Brewery (located at Debonné Vineyards in Madison); Columbus Brewing Company and Cincinnati’s Rivertown Brewing Company. Read Entire Article…

“People with [outdoor] allergies should drink as much ReHive Ale as possible. It will make them feel better,” quipped Kimberly McCune Gibson. She was referring to the folklore remedy for allergies that involves consuming local honey. It’s an ingredient in her new brew, ReHive Ale, which will be released this spring in local grocery stores and retail outlets. She describes it as a “crisp, honey-forward wheat ale with hoppy aromas.” (See above for this reporter’s review.)

Gibson is the human dynamo who, with Ann Marie Larrance, co-owns Hungry Bee in Aurora, Ohio, which offers catering, personal chef services and cooking classes. Her father is the owner of McCune Family Apiary Honey, one of Ohio’s largest beekeeping operations, and she grew up in Geauga County visiting Amish farmers who leased beehives to pollinate their orchards. So she has a natural attraction to the sticky substance of life. Read Entire Article…

Ever since the soothsayer told Julius Caesar, “Beware the Ides of March,” people have tip-toed around on March 15 as if they ruled the Roman Empire. This March Ohioans will not be unsettled. We’ll discuss politics over a brew and pick a presidential candidate. Brews News asked gurus in Cleveland, Columbus and Cincinnati what beers go with political discourse, what they’d serve a presidential candidate, and what they’ll be drinking on March 15:

Peanut Kahles, beer manager of the Dilly Café in Cincinnati: While he doesn’t relish talking politics, Peanut would choose a session ale or an IPA – something with low alcohol to keep things civil. Peanut has lots to choose from since Dilly Café is a popular restaurant and retail operation offering more than 500 bottles in its store. He would show off local product to a candidate – something from Mt. Carmel or Rivertown Breweries. On the Ides, he’ll be sipping Buckeye Brewing’s Nighty Night to keep things in perspective. Read Entire Article…

There’s much to love about Ohio winters: glowing snow under a full moon; stoking up the fireplace and reading by the hearth; strolling through crystalline forests after an ice storm.

But by the middle of January, even an avid skier can use a break. Some take one by catching a plane; others by cranking up the heat, turning on some island tunes and hosting a Caribbean-themed shindig or perhaps a Hawaiian luau.

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