2011 Ohio Brew Week Schedule

Tuesday, July 12

4:30 p.m @ Salaam - IPA Tasting (featuring Three Frogs)
6 p.m. @ Casa Nueva - Beer & Cheese Tasting, $5
7-9 p.m. @ C.I. - Pint Glass Special Night

Wednesday, July 13

8 a.m. - Putters & Pints Golf Tournament
4 p.m. @ Abrio's - Awards Ceremony
4:30 p.m. @ Salaam - IPA Tasting (featuring Three Frogs)
6 p.m. @ Casa Cantina - Brewer’s Forum (starring Vic Schiltz)
7 p.m. @ BW3 - Beer Tasting w/ Elevator, $15

Friday, July 15

All day - Inaugural Elevator Brewing Company “BarleyHole” Tournament. Winners from Courtside Pizza Cornhole Tournament advance to semifinals @ 7 p.m.
12-10 p.m. @ Athens Train Depot - Brew BQ
All day - Bocce Ball Tournament. Live music from 5-7 p.m. & 7-9 p.m. BBQ Grand Prize awarded @ 7 p.m.
4:30 p.m. @ Salaam - IPA Tasting (featuring Three Frogs)

Saturday, July 16

12-10 p.m. - “Boogie on the Bricks” featuring Elevator on the Beer Truck
1-8 p.m. - Ohio Craft Brew Garden

2011 American Craft Beer Week

Saluting the “Declaration of Beer Independence”

Prepare to raise your pint glass and toast the very brew contained within.

American Craft Beer Week is slated for May 16-22, 2011. The sixth annual event honors the independent spirit of America's craft breweries with a nationwide series of beer-infused dinners, brewery tours, special releases and other festivities. The inaugural American Craft Beer Week in 2006 featured special recognition by the U.S. Congress, which passed House Resolution 753 to commend and support national craft breweries.

Columbus' own Elevator Brewing Company is celebrating with a week-long blowout.

Monday, May 16: “Storm the Elevator” will benefit the Franklinton CycleWorks co-op. The challenge: to fit as many bicycles as possible into the Elevator Brewery, located at 165 N. 4th St. The event is scheduled from 7-8 p.m. Entry fee is $5. For more information about the organization, visit http://www.franklintoncycleworks.com/.

Tuesday, May 17: “Drink to Save Time” will raise funds for the Downtown Residents' Association of Columbus. From 7-9 p.m., a portion of beer sales at the Elevator Restaurant (161 N. High St.) will benefit the DRAC clock restoration project. For more information about the organization, visit http://www.dracolumbus.com/.

Wednesday, May 18: Members of Elevator's Masters of Beer Appreciation (MBA) and Professors of Hearty Drinking (PHD) programs will gather for a reunion cookout at the brewery, starting at 6 p.m. A $10 cover charge will include a tour.

Thursday, May 19: Homebrewers' Night at the brewery, featuring the Big Brew Day Reunion & Great Beer Tasting from 7-8 p.m. The star of the event will be the assortment of fine beers crafted by local homebrewers. Sampling will take place during a meeting of the Scioto, Olentangy & Darby Zymurgists (SODZ). For more information on the organization, visit http://www.sodz.org/.

Friday, May 20: The Bark & Brew II fundraiser from 6 to 7 p.m. will benefit the Columbus Downtown Dog Park Association. For $20, attendees will tour the brewery and receive a souvenir t-shirt. All proceeds benefit the Downtown Dog Park, located at Spring and 4th St. For more information on the organization, visit http://www.columbusddp.org/.

Saturday, May 21: Elevator Brewery will host its second annual five-course, beer-infused dinner at 6 p.m. Last year's event included spent barley bread, Bleeding Buckeye Red Ale tomato bisque soup, and Procrastinator Doppelbock bread pudding. Guest speaker Rick Armon, Akron Beacon Journal reporter, will discuss craft brewing in Ohio. Cost is $45 per person. Seating is extremely limited and reservations are required. Call 614-499-7828 for information.

In addition, the Elevator Restaurant will offer unique beer-inspired, off-the-menu meals Monday through Saturday during American Craft Beer Week. For more information, visit www.craftbeer.com or www.elevatorbrewing.com.

Procrastinator Homebrew Competition III

Calling all homebrewers...

Elevator Brewing Company is pleased to announce the Procrastinator Homebrew Competition III, our annual celebration of the creative spirit driving the craft beer movement.

The entry deadline is Friday, April 29, 2011. Entries must be contained in three 12-ounce or two 22-ounce unmarked bottles. Each entry must have a completed Beer Judge Certification Program (BJCP) form, available at www.bjcp.org. Please include your American Homebrewers Association member number at the top of the recipe entry form. You must be an AHA member to compete.

Entries may be submitted at the Elevator Brewery, 165 N. Fourth St., Columbus, OH, 43215. Please drop off your submissions Monday through Friday between the hours of 1-7 p.m. The entry fee is $5.

Best of Show will be brewed for the 2011 Great American Beer Festival Pro-Am and will be available on tap during August 2011 at the Elevator Restaurant. The contest winner will also receive two complimentary VIP brewer passes to the 2011 Great American Beer Festival, scheduled for Sept. 29-Oct. 1 in Denver. The passes are good for all four sessions and brewer events.

The winner will be announced on May 7, 2011 at the second annual Big Brew Day at the Elevator Brewery. Contestants are invited to pick up the judging results and grab some free wort.

The Immortal Elixir

Above: The preserved seal dates this extraordinary find back to August 1999.

December 21, 2010 marked an historic day in the storied saga of craft beer. Much like honey in Egyptian tombs, a landmark discovery has led researchers to declare that the products of Elevator Brewing Company never spoil.

In the exotic realms of the Columbus East Side, Elevator sales representative Caleb Amos undertook a perilous exploratory mission in search of the mythical “Lost Kegs of Elevator.” Remarkably, one such keg was unearthed in the basement of AWOL Bar, layered beneath the sediment of ages and coated with the dust of dormancy. An exhaustive analysis of papyrus scrolls dated the brew to August 1999. The beer itself was identified as Pinch Hit Pilsner, a forgotten product from Elevator’s bygone era of production in Marysville.

Dick Stevens, Elevator operator and chief funding source of the mission, could not contain his own curiosity. The prize find was secretly relocated beneath the shroud of nightfall to the Elevator Brewery, where the keg was cleaned and tapped.

“It was drinkable!” an exuberant Stevens exclaimed in his exclusive first interview following the discovery. “It wasn’t great, but it never went bad. It’s pretty remarkable to think that an 11-year-old beer would still be drinkable. Not many people get to try a beer like that.”

In a coincidental twist, Elevator Brewing Company recently revealed that the Pinch Hit Pilsner would be revived as part of the 2011 Masters of Beer Appreciation (MBA) and Professor of Hearty Drinking (PHD) specialty beer programs.

The good news for Masterbrewer Vic Schiltz?

“I told him that he didn’t have to brew any Pinch Hit Pilsner this year,” Stevens joked. “Plus, it’s aged!”

Curious beer aficionados will have a chance to try Pinch Hit Pilsner (a fresh batch, be assured) in the summer of 2011. The full MBA and PHD beer lists are listed below.

Your 2011 MBA & PHD Lists

Masters of Beer Appreciation
January: Barrel-Aged Horny Goat
February: Imperial Espresso Stout
March: Hoppelbock
April: Horus Imperial Red II
May: Blackeye P.A.
June: Watermelon Wheat
July: American Cream Ale
August: "Big Vic" Imperial Mogabi
September: Imperial Bavarian Lager
October: Pumpkelweizen
November: Barrel-Aged Imperial Stout
December: Yule Lager Reprise

Professor of Hearty Drinking
January: Barrel-Aged Blackberry Wit
February: Wheat Wine Bitter
March: Gaelic Green Beior
April: Captain Nitro Stout
May: Lemongrass Wheat
June: Knock Y'r Sox Off DIPA
July: Pinch Hit Pilsner
August: Homebrew Winner
September: Barrel-Aged Brown Ale
October: S'mores Porter
November: Extraordinary Ordinary Bitter
December: Barrel-Aged Chocolate Oatmeal Stout