Akron’s Thirsty Dog Brewing Co. nears Flats expansion in Cleveland

By cbadmin on November 30, 2016

AKRON, Ohio – Thirsty Dog Brewing Co. owner John Najeway confirmed his brewery is looking at moving into a space in Cleveland’s Flats, but stressed nothing is final before plans are examined by the city on Thursday.

New tenants are eyeing the Flats complex that was home to Crop Rocks, Crop Sticks and On Air, a production studio.

Thirsty Dog – Summit County’s largest brewery – would be a “full brewpub with a 10-barrel system, restaurant and everything,” Najeway said.

Najeway didn’t give other specifics but said he has been studying the resurgence in the Flats for some time.

“The market is healthy; there is always opportunity, especially since we don’t have a brewpub attached to our production facility,” he said “We haven’t had a brew pub since ’05.

“We’re looking at it and considering it.”

But Najeway said as of now, he does not have a lease. He wouldn’t speculate on staffing figures or beer styles to be brewed in the location.

Thirsty Dog started in 1997 and is located in an old building on Grant Street not far from the University of Akron and downtown. The brewery has a tasting-room bar, but it sits near production areas. Craft-beer lovers do seek out the brewery for a taste of its many styles, but a location in the Flats would allow for better traffic in a revived area.

The brewery recently picked up some national attention for Siberian Night, an Imperial Stout that landed as Ohio’s only entry on a top winter-seasonals list from ratebeer.com. This year, it made a beer for Barberton’s 125th anniversary, and Najeway has been focused on barrel-aging among other styles.

On Thursday, a Cleveland design review committee will examine plans for the businesses, which would each take a space in the three-venue complex that housed Crop Sticks, Crop Rocks and On Air.