USA, OH: Bookhouse Brewing to open its doors on October 6

You can add a few pages to Cleveland brewing history when Bookhouse Brewing marks its grand opening Saturday, Oct. 6, Cleveland.com reported.

That's because Vaughn Stewart and Luke Brevoort are brewing in a 19th century building that used to house Jacob Baehr Brewery on West 25th Street in Ohio City. Stewart and Brevoort have crafted a brewhouse with modern and older design touches, from sleek hardwood floors to black and white tiles and preserved wallpaper. And in keeping with the pages of history, customers will enter and head up a slight slope between walls lined with scores of books.

Through the Western Reserve Historical Society, the owners even found portraits of Jacob and Magdalena Baehr, their framed stoic images on either side of the wall behind the taps. The Baehrs lived above the brewery, and Jacob's death left Magdalena to head the brewing operations while raising eight kids.

"Every time we think we're having a rough day, we think about what she did," Brevoort said.

The respect Stewart and Brevoort have for the history of their space is seen with the many reclaimed pieces in the brewery.

Chairs salvaged from a Russian Orthodox church are believed to have also been used in the Rockefeller Building, they said. Names engraved on small plaques on chairbacks recognize investors in the brewery. Thick planks left in an alleyway were finished to form a beautiful table. Art work from Dennis Mastrangelo - Stewart's father-in-law - lines a front wall.

Then there's the beer. Bookhouse is using a seven-barrel brewhouse and will serve house-made beers along with guest collaborations and homemade non-alcoholic drinks like cold-brewed coffee, fruit soda and ginger ale.

"Whatever I have the time or inclination to make," Stewart said.

They have already brewed a red IPA with Collision Bend, a Wee Heavy with Sibling Revelry and a barrel-aged farmhouse ale with Noble Beast, among others.

They have their own beers in a range of styles, from Gose to a Belgian Pale Ale, India Pale Ale and others.

What Bookhouse aims to do is be slightly uncommon, to set itself apart from the roughly eight or nine breweries within a mile or so. For those keeping count, Saucy Brew Works is probably the closest as the crow flies, around the corner in Hingetown. In fact Stewart and Brevoort see Bookhouse as "connecting the dots" between the West Side Market area and Hingetown.

"If we can do something just a little bit different, it doesn't have to be a radical departure," Stewart said. "Everyone is fighting for their slice of the pie. We can grow the pie, not fight for it."

The space - which seats 83 and has an occupancy of 105 - also includes a patio with four tables and a simple Hosta garden.

Bookhouse's hours are 4-10 p.m. Wednesday-Thursday, 3-11 p.m. Friday, noon-11 p.m. Saturday, noon-8 p.m. Sunday.

03 October, 2018