Maumee Bay Brewing update (Toledo, OH)

April 21, 2008

I visited some family today in Temperance, and on a whim, thought about Maumee Bay Brewing Co., in Toledo Oh. I mapped it out on my GPS - 8 miles.  Not bad,.. I’ve run 8 miles before as a short run in the past.  I decided to go for it (driving tho - heck with running!).   I made it in record drive time and went in.  I was a bit confused, that Oliver House is too big, in my opinion to house a brewery, but I found the entrance and walked upstairs.   Apparently they’ve moved the downstairs bar, upstairs, so both are combined into one.     The place was dead empty.  Three guys at the bar, a bartender and a waitress.   I sat at the far end of the place, near the brew tanks and closest to a flat screen T.V. to watch the 7th game of Montreal vs. Boston hockey (great game by the way, Montreal won - go Canada!).

I checked out the beer list:   Buckeye, Glass City Pale Ale, Willy’s Wheat, 90 Shilling Scottish Ale, Steam, a Cask India Pale Ale and a Russian Imperial Stout.  $3.50 a beer, $8.75 a pitcher, $11.00 a new growler fill.  Since I knew the stout was new, I started off with it.   I was really impressed.  It was an 8.5% beer, with a light nutty, big syrup aroma with about the same taste, but the alcohol was masked well.  A much fuller bodied beer than I’ve ever had at MBBC.  I really dug it.  Definitely something different.   I asked the waitress about the beers, and what was cool was - she knew about them.  Previous visits to the place, I was given a shoulder shrug when I asked about the beers.   I tried the 90 shilling and the Pale ale next.   The 90 shilling was good, but the Pale ale with a big cascade hops present won me over.   It was light, but had a great smell and good hop taste to it.

I also tried the Steam, which, without knowing was probably an Anchor Steam type hopped up beer (which I thought the Pale had more hops). I ended up with another R.I.S., and grabbed a growler to go of it, I dug it so much.
Have I had better R.I.S’s?   Probably, but drinking it really made me think that Maumee Bay’s newer brewer is doing some different (GOOD) things.

I sat there drinking my stout dreaming what I would do with Maumee Bay Brewing Co. if I owned it  (que the dreamy sounds and cloudy cartoon effect):     I would do some experiment batches on a monthly basis.   I would have an email sign up list and a very active website.   I would make huge deals out of these monthly releases and I bet would draw beer fans from all over.  I would come up with huge recipe releases a couple times a year, some imperials that would be big sellers.  I’d hold tasting nights, and special nights, growler specials, etc.   Boy.. only if I were king of a brewery for a while. 

Anyhow, I hope this doesn’t sound like I was being negative about the MBBC because this was one of my best experiences there tonight.   I just find it so amazing that I have a brewery only 20 miles from my house in Monroe, MI, and I never hear about anything their doing.   I’m glad they have some new tasty brews - because I’ll definitely be back for more soon.   Actually - drop me a comment or an email - let’s all (for those of you close reading this) try and round up a crew to head out there one of these days soon.

Posted in Brewery/Brewpub