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What’s on tap? Toledo’s best beer picks from local pros.
Crack open our annual Beer Guide, where local brewers, bartenders and restaurant owners share the pours they love most.
David Joseph, Jr.
Owner
Joseph’s Beverage Center | 4129 Talmadge Rd. | 419-472-1421| josephsbeveragecenter.com
What’s hot and popular right now? Superlytes, Superlytes, Superlytes. It is a vodka based ‘Gatorade’ copy cat that has taken the summer by storm! Reminisce on the good ole days of sneaking a little bit of vodka in your gatorade… not that I did that or anything…
What’s the newest beer you recommend? We always recommend CLAG as a brewery. Everything and anything they put out is immediately our best selling product. We are the only store in Toledo that receives cans for retail sales. Lolev is another up and coming brewery for us that is cranking out some high quality New England IPAs. Not that you need another IPA recommendation but Other Half out of New York is another brewery you can trust to always put out a high quality New England IPA, everytime. If you can’t tell, New England IPAs are still the king of the castle as far as craft beer sales go.
What’s your current favorite? All of your favorite Pumpkin Beer, Pumpkin Spice Latte and Oktoberfest beers are in now so grab them while you can before the Christmas Beers arrive! As always if you’re looking for anything special we can try to special order it for you so don’t be afraid to ask for your favorite beer or wine!
Carlos Mendez
Owner
Cocina de Carlos & Lupitas Restaurants | 27072 Carronade Dr. | 419-872-0200 | cocinadecarlos.com
What makes your beer selection different from other local establishments? Our beer selection focuses on locally crafted beers alongside traditional Mexican favorites. Whenever a local brewery creates a Mexican-style beer, you can almost always find it here. I’m constantly looking for new releases and opportunities to support breweries within a 30- to 40-mile radius of Toledo.
How do you decide which beers to put on tap and how often do you rotate? I review what our local breweries are offering and choose beers that I believe pair well with Mexican food. I focus mainly on lagers and pilsners, while also featuring select IPAs and pale ales. I especially enjoy bringing in unique, limited and seasonal releases, so our selection changes as new options become available.
Do you focus on local breweries? If so, which ones and why? Yes. Supporting local breweries gives our food and beer program a stronger sense of place and makes the experience more authentic to Northwest Ohio. Anyone can enjoy a carne asada taco with a Corona or Miller Lite, but only in our area can you pair carnitas with a Low Rider from Juniper Brewing, a burrito with Buckeye Beer from Maumee Bay Brewing Co., enchiladas with El Guapo from Findlay Brewing Co., or a shrimp taco with Busta Limes from Oncore Brewing.
We also regularly rotate beers from Earnest Brew Works, Inside the Five, 60cc Brewing, Patron Saints Brewery and many other regional breweries. Supporting them allows us to offer combinations that customers cannot experience just anywhere.
What dish pairs especially well with beer? I would recommend starting with approachable styles such as pilsners and lighter ales. Recently, I’ve also found that craft seltzers pair surprisingly well with spicy food. For someone ready to explore bolder flavors, a tropical IPA can be an excellent choice with Mexican cuisine.
What’s your favorite beer and food pairing on the menu? El Guapo with Street Tacos Al Pastor. Is a local Mexican Dark Lager
Do you have a signature dish that was created with a particular beer in mind? Ceviche with Pacifico Beer
What do you enjoy about Toledo/Northwest Ohio’s growing beer culture? I enjoy giving our guests the opportunity to explore local flavors. Although our roots are Mexican, we bring those traditional flavors together with locally sourced products. Adding craft beer that can only be experienced here in Northwest Ohio completes the connection and creates something truly unique—a Mexican dining experience with an authentic sense of place.
Are there local breweries you have developed a particularly strong relationship with? Our strongest connection has been with Aaron at Patron Saints Brewery. He was genuinely excited when I decided to remove commercial beers from our draft system and dedicate those taps entirely to local breweries. Last year, he even prepared special cases of San Carlos Lager for us, which meant a great deal to me.
I’ve also had the opportunity to visit Earnest Brew Works, and I would love to develop closer relationships with more of our area’s brewers. My main goal is to introduce my customers to authentic local products and create a stronger connection between our Mexican food and the community we serve.
If you could have a beer with anyone, living or dead, who would it be? I’d have a beer with “The Most Interesting Man in the World.” I need to find out if he really prefers Dos Equis ( XX ) or if it was all just good marketing!
What’s the best beer you have ever had? It’s difficult for me to name just one because I’m not a habitual beer drinker—I’m more of a flavor explorer. Right now, two that I particularly enjoy are El Guapo from Findlay Brewing Co. and Victoria, a traditional Mexican lager. Both are flavorful, approachable, and pair beautifully with Mexican food.
What is your go-to beer after a long day? I may disappoint the beer lovers with this answer! I’m careful about what I drink, so after a long day, I usually make my own version of a seltzer: mezcal with mineral water and a few drops of orange. It’s refreshing and relaxing—but only one!
Shannon R. Mohr
Director of Sales
Maumee Bay Brewing Co. 27 Broadway St, Toledo | (419) 243-1302 | mbaybrew.com
How did your brewery get started? Jim and Pat Appold bought The Oliver House to help preserve this historical building and to bring craft beer back to Toledo after Toledo’s rich brewing history had somewhat dried up.
What inspired you to open a brewery in the Toledo area? The city of Toledo has an amazing history of brewing dating back to Toledo’s founding, so what better place to start a brewery?!
What is your most popular beer, and why do you think people love it? Glasshopper IPA has become Toledo’s IPA and we appreciate every person who drinks a pint, a can…or several of each. I think it’s well received because it’s an approachable IPA with a great malt backbone and a balanced finish!
What beer best represents your brewery? While we will always be known as the home of Buckeye Beer, I love hearing compliments regularly on several of our other beers, such as Total Eclipse Breakfast Stout, Fakejuice, and our beloved Christmas seasonal beer: Blitzen
How does being part of the local community influence what you brew? We’ve been able to collaborate with many events even curating special beers for them. Our Italian Pilsner originally brewed for the Italian Bowl was so popular we had to bring it back this year. We partner with local orchard MacQueen’s for our cider line, which is always nice to work with another long-term local business.
What do you enjoy most about being part of the local craft beer scene? The free beer of course. Truthfully, we get to work with an amazing local distributor and deal directly with other Toledo-owned businesses on both the bar/restaurant side and the retail side!
What do you enjoy about Toledo/Northwest Ohio’s growing beer culture? Seeing our local breweries win awards is so positive and exciting!! Our craft beer is helping keep Toledo a popular spot!!
What local businesses or organizations do you enjoy collaborating with? There’s too many to name. We love the growing festival scene so we can partner with all of them!
What goes into creating a new beer from idea to tap? Lots of market research from the brewing staff. Our head brewer, Adam Harrell, assistant brewer Chad Pridgeon, and myself (sales director Shannon Mohr) go to different breweries or beer bars in Ohio and Michigan. Then we talk it over and sometimes a new beer is born…and sometimes it doesn’t work out. Guest feedback from the taproom is an essential part as well.
What’s the most unusual or unexpected beer you’ve brewed? ALEgae Bloom, a sour, double, hazy IPA made with kiwi and matcha powder making it look like algae.
Do you brew seasonal beer? We have four seasonal beers in cans, currently we’re in Oktoberfest season and we have our own Oktoberfest party on 9/27 that is always a great kick-off to Fall!!
What beer would you recommend to someone who says they “don’t like beer”? That’s okay. We respect that, did you know Maumee Bay Brewing Co also makes cider and ready-to-drink cocktails? Also, if alcohol isn’t your thing, we’ve got a great house-made Root Beer!!
What’s your favorite food pairing for one of your beers? Buffalo wings and Glasshopper
What’s the funniest or most memorable thing that’s happened at your brewery? Over 30 years of memories and a lot of laughter. Might be too many to list.
Which beer on your menu best matches your personality? Total Eclipse Breakfast Stout…it’s the strongest yet the sweetest
What’s one thing people might be surprised to learn about brewing? It’s mostly cleaning…and plumbing knowledge really comes in handy.
If you could have a beer with anyone, living or dead, who would it be? My dad and a long neck bottle of Budweiser
What’s the one beer everyone should try? Mango Jerry our mango raspberry wheat beer. I’ve gotten compliments from people who don’t like fruity beers.
What’s a beer-and-food pairing you swear by? Spice and high hops!!
What’s the biggest misconception about craft beer? It’s expensive, it has too many calories, “Craft beer makes me drunker…”
What’s the best beer you’ve ever had? I’ll let you know when I find it. Until then…I’ll just keep trying more.
Describe your brewery in three words. Damn fine beer
Keefe Snyder
Owner
60CC Brewing | 2113 N. Reynolds Rd. | 60ccbrewing.com
What’s your favorite food pairing for one of your beers? We are so lucky to be right next door to Schmuckers! Our Holeshot Hazy IPA and a Wimpy Burger!
What inspired you to open a brewery in the Toledo area? I was inspired by our diverse customer base and appreciation for different beer styles and ingredients! The people of Toledo know and love their beer, and I’ve met so many great people through the local beer community. Being able to brew for them for a decade has been so rewarding.
What is your most popular beer, and why do you think people love it? Fenestra Czech-style Pilsener is our most popular beer and people love it because it’s relatable to other beers they may have enjoyed. We serve it on a Lukr tap in dimpled mugs just like in the Czech Republic to provide a unique experience in Toledo.
Are there any local ingredients, traditions or partnerships that make their way into your beers? We love using high quality ingredients from both the Middle East Market and Reddy Food n Spices. We have used spices and fruits in Springboard Wit and Road Rash Hard Iced Tea. Great to have amazing local markets so close to the brewery!
What beer would you recommend to someone who says they “don’t like beer”? We would recommend a malty beer (Ex. our Motorrad Rye Porter) or a sour (coming soon!). Most people’s idea of beer comes from bitter styles but that isn’t all beer. …and we also make a darn good hard iced tea and hard seltzer!
Katie Fields
Owner
Inside The Five | 3 Locations! Toledo, Sylvania and Perrysburg | 419-931-0708 | insidethefivebrewing.com
How did your brewery get started? I bought my husband a home brewing kit in 2008. The rest is history.
What inspired you to open a brewery in the Toledo area? This is Home
What is your most popular beer, and why do you think people love it? T-Town Lager because it’s easy drinking, refreshing, and names after our town.
What beer best represents your brewery? ‘Sunshine Sky’, Lemon and Orange American Wheat. A classic style beer with a twist. Our first recipe.
How does being part of the local community influence what you brew? We use as many local ingredients as we can. And our core beers was chosen based on the response from the community and what they loved to drink.
What do you enjoy most about being part of the local craft beer scene? The craft beer community is friendly, fun, and supportive of each other.
What do you enjoy about Toledo/Northwest Ohio’s growing beer culture? We love when someone comes in thinking they aren’t a beer drinker, and then finds a beer they love at Inside the Five based on a bartenders recommendation.
What local businesses or organizations do you enjoy collaborating with? Gust Brothers for our beer ‘The Mashing Pumpkins’ and MacQueens Orchard for our ‘Inside the Orchard’ ciders.
What goes into creating a new beer from idea to tap? The paper isn’t long enough to answer this question.
What’s the most unusual or unexpected beer you’ve brewed? Mile Marker Zero, a key lime pie inspired ale. Taste better than we imagined and won a Gold Medal in the Ohio Beer Cup.
Do you brew seasonal beer? Tell us about that. We brew 8 core beers you can find all year and the rest are seasonal or experimental. Our most popular seasonals are, ‘The Mashing Pumpkins’, Bella Brie’, ‘Training Wheels’, ‘Squares or Triangles’, and more
What beer would you recommend to someone who says they “don’t like beer”? That depends on what they drink. I would build them a flight based on other drinks they may enjoy.
What’s your favorite food pairing for one of your beers? Anything with the sweet potato black bean bowl from our menu!
What’s the funniest or most memorable thing that’s happened at your brewery? Jonny and Chloe’s wedding at Inside the Five Sylvania where they met
Which beer on your menu best matches your personality? ‘Big Fat Boss Baby’, bourbon barrel-aged imperial stout, in a 22oz bottle. You only need one.
What’s one thing people might be surprised to learn about brewing? It’s a science and 50% of it is proper sanitation
What’s the one beer everyone should try? The one in front of you
What’s a beer-and-food pairing you swear by? Our customers swear by ‘Hopshield’, West Coast IPA and our Nashville Chicken Sandwich
What’s the biggest misconception about craft beer? They are all bitter
What’s the best beer you’ve ever had? The beer I drink while floating in the pool on a hot summer day.
Describe your brewery in three words. Creative, Welcoming, and Quality
Kayla Balla
Bartender
The Bunker Bar | 1950 Eber Rd, Holland (419) 491-7163| facebook.com/thebunkerbar
What’s hot and popular right now? The drink that is hot right now is superlytes. The most popular food currently is poorman’s perch with homemade tartar sauce.
What’s the newest beer you recommend? The newest beer I recommend would be outlaw light beer fresh on tap!
What’s your current favorite beer? Jai Alai by Cigar City.
What beer would you recommend to someone who says they “don’t like beer”? Great Lakes Honey Wheat Ale.
