All Ohio! Our February review covers 5 beers from the Buckeye state

CLEVELAND, Ohio – We sipped five beers from four breweries throughout Ohio for our review this month.

The range of styles crosses a pretty wide palate, from a hot peppery amber ale to a Double India Pale Ale.

As usual, all should be available on local store shelves. Our photos show what the beers look like, and we note our favorite at the end.

Cheers!

Old Ohio

Twin Oast Brewing, Port Clinton, Blonde Ale, 4.7%

Clean tasting, refreshing beer. Slight lemon and a smidgen yeastiness. Does not have the tanginess that Blonde Ales sometimes do. Would be a solid summer supper. Decent body, with alcohol under 5. “Oast” refers to a kiln used for drying hops.

Cryo Cold Budded

Columbus Brewing Co., Columbus, Double India Pale Ale, 8.5%

You know you are drinking a DIPA with this one. Orange is among the citrus flavors coming through. Alcohol does seep in on a lingering finish, but it’s not overwhelming.

Original Pale Ale

Columbus Brewing Co., Columbus, Pale Ale, 5.6%

Orange pith inches its way through in this smooth-tasting ale. Pale Ale is a style that seems to be a forgotten stepchild at times, and it’s nice to see these land on store shelves.

Hot Honey Strings

Heart State Brewing, Carroll, Amber Ale, 5.4%

This is like drinking two beers in one. A malty brew hits your palate immediately, and then. … after a couple of seconds delay … heat. A fiery burn gets you in the back of the throat. Not for the faint of heart. Sweetness is pretty nominal in this ale, which the brewery describes as “malty, crisp, spicy, sweet.” The brewery is near Columbus.

Seeing Colors

MadTree Brewing, Cincinnati, Hazy India Pale Ale, 6.5%

Really balanced. Hazy for sure but more than that. Some orange and a bit of pine seeps in. Long finish.

This month’s favorite: Some very different beers in this lot. We’ll give a hat tip to Cryo Cold Budded.

A 12-pack of brewery news

• Great Lakes Brewing Co. is launching The Float Shoppe, its first full line of THC-infused beverages. It’s set for release in late February.

• Gandalf’s Pub & Restaurant in Valley City is having its annual wild game dinner featuring beers from Great Lakes Brewing Co. on Monday, Feb. 23.

• Winking Lizard has scheduled Beer Bottle Tuesdays for those who are signed up for the 2026 Tour of Beers. Tourists will receive two points for select bottles on Tuesdays.

• The Cleveland Brewery Passport is open with 42 breweries, all within a 30-mile radius from downtown Cleveland.

• Terrestrial Brewing Co. is moving ahead with plans for its deck, patio and event-center space.

• HiHO Brewing in Cuyahoga Falls is selling $5 pints of Touchdown Brown, an American Brown Ale at 5.6% alcohol, today – Sunday, Feb. 1.

• Blue Monkey Brewing Co. has released Mooks Chocolate Milk Stout, billed as a smooth, balanced stout to support the Ohio Craft Brewers Association. The brewery is in North Royalton.

• Tröegs Independent Brewing in Hershey, Pennsylvania, has released Daylight Chaser, a dark IPA that joins the brewery’s lineup of seasonally rotating beers alongside Field Study, Leaf Seeker and Blizzard of Hops. It has Simcoe, Mosaic and Citra hops and is 6.3% alcohol. It’s available on draft and in 12-ounce bottles and cans.

• Stone Brewing of Escondido, California, is marking 30 years in business with sweepstakes, fan-favorite throwbacks, collaborations and limited-time packaging. The brewery kicked off the year by spotlighting its flagship Stone IPA with limited-time gold packaging.

• Von Ebert Brewing of Portland, Oregon, has launched non-beer offerings. The three non-alcoholic sparkling hop waters are called Boost, Flow and Chill. Also, hard teas, hard fruit punch and hard seltzer are in the works.

• New offerings from nitro-focused Left Hand Brewing Co. of Longmont, Colorado, include the brewery’s first new nitro seasonal, Chocolate Orange Nitro, a Milk Stout variant. Later in the year Left Hand plans to release Ginger Snap Nitro, a winter warmer featuring ginger spice.

• Coronado Brewing Co. has released Hazy Weekend IPA, the newest year-round addition to its Weekend Brand Family. It joins flagship Weekend Vibes IPA and its counterpart BIG Weekend Double IPA.

Our reviews: Most of the beers we buy come from Northeast Ohio retail shops and stores. We choose from Heinen’s, Red, Wine & Brew; Acme, Giant Eagle, Mustard Seed Market, Whole Foods and others.