With beer tourism booming across the country, the Akron/Summit Convention & Visitors Bureau is launching a beer trail to take advantage of the region’s growing craft brewery scene.
The Summit Brew Path — only the second one of its kind in Ohio — will debut next Saturday.
The trail, which involves a passport, stamps and the website www.summitbrewpath.com, highlights more than 20 established and soon-to-open breweries in the Akron and Canton area.
“We’re marketing to people to come and taste some of the best beer in the country, all within a relatively small footprint,” said Gregg Mervis, president and CEO of the visitors bureau.
The region boasts many award-winning breweries, including Hoppin’ Frog Brewery and Thirsty Dog Brewing Co., both in Akron. Hoppin’ Frog has consistently been named one of the top 100 brewers in the world by RateBeer.com.
Tourism leaders see the beer trail as a way to pull in visitors to Greater Akron, with the hope that they stop by restaurants and other attractions, and decide to return to the area. The Summit Brew Path extends outside the county, as beer tourists aren’t constrained by government boundaries.
How it works
The visitors bureau has produced 5,000 passports that are similar in size to a U.S. passport. They provide a quick snapshot of key breweries and offer a map of the region.
They will be available for free at area breweries starting Saturday. Beer drinkers are encouraged to grab one and have it stamped at each brewery after enjoying a beer.
Anyone who accumulates stamps at 14 of the official stops will receive an “I completed the Summit Brew Path” T-shirt and an entry to win a grand-prize overnight stay in Akron.
The 14 “official” breweries are: Aqueduct, BrickOven Brew Pub, Hoppin’ Frog, Ohio, R. Shea, Thirsty Dog and Two Monks in Akron; HiHO in Cuyahoga Falls; Mucky Duck in Green, Canton in Canton; Royal Docks and Scenic in Jackson Township; MadCap in Kent; and Wadsworth in Wadsworth.
Beer drinkers also are encouraged to check out other regional breweries such as Lager Heads in Medina, Maize Valley in Marlboro Township and JAFB Wooster in Wooster — all of which have won medals at the prestigious Great American Beer Festival in Denver.
Hoppin’ Frog owner and brewer Fred Karm said he’s been advocating for a beer trail for nearly a decade. The craft beer industry is a collegial one, with brewers often helping and encouraging each other.
“I’m super excited that it’s finally coming around,” he said.
Akron spotlight
The Akron area has been overshadowed by the tremendous brewery growth in other Ohio cities, especially in Cincinnati, Columbus and Dayton. But the region has been adding breweries at a steady pace, including the recently opened HiHO, Two Monks and Wadsworth.
McArthur’s Brew House in Cuyahoga Falls also is close to opening. Meanwhile, many others are in the works such as Magic City and Ignite in Barberton, Hop Tree in Hudson and Missing Falls in Munroe Falls.
“We’ve been sort of the sleeper here in Akron,” Thirsty Dog co-owner John Najeway said.
Thirsty Dog, which organizes the popular Blues & Brews beer festival each year in Akron, donated some of the proceeds from the event to help fund the trail.
“It’s obviously good for Summit County tourism and great to bring awareness to all of us so we can keep growing,” Najeway said.
Beer tourism
Beer tourism is big business and coveted by many communities.
Cottage industries have popped up to take advantage of the craft beer scene, including beer festivals and beer buses, which will take people safely to multiple breweries in one day.
The Brewers Association, the Boulder, Colo., trade group, estimated that more than 10 million people toured small and independent breweries in 2014. Last year, the website Travelocity even created its first Beer Tourism Index, ranking the country’s best beer destinations.
Portland, Ore., was tops among major metropolitan areas, while Bend, Ore., was the best small area.
There are beer trails all over the country. There’s the Finger Lakes Beer Trail in New York state, Lake Erie Ale Trail in Erie, Pa., and Lehigh Valley Ale Trail in Pennsylvania. Even whole states have gotten on the brewery bandwagon with the Louisiana Brewery Trail and Vermont Brewery Challenge.
The Columbus Ale Trail, the first one in Ohio, was launched in 2015 with 20 breweries. Organizers, not sure at first about the potential response, printed 10,000 passports, technically called a “Brew Book.” The passports were snapped up right away and they had to make more.
The Columbus effort was started by the website Drink Up Columbus, Columbus Brew Adventures, the Ohio Taproom and Blue Label Digital Printing, with marketing help from Experience Columbus.
“The Ale Trail guests, breweries and especially the group that worked on it were surprised by how much people enjoyed it and the stories they were happy to share about their discoveries,” said Jim Ellison, co-founder of Columbus Brew Adventures, a brewery tour company in Central Ohio. “The first person to go to all 20 breweries completed the book the day after it was launched. That enthusiasm blew me away.”
In its first year, more than 600 people visited every brewery. They received a pint glass for visiting four places and the first 500 received a T-shirt.
Thousands of people have visited at least four breweries.
With six weeks remaining in the second season, 200 people have been to all 28 stops.
For the third season, the Columbus Ale Trail will print 35,000 to 40,000 passports and they anticipate having 38 stops.
“As the number of breweries grows it is an ongoing challenge to balance the needs of the different businesses and to keep craft beer fans engaged in the project,” Ellison said.
The Akron/Summit Convention & Visitors Bureau doesn’t expect anyone to complete the trail in one day. In fact, they don’t encourage that.
Rick Armon can be reached at 330-996-3569 or rarmon@thebeaconjournal.com. Read his beer blog at Ohio.com/beer. Follow him on Twitter at @armonrickABJ .