Читать книгу Fifty Must-Try Craft Beers of Ohio - Rick Armon - Страница 17

Bleeding Buckeye Red Ale

Elevator Brewing Co. | www.elevatorbrewery.com

Elevator Brewing Co.

Brewery & Draught Haus:

161 N. High St.

Columbus, Ohio 43215

(614) 228–0500

Taproom:

165 N. Fourth St.

Columbus, Ohio 43215

(614) 679–2337

First brewed: 2004

Style: Red ale

Alcohol content: 5.7 percent

IBUs: 27

Available: Year-round on draft and in bottles

IF YOU LIKE THIS BEER, here are five other Ohio craft beers to try:

• Moeller Brew Barn Wally Post Red

• Thirsty Dog Irish Setter Red Ale

• R. Shea Rubber City Red

• Buckeye Redhead

• Great Lakes Rally Drum Red Ale

THE OWNER of Elevator Brewing, Dick Stevens, thought it would be a great idea to brew a beer that would capitalize on the passion that Columbus has for Ohio State University football. The Buckeyes rule the local sports landscape, so the community nearly shuts down on game days, with people either heading to watch the game live at Ohio Stadium or planting themselves in front of their televisions.

The brewery designed an approachable malty beer and dubbed it Bleeding Buckeye Red Ale. The name plays on the fact that Ohio State fans bleed scarlet and gray.

On the label, Stevens put a black-and-white picture of people illustrating the famous O-H-I-O—a sort of shadow puppet image. There was one problem. Ohio State didn’t approve, thinking the design encroached on its brand. Elevator received a cease-and-desist order from the university.

Six thousand dollars later—thanks to the involvement of law firms—the brewery had a new label.

“I had a hard time getting any law firm to work for me because, if they had done any work for OSU, it was a conflict of interest,” Stevens says. “Every little change had to be sent over there to be approved.”

The label has been redesigned a couple of times since. The first design used a cartoon of a group of fans cheering on their favorite team and the Ohio State colors—black, scarlet, and gray. Now the label features a photograph of cheering fans—all wearing the Ohio State colors, of course—piling out of a red van.

And, without a doubt, Bleeding Buckeye sells the best during football season.