Don't Throw This One Back: Little Fish Brewing Company (Athens, OH)

On the outskirts of Athens, Little Fish Brewing is easy to drive past on
State Route 682, but may well be an easy place to bike to in the near future.

The name recognition and success of Jackie O's Pub and Brewery almost made it a given that the craft beverage business would grow in its surround climes of Athens, Ohio. Indeed, West End Cider, focusing on the cider and mead side of the ledger, opened their doors to the public in May of 2014. On the craft beer side, Devil's Kettle Brewing set up shop in the north side of this college town with the debut of their taproom this June. Shortly after Devil's Kettle's opening, fellow microbrewer Little Fish Brewing Company opened their doors to craft beer lovers in July, and we were able to check their facility during their recent first-ever bottle release.

Started by local Athens' residents Sean White and Jimmy Stockwell, Little Fish Brewing occupies a warehouse type building out on Armitage Road on the outskirts of Athens near the University Estates subdivision. This location lends something of a clue about one of the main points of focus for this brewery - sustainability with a local focus. While the brewery may not be the easiest to get to by car (in fact, you can easily drive right by it if you're not paying attention), a planned extension of a nearby bike path (set to end on the grounds of the brewery) provides incentive for those within biking distance to use pedal power for a visit. In fact, their menu sports a "Bike Beer" red ale, a nicely drinkable, gluten-reduced(!) quaff brewed to celebrate the new bike spur.

One need not fret if you do have to drive here, like us Columbus-based visitors: Little Fish sports a fairly large parking lot, with additional off-facility parking located within easy walking distance.

Little Fish's sports a wide-ranging beer list in the taproom portion of
its production space; food is provided by a rotating fleet of food trucks

Other hints of this same focus are seen on that very same beer menu: the brewery's branded hoodies and other clothing are touted as organic, various brews are brewed with locally-based producers such as the pilsner (corn from local organic producer Shagbark Seed and Mill) and Poisson Grand (a saison using honey from Faller Foods.)  In the back, a garden with a variety of fruit and berry trees and bushes are evident: plans are to use the fruit in future brewing ventures. This locally-oriented focus gets down to the bare basics of brewing: as noted in this article posted in relation to the Tenth Annual Ohio Brew Week in Athens, Stockwell's microbiology background will be put to good use to cultivate their own "bacteria and wild yeast to put in their...beers."

This garden also adds a family-friendly aspect to the facility, with lots of space for the kids to run and romp, benches for seating, a BBQ grill, and games (including perhaps the biggest-sized Jenga game I've ever seen in person.)  While at least half of the interior is devoted to the production-side of the equation, more seating is available inside. as well both adult- and kid-oriented games and toys. Using a model seen with a lot of Columbus-area breweries, Little Fish sports a rotating group of food trucks to provide grub for patrons (on the day of our visit, Cajun and Creole was the order of the day via the Cajun Clucker.)  In general, the whole vibe of this space is relaxed and geared toward person-to-person interaction.

Little Fish Brewing's bottle-released ales were the focus of our first visit

While Little Fish sports the gamut of beer styles, we as newcomers were interested in the tart and farmhouse ale styles being bottle-released that day in special barrel-aged versions and comparing it to their original renditions. In each instance, the aging from either cabernet and chardonnay barrels gave what we thought were already very solid renditions of a saison, berliner weisse and biere de garde much more complex and appealing taste profiles, and enough so to take home a bottle of each style. In addition, we sampled the previously mentioned Bike Beer as well as a tasty pawpaw rendition of a finalist for the our favorite-named beer of the year, the Reinheitsgewhat!? (a playful stab at the Reinheitsgebot, a Bavarian purity law that states beer can only be brewed with malt, hops, yeast and water.)

Little Fish may be relatively small in size; however, the brews we sampled this day and the family-friendly, relaxed atmosphere makes us think that this catch is a keeper for the longer term.

Little Fish Brewing Company
8675 Armitage Road
Athens, OH 45701
740-589-7364
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Cinema Paradiso: Studio 35 Cinema & Drafthouse

Studio 35's current appearance, along with a photograph found in the
lobby under a previous incarnation (Marzetti's Studio 35)

One of the first items I noted in my mental notebook as I was learning about the Columbus area was a theater in along an avenue named Indianola (at that time, I was still quite unfamiliar with street names and where they ran in the metro area, and this fairly unique street name caught my eye.) I noticed that the theater offered what seemed to be a pretty good selection of craft beer along with a movie. I knew that a few of the modern multiplex theaters in the Bay Area had started to venture into that realm, so I asked my spouse about it. She confirmed that the beer selection was indeed quite nice, but added that despite driving by the theater many times, she had never seen a movie there.

We made it a point to drop by one night to check it out, and found there was a lot more to Studio 35 than just a mere beer and a flick. So much more, in fact, that it has become one of our most favorite local destinations.

Don't let this guy sell you a movie ticket...

The first thing you notice about this Clintonville neighborhood landmark, at 77-years-old the oldest independent movie theater in the area, is the red marquee towering over the simple but tasteful white exterior of this single-screen theater. Venture closer to the entrance and you'll notice the ticket window. We found out on this and later visits that this booth is almost exclusively occupied not by an actual human but rather a Hollywood themed figure. Vampire? Zombie? Minion? They've probably stood watch in this booth at one time or another. Of course, we had not realized this fact during our first visit, but we eventually got the hint from other arrivals that we just needed to walk inside the double doors.

The bar in the lobby acts as the center of activity at Studio 24

As you come inside, guests will notice the pièce de résistance, if you will, right away. Studio 35's bar area, which acts as the theater's lobby by default, is the center hub for numerous activities including buying tickets (or checking in if you pre-purchased them) and grabbing some adult beverages (more on this later) This area, along with much the theater's interior, was renovated to its current spiffy appearance back in 2012. TV screens ring the area as well as the bar seating; additional tables and seats for larger groups of people lie off to either side of the space.

Menu items available for order at the bar, courtesy of Pizza Primo

Food is also available as well. Along with staples like popcorn, pretzels and candy (a note suggests that the M&M's are the perfect thing to dump into and enjoy with those fluffy kernels), a menu of selections from just-down-the-block Pizza Primo can also be ordered. This pairing works quite well: pay for your order at the bar, get an estimated time of arrival on your order, and come back at the appointed time to find your freshly cooked-up grub. Pizza Primo probably won't win any "best of" awards with their assortment of pizza, calzones and related items, but their food provides more than adequate grub to nosh on along with your beer and movie.

Also within the lobby area, one can get a gander of some of the most clever and creative movie-themed posters. Save maybe for the outside poster displays, Studio 35 does not rely on the Hollywood studio produced promo posters generally speaking, and this is to the credit of theater co-owners/husband and wife pairing Eric Brembeck and wife Rita Volpi. These media pieces, which I heard were the fruits of some fairly extensive searching on the Internet, caught my eye on our first trip in and remain a must see for me on return visits.

Studio 35 sports some of the most clever movie posters within its
lobby/bar area (in this case, "The Big Lebowski" and "Weird Science.")

Those who order food to go with their movie have a nice option within the main seating area of this single-screen theater (a smaller second-screen in the upstairs portion of the building is currently in the works) - several of the rear rows sport tables, perfect vehicles to place your pizza boxes, popcorn containers or pint glasses, among other items. Similar to the lobby area, the main seating area was redone to cut the number of seats in half in return for a more comfortable viewing experience.

The rear area of the theater features tables for movie-goers

Aside from the first-run movies, Studio 35 is the home for numerous other crowd pleasing big screen viewings, some of which are completely free admission. From broadcasts of sporting events to the recent political debates, Bad Movie Nite to midnight showings of the Rocky Horror Picture Show, the Summer Kids Movie series and special beer tasting and movie pairings, it's hard not to find something you would enjoy watching on the big screen here.

The special beer tasting and movie pairings especially provide a unique way for the craft beer aficionado to sample a plethora of beer styles or brewery offerings in one setting. As previously referenced, Studio 35 offers adult beverages with your movie experience, including one of the better brew selections in the metro area at their bar. Certain pairings of movies and beer have become popular annual events, including the "Dude-A-Thon" pairing featuring cult classic "The Big Lebowski" with a selection of beer (the popularity of this event has led to three events next January, which at the time of typing of this blog post all officially sold out.)

Just a hint of some of the movie and beer pairing events held
annually at Clintonville's Studio 35.

Additionally, beers that are hard-to-get or not readily available to the general public are occasionally available during these events. For example, the annual pairing of the movie "Major League" and Great Lakes Brewing out of Cleveland, gives Columbus-area beer drinkers a chance to have a taste of the typically Cleveland-only distributed Rally Drum Red Ale, produced only for the start of baseball season. Another movie pairing will treat you to variations on Columbus Brewing Company's popular Bodhi Double IPA. To cite a recent example, the just-held "A Christmas Story"/Christmas-themed beer pairing featured a cask version of Bell's much beloved Two Hearted Ale. Mix in brief humor-based clips on the big screen between pourings as well as plenty of swag giveaways, and you're pretty much guaranteed to be in a good mood once the actual movie starts up.

Even with Studio 35's recent renovation and current popularity, the fact remains that the single-screen theater will always be swimming upstream finance-wise versus the omnipresent big box multi-screen competitors. The just approved second screen will help maintain the theater's main money pipeline in the form of first-run movies; in addition, a similar business model is being developed at the old Grandview Theater in Grandview Heights (opening date is tentatively scheduled there for spring of 2016.)  We can only hope that these developments ensure that this staple Clintonville institution won't be running the end credits on its operations anytime in the foreseeable future.

Studio 35 Cinema & Drafthouse
3055 Indianola Avenue
Columbus, OH 43202
(614) 261-1581
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The Ten Year Plan: Jackie O's Pub & Brewery (Athens, OH)

In its ten years of operation, Jackie O's of Athens has made a name
for itself  in the craft beer world within and outside the state of Ohio

During my long-distance dating phase with my current spouse, I was slowly but surely getting acquainted with the craft beers of what comprised the Columbus brewing scene at the time (for the most part, those were brews from Barley's, Columbus and Elevator.) I also grew familiar with some of the Ohio craft beer scene as a whole - for example, my first taste of Great Lakes Brewing's Edmund Fitzgerald Porter turned out to be my gateway in figuring out what my main preferred style of beer was. Lancaster's Rockmill Brewery helped open my taste buds to the farmhouse and saison styles of beer.

But there was another brewery's beers farther to the south in Athens that kept making regular appearances at family gatherings and beer-tastings. The unique art on the cans, a vessel that was not a common craft beer world item at the time, was fun and playful; and brews like Chomolungma, Mystic Mama and Razz Wheat were solid drinkers. Later on, bottles of their complex, right-up-my-alley porters and more heavyweight brews made my appreciation for craft beer grow that much more. And everything I heard or read from others about this southeast Ohio operation seemed to be almost universally positive.

Really, the only thing that was missing was a visit to the actual brewery itself, but we made sure that Jackie O's was on our itinerary our last couple drives into southeast Ohio.

Started in 2005 by owner Art Oestrike, what would become Jackie O's began with a takeover of a struggling brewpub (O'Hooley's Irish Pub) in the Union Street area of Athens just north of the Ohio University campus and began the process of producing their own beers with the assistance of head brewer Brad Clark. However, tragedy struck early in the process when Oestrike's mother was diagnosed with and tragically passed away from cancer. It was then when the brewpub's nomenclature became the familiar Jackie O's in tribute; other nods to her memory have been made with several of their brews, most notably their Mystic Mama IPA.

Since then, growth has been a constant at Jackie O's. In 2009, the brewery acquired the space next door to expand their kitchen and restaurant space, dubbing it The Public House (according to the brewery's website as of the writing of this blog post, The Public House's kitchen remains closed due to the November 2014 Union Street fire, but the bar space has reopened for music events and weekends.)  

Damage from the November 2014 Union Street Fire has cramped
operations at Jackie O's downtown anchor location; however,
that has not quelled the stream of craft beer fans from visiting

Jackie O's dark and brick-lined original space, which isn't the largest to begin with, can get cramped in general. Larger groups may also have to wait a bit for seating to open up. On the day of our visit, we were fairly lucky when our group of six (four adults and two kids) ended up nabbing a table in less than ten minutes. Other than the brick, wood dominates the interior both in the floors and tables; in fact, we noticed what appeared to be a neat-looking viking ship on the table we landed.

The downtown location has a full menu available of pub house favorites, but the loss of the Public House's kitchen has made food ordering here for now a bit of a controlled chaos exercise. Ordering is done at the bar, and finished dishes are placed on a table situated right next to the kitchen area (diners are notified via electronic pager.) We had heard great things about Jackie O's pizzas, which are prepared with their in-house spent grain crusts, but our hunger level was such that appetizers were the choice this day. Spent grain crackers and pita slices provided tasty dipping instruments and accompaniment for their cheese and hummus plate as well as the artichoke dip, while the fried pickled spears provided a neatly-battered, tangy counterpoint.

Jackie O's production/taproom facility on Campbell Street offers
more room to stretch out for visitors with outdoor patio seating

A couple years later, permission was granted for Jackie O's to use the old "cheese barn" building on Campbell Street to expand their production capacity. This facility opened up to the public the summer of 2013, and we also had the chance to drop by here on another recent visit to the area.

Located within stone's throw of the Hocking River on the east side of town, its not hard to see how this building had life prior as a cheese production facility. Unlike their downtown counterpart, space is more ample here, allowing for room for familiar bar staples like dart boards as well as outdoor patio space benches; indoor bar and table seating is also available. Also unlike their Union Street location, the food options are not as plentiful as a food cart provides a limited choice of small plate noshes. With that said, their nachos, made with Shagbark Seed & Mill corn tortilla chips topped with pork braised in our Brick Kiln barleywine, provided a delectable and filling pairing with our bigger ABV-beers we ordered at this location.

Jackie O's tapped beers range from their standards to the heavyweights
to unique one-offs (such as their Ground Cherry Berliner Weisse)

The beers we had at both locations did not fail to please. All the basics were available, but on both visits we were here to explore the more unique offerings. From their awesome Black Maple Bourbon Barrel Imperial Porter (a favorite for both of us) to their Wood Ya Honey (bourbon-barrel aged honey wheat wine) to novel one-offs like their Ground Cherry Berliner Weisse and their Chalmond Joy (Chomolungma brown ale with cacao nibs, vanilla, almonds and coconut), we got to thinking what took us so long to get down to this brewery (rated in the Top 100 Brewers in the World by ratebeer.com) in the first place.

Jackie O's Pub and Brewery is celebrating their 10th Anniversary this weekend, featuring unique brews, limited-edition swag, live music, and more. For more information on the event, please consult their event page on their Facebook feed.

Jackie O's Pub and Brewery

22 and 24 W. Union St

Athens, OH 45701

(740)592-9686

-and-

Jackie O's Production Brewery & Taproom  

25 Campbell St

Athens, OH 45701

(740)447-9063

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Nostalgic Noshing: Clancy's Hamburgers (Sidney, Ohio)

The lone operating location of the now 50-year-old company 
Clancy's Hamburgers forges onward in the western Ohio town of Sidney.

In many ways, this trip went farther than the hundred or so miles that it took to get to this western Ohio town. The travel was really back in time a couple dozen years or more for my spouse, when a couple dollars and a couple blocks walk could get her and her siblings a tasty cheeseburger and fries.

I imagine this was the experience for quite a few small town Ohio residents who grew up near a Clancy's Hamburgers restaurant. Started in Noblesville, Indiana in 1965 by Carl Fogelsong, Clancy's tried to bring what seemed to be the fast food concept with extra dashes of quality, community involvement and hospitality to places where the still growing national chains at the time would not venture: small town America.

Perhaps the embodiment of the restaurant's initial intentions lies in its namesake mascot, Clancy the Keystone Cop. As detailed on the restaurant's webpage, when Fogelsong spotted the caricature in an old film, he thought Clancy was a perfect representation of someone who was a quality, well-liked and friendly individual, traits he wanted his restaurants to present to customers.

At its peak around 1980, Clancy's had 31 restaurants scattered in small towns in Indiana, Kentucky, Tennessee and Ohio, including but not exclusive to towns like Bucyrus, Tipp City, Fremont, Urbana and Galion. But surely enough, those more well-known, highly publicized chains did make their way into smaller corners of the country, and places like Clancy's slowly faded away due to the competition. My spouse's hometown outlet closed its doors by the time 1990 came around, and she thought that the restaurant chain and that familiar mascot itself had also become mere memories.

But lo and behold, a simply-curious-to-see search on Facebook revealed that the keystone cop was not dead yet. The company was still alive; in fact, it had held a 50th anniversary celebration in the town where the business originated. And one lone survivor outpost, planted in the middle of western Ohio in Sidney, was within about a two hour drive of us. We made a pact that if we were out that way, we would have to stop by for a bite.

The exterior and interior don't look like much, but little details
give little hints to Clancy's way of doing things

Architecturally, Clancy's doesn't look like much either inside or outside, but we discovered little details that hinted at the company's past at this lone surviving outlet. Flyers and ads for various community events and businesses were evident on the walls and the menus. Vintage overhead lamps, decked out with the restaurant's keystone cop mascot, provided the most eye-catching visual.

Also, Midwestern hospitality was evident from the staff behind the counter as well as the folks who had gathered for a meal. Seeing our obvious interest in the interior, they asked about us and proved truly interested in my spouse's bit of nostalgia for her local Clancy's outlet. These folks' pride in their Sidney-based restaurant was also quite evident.

Clancy's "Home Cooked Meals" daily specials offer a novel twist on the fast food concept. These offerings give diners the choice of all-you-can-eat options on the weekends (fish on Fridays, and fried chicken on the weekends) as well as a rotating international/manager's special option on Wednesday. The list of items offered on this day ranged from homey (creamed chicken and lasagna) to more intriguing options like regional favorite Johnny Marzetti and Native American (with a Cherokee Casserole and Fry Bread.)

With a somewhat tight time schedule and nostalgia bringing us here in the first place, we stuck with the fast food options. My spouse couldn't NOT order her traditional cheeseburger and fries, while I was struck by some food items I would never see in California fast-food joints (sloppy joes and fried bologna sandwiches) and went with a country fried steak sandwich.  My sandwich was merely okay, but the other two items did draw some kudos. From my research, Clancy's had a reputation for good fries and these medium-cut wedges didn't disappoint, with a great golden brown color and not a limpy stick in the batch.

And the burgers were good for the fast-food variety, in the general range (for me) of a Wendy's or even an In-N-Out burger. Clancy's prices are as inexpensive as you'd find at any of the big name chain places as well.

This lone outpost of Clancy's will always be a destination for those with fond memories of the little Midwest chain that for awhile could, and the community seems to give the restaurant more than enough economic fuel to keep the cooking fires going. Clancy's may not necessarily a destination drive in and of itself, but if you're driving through the area looking for a grab-and-go fast food meal, the slight detour into town will get you just as good a meal with a side dish of Midwest history

I do hear in some circles that purposely choosing a big chain over a place like Clancy's might be considered a crime. You might even be brought up on charges, but this guy will definitely be friendly about it.

Clancy's Hamburgers
1250 Wapakoneta Ave
Sidney, OH 45365
(937) 492-8820
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Ninth Annual Cbus Jimi Hendrix Tribute Show (11/20/2015)/Brothers Drake/Tokyo GoGo Food Truck

This Friday, my spouse and I had the pleasure of a return visit to the annual Cbus Jimi Hendrix Tribute Show, held around the date of this legendary guitarist's birthday (Hendrix would have turned 73 years old on Friday, November 27th.) This gathering, put together by Theo Perry (of Theo's Loose Hinges), brings together a collection of talented local musicians to blaze through a number of both familiar and deeper Hendrix cuts.

Unlike previous years, a scheduling issue brought the show from its usual home at SoHud's Rumba Cafe to the sophisticated digs of Brothers Drake, located where the Weinland Park and Short North neighborhoods intersect. In addition, the show was forced to an earlier than normal time slot (the guitar strumming began in earnest during the meadery's happy hour.) These changes, however, didn't stop a large crowd from showing up to watch locally talented guitarists pay homage to a man who still holds incredible influence in today's music world.

Jeffro Jam of Jam Cave Productions led things off with a version
of Hendrix's "Star Spangled Banner" on his Keytar, and came back
with a Hendrix-styled montage that referenced artists
like Prince and Bob Marley

Veteran jazz guitarist Derek DiCenzo got to let loose some rock chords
on Hendrix favorites like "Manic Depression" and "Purple Haze"

.

Kenny Delicious, aka Kenny Caterer (drummer for Theo's Loose Hinges
and Lead Singer/Guitarist for Doctor Kenny Delicious), cranked out
the well-known "The Wind Cries Mary" as well as deeper
album cuts like "Castles Made of Sand" and "Red House"

Event organizer Theo Perry seemed to channel Jimi himself on his
renditions of "Machine Gun", "Crash Landing" and "Foxy Lady"

David Martinez of The Old Norths and Slight Rebellion finished out
the solo portion of the show with Jimi tunes like "Stone Free",
"Voodoo Chile" and "Bold As Love"

Columbus musical veterans Maxwell Button (drums) and
Nathan Smith (bass) provided solid backing throughout each set

All performers joined each other on stage for some final Hendrix
tunes, including a rocking version of Jimi's "Hey Joe"

For future information about next year's Jimi Hendrix tribute series (next year's tenth annual show, to be held sometime in November, should be a momentous one indeed), please refer to Theo Perry's Facebook feed.

Brothers Drake/Tokyo GoGo: I had previously blogged about Brothers Drake (and their sister meadery on the West Coast, San Francisco Mead Company) on this prior blogpost. We had become intimately familiar with their mead products over the years (and of course, we couldn't not order a mead drink or two on this occasion) but until this visit had no thoughts about exploring the cocktail side of the menu.

Brothers Drake's Meadhattan and Wild Sweet Annie, prepared with
care by one of the meadery's bar staff members

This new outlook on the mixed drink side of the adult beverage world was inspired quite a bit by revelatory experience received this summer. when we had a taste of the world-class cocktails during our fine tasting menu dinner at Delaware's Veritas Tavern. Since then, we've been willing to explore this world a bit more, and the unique mead-based offerings of Brothers Drake provided an intriguing opportunity. Indeed, from their Meadhattan (Wild Ohio mead, mixed with OYO Bourbon, cherry juice and Angostura bitters), the Wild Sweet Annie (my spouse's go-to this night, with Wild Ohio Mead, OYO Whiskey & ginger liqueur) and the Rosemary Fizz (a mix of their Motive Mead, Watershed Gin, lemon juice  and soda water along with a sprig of fresh rosemary) provided tasty accompaniment to the music this night.

Providing the food this night was what can be called Brothers Drake's resident food truck. Tokyo GoGo, operated by chef Miki Ashino, offers a selection of  Japanese-styled bar food items with a rotating selection of daily specials, as well as a special Ramen night on Tuesdays.

Clockwise from top: Karaage (flash-fried chicken thigh pieces), Pork Gyoza
Dumplings, and Korokke (fried potato balls with molten cheese interiors)

  

For just under $20, we picked up four different items that not only paired well with our mead drinks, but also were quite delicious in their own right. Their special of the night, fried tempura fish cakes, were nicely crispy with a pleasantly fresh-tasting, lightly chewy filet, while the Korokke balls and uniquely fried pork Gyoza dumplings (which came attached to each other in what seemed to be crepe form) were gobbled up with equal enthusiasm. However, our favorite dish by just the tiniest of margins so far is the Karaage - this crispy savory dish is a definite reorder again on a future visit.

As equally good as the food items were the variety of multi-profiled sauces that came with each item; we found ourselves enjoying experimenting with how the different sweet, spicy and savory taste profiles each item interacted with each dish. We look forward to another sampling of this food truck's offerings on another future visit to the area.

Brothers Drake Meadery
26 E. 5th Ave (Short North/Weinland Park)
Columbus, OH 43201
(614) 388-8765
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Tokyo GoGo
typically in the parking lot of Brothers Drake
(614) 916-6476 (MISO)
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