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The 16 Best Breweries in Cleveland, Ohio and Beyond
Where to get a beer in Cleveland.
Photo courtesy of Collision Bend Brewing
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Updated on September 12, 2023
“CLEVELAND, THIS IS FOR YOU!” Lebron James screamed when he won their first NBA Championship in 2016, bringing back the city’s first major sports title in fifty-two years. A major mark of a town that used to be known as the “City of Champions” for all their sports teams’ victories in the ‘40s and ‘50s. Today, while C-Town may not have wholly returned to sports glory, one could say the “C” in “C-Town” now stands for craft beer, a new crowning achievement. But do you know where to find the best breweries in Cleveland?
No worries because, like Lebron, we’ve done the hard work for you! Below, you’ll find our picks for the nine best breweries in Cleveland and six bonus picks if you’re willing to put a little gas in the tank.
The Best Breweries in Cleveland, Ohio
Noble Beast Brewing Co.
1470 Lakeside Ave E, Cleveland, OH 44114 | (216) 417-8588
Photography courtesy of Noble Beast Brewing Co.
Following the model of a traditional brewpub, Noble Beast Brewing Co. showcases ridiculously delicious beer alongside innovative food. Started by Shaun Yasaki in 2017, this 10-bbl brewhouse focuses on pairing beer with bites.
Yasaki’s experience brewing at Fat Head’s Brewery and the now-closed Platform Beer Co. prepared him to venture out independently. Proud of its grassroots heritage, Noble Beast nods to the traditional German roots of Noble hops and the American beast side of creativity and innovation.
Order a glass of Pappy’s Pilsner or Scallywag IPA while munching on pepperoni bread or a buffalo chicken wrap.
Masthead Brewing Company
1261 Superior Ave, Cleveland, OH 44114 | (216) 206-6176
Photography courtesy of Masthead Brewing Co.
Opened in 2017, Masthead may have been a dark horse in Cleveland’s brewing scene for the last few years, but they’ve emerged as a true front-runner.
Located in the historic Bryant Building, Masthead combines the history of Cleveland with historically well-brewed beer. Co-founders Frank Luther, Matt Slife, and Mike Pelechaty named their brewery after a little local lore.
Prepare yourself for a great tidbit of trivia—Ohio’s second-largest city was initially named Cleaveland after General Moses Cleaveland, a veteran of the Revolutionary War who settled the town. By 1831, Cleaveland had grown large enough to warrant a local newspaper. The paper’s editors ran into a problem when they tried to fit the name “Cleaveland” on the top of their publication, leading them to boldly drop the extra “a” from the paper’s title on the masthead. The Cleveland Advertiser went to print on January 6th, 1831.
With a spirit for bold and innovative beers, Masthead reflects a nostalgic sense of place in its beers. For instance, Ice Melter, a spicy IPA with grapefruit and habaneros that made our list of “The 20 Best Beers to Drink in Winter 2021.”
Or Duality: Citra & Zumo, an interaction of their popular DIPA series with…you guessed it: those two hot hops.
Fat Head’s Brewery
24581 Lorain Rd, North Olmsted, OH 44070 | (440) 801-1001
17450 Engle Lake Dr, Middleburg Heights, OH 44130 | (216) 898-0242
Photography courtesy of Fat Head’s Brewery
Did you know you can find one of America’s most award-winning breweries just a tick outside of downtown Cleveland? Fat Head’s has racked ‘em up at competitions across the globe, including a gold for its German wheat ale Alpenglow at the 2022 Great American Beer Festival and, perhaps most impressively, a gold for its American IPA Head Hunter at the 2023 World Beer Cup.
Despite all the heady attention, Fat Head’s stays pretty humble. As evidenced by their trademark mantra: Chill Out Man, Have A Beer™. You can’t visit Cleveland without stopping and drinking some medal-winning beer at Fat Head’s.
Great Lakes Brewing Company
2516 Market Ave, Cleveland, OH 44113 | (216) 771-4404
Photography courtesy of Great Lakes Brewing Company
Every year, the great folks of Cleveland (and beyond) line up around the block for the chance to get that first taste of Great Lakes Brewing Company’s Christmas Ale.
“A lot of people play hooky from work on a Thursday,” Great Lakes Brewing Company Brewmaster Mark Hunger told us. “People are lining up by 7 o’clock in the morning to be the first ones through the door.”
A legendary beer for a legendary brewery—actually one of Ohio’s original craft breweries, founded in 1988 by brothers Patrick and Daniel Conway.
But you can get style-defining beers at Great Lakes Brewing Company anytime of the year. For example, its Dortmunder Gold® Lager or Edmund Fitzgerald Porter.
Terrestrial Brewing Company
7524 Father Frascati, Cleveland, OH 44102 | (216) 465-9999
For small-batch beers with a view, stop by Terrestrial Brewing. Situated right on the banks of Lake Erie in the Battery Park neighborhood, Terrestrial is the brainchild of co-founders Ryan Bennett and Ralph Sgro.
Boasting an adventurous collection of beer from an IPA infused with coconut and cinnamon to a peach Berliner weisse, this eight-year-old establishment has quickly become a local, perennial favorite.
Butcher and the Brewer
2043 E 4th St, Cleveland, OH 44115 | (216) 331-0805
Photography courtesy of Butcher and the Brewer
“Old-World Cuts and Hand-Built Brews” is the motto at Butcher and the Brewer, where you’ll find good ol’ fashioned neighborhood nostalgia combined with communal brewpub flair.
Classic beers pair with rustic eats featuring local artisans, heirloom ingredients, and heritage meats.
For instance, Stop Hop Kaboom American IPA and BarleySwine American barleywine on the beer side. For food, expect dishes like a warm pretzel, charcuterie and cheese board, and baked French onion dip, to name a few.
Saucy Brew Works
2885 Detroit Ave, Cleveland, OH 44113 | (216) 666-2568
Born and brewed in the land, Saucy Brew Works started when two beer fanatics—brew master Eric Anderson and entrepreneur Brent Zimmerman—teamed up to turn the Steelman Building into a killer brewery.
Committed to Cleveland, Saucy Brew Works combines community spirit with a fantastic tap list. If you visit, try their core best-selling Juicy ASAP, which is exactly as it sounds.
Whatever you decide to drink, don’t leave without ordering a Bees Knees pizza, a diabolical pie combining spicy capicola, honey, and cheese.
Collision Bend Brewing
1250 Old River Rd, Cleveland, OH 44113 | (216) 273-7879
Barrel into Collision Bend Brewing for crisp, bright beers from a former Great Lakes Brewing Company brewmaster.
Luke Purcell opened Collision Bend in 2017. During his first Browns season in the Flats—a mixed industrial and residential area of Cleveland that has seen a recent revival—he was blown away by the Cleveland fans’ mania for their favorite sports team.
“Driving through [the Flats] on that first Sunday of the NFL season, I was surprised to see all the tailgaters in the area,” Purcell told Hop Culture. “It’s eye-opening to see this dead space in town … making a big comeback.”
Six years later, Purcell has taken advantage of the revived neighborhood, offering his own fans beers like the uber-popular Lake Erie Sunset blood orange American wheat.
Bookhouse Brewing
1526 W 25th St, Cleveland, OH 44113 | (216) 862-4048
Photography courtesy of Bookhouse Brewing
For a brewery that combines pages and pints, turn to Bookhouse Brewing, a small taproom in Cleveland’s Ohio City neighborhood.
Bookhouse focuses on innovative yet approachable beers. But the real highlight of this local watering hole is the snug reading room. While drinking, kick back in your own library, decked out in a bathrobe and slippers, and sipping on some high-quality suds.
Willing to Travel a Little Further?
If you have the time to rent a car, we highly recommend seeking out these breweries that are under a three-hour drive from Cleveland.
CLAG Brewing Company
218 Columbus Ave, Sandusky, OH 44870 | (419) 502-0099
Distance drive from Cleveland: 1 hour, 10 minutes
Photography courtesy of CLAG Brewing
One of our “17 Best Breweries to Watch in 2025”, CLAG Brewing Company is an acronym for “Cocky Little Asian Guy.” The brewery has one of the most passionate fan bases around and the beer to back it up.
You may be familiar with a little James Beard Foundation Awards Semifinalist brewery in Richmond, VA, called The Answer, started by An Bui. Well, CLAG comes from his brother Kha Bui.
Natives of Vietnam, the Buis have made a serious mark on the craft beer scene here in the States.
While The Answer may be more well-known, you seriously shouldn’t sleep on CLAG.
With 65k total check-ins on Untappd, CLAG is currently the second highest-rated brewery in Ohio, hitting an awe-inspiring 4.28 overall average on Untappd. That also makes them one of the top 50 highest-rated breweries in the world (ranked 48th).
During the Untappd Community Awards, CLAG racked up twenty-five medals, including nine golds and two category sweeps with beers ranging from stouts to IPAs to lagers.
CLAG’s collaborations with notable breweries like North Park, Horus, Corporate Ladder, and Hop Butcher For The World are helping to spread the word about this incredible brewery.
DankHouse Brewing Company
161 Forry St, Newark, OH 43055 | (740) 915-6413
Distance drive from Cleveland: 2.5 hours
Photography courtesy of John A. Paradiso
We first met Heather and Josh Lange, co-owners of DankHouse Brewing Company, back at our Columbus, OH, festival in 2018 (where they were a fan favorite). Spoiler alert: We loved them too. That year, we named them one of our “12 Best New Breweries of 2018.”
Perhaps relatively unassuming, these Midwestern darlings make…well, pretty dank and extremely juicy beers, but also intensely fruited sours. Over the past seven years, we have tried a lot of New England IPAs and sours, so the fact that a Newark, Ohio-based brewery caught our attention says something about their beer.
Ill Will Brewing
45417 OH-14, Columbiana, OH 44408
Distance drive from Cleveland: 1 hour, 40 minutes
Untappd’s highest-rated brewery in all of Ohio, Ill Will Brewing isn’t afraid to do things differently.
It’s right in the name:
/’il ‘wil/ n. 1. feelings of hostility, resentment, or bitterness, due to a real or fancied wrong.
You’ll find beers that go against the grain here, so to speak. Of its 206 beers listed on Untappd and 21k ratings, Ill Will maintains an almost astronomical 4.42 rating. In the past two years, Ill Will accumulated twelve medals at the Untappd Community Awards, the sixth highest number in all of Ohio.
Top beers include those like Adversarial, fashioned after a buckeye, an Ohio confection with peanut butter and chocolate. Or Bananas, a smoothie-style ale with, yes, you shockingly guessed it, bananas.
Hoof Hearted Brewing
300 County Rd 26, Marengo, OH 43334 | (567) 233-3115
26 E 5th Ave, Columbus, OH 43201 | (614) 670-7422
Distance drive from Cleveland: 2 hours
Photography courtesy of John A. Paradiso
“Crafting beers with all the subtlety of David Lee Roth in bunless chaps,” is how
Hoof Hearted describes itself on Untappd, where the Marengo-based brewery currently holds the title of eighth highest-rated brewery in Ohio.
Hoof Hearted mixes ’80s culture with fart-jokes (said quickly, “Hoof Hearted” sounds like “who farted”), a seemingly incongruous combination that, when combined with world-class Northeastern-style IPAs and crazy sours, makes for one of the most irreverent and amusing experiences in drinking. These guys take beer seriously but know how to laugh at themselves.
Crazy, colorful, and full of surprises, Hoof Hearted throws beers in our faces like Tailpipin’, an IPA with sauvignon blanc wine juice, and Zipper Ripper: Honey Combover, a triple IPA with orange blossom honey and Citra, El Dorado, and Mosaic hops.
Jackie O’s Brewery
Columbus Location: 171 N 4th St, Columbus, OH 43215 | (614) 929-5265
Distance drive from Cleveland: 2 hours, 15 minutes
Photography courtesy of John A. Paradiso | Hop Culture
Among the Hop Culture team, Jackie O’s is a perennial favorite. The “hype” train might have missed Athens, Ohio, but Jackie O’s produces some of the most well-crafted, thoughtful beers in the country. From spot-on barleywines to complex, rustic farmhouse ales, the brewery makes wonderful beers that excite brewers, critics, and beer lovers alike.
Crooked Pecker Brewing Co.
8284 E Washington St, Chagrin Falls, OH 44023 | (440) 384-3452
Distance drive from Cleveland: 40 minutes
Untappd’s fourth-highest-rated brewery in Ohio, Crooked Pecker is under an hour’s drive from Cleveland in Chagrin Falls, OH.
This family-run brewery covers the gamut from clear beer from a side-pull tap to hazy and hoppy things like Green Cauliflower, an IPA with Riwaka, Motueka, and Citra.
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About The Author
Grace Lee-Weitz
Currently Drinking:
Fort Point Beer Co. KSA
Grace is the Senior Content Editor for Hop Culture and Untappd. She also organizes and produces the largest weeklong women, femme-identifying, and non-binary folx in craft beer festival in the country, Beers With(out) Beards, and the first-ever festival celebrating the colorful, vibrant voices in the queer community in craft beer, Queer Beer. An avid craft beer nerd Grace always found a way to work with beer. After graduating with a journalism degree from Northwestern University, she attended culinary school before working in restaurant management. She moonlighted as a brand ambassador at 3 Sheeps Brewing Co. on the weekends before moving into the beer industry full-time as an account coordinator at 5 Rabbit Cerveceria. Grace holds her Masters degree in the Food Studies program at NYU.
