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About- Kevin Risner

Kevin Risner

Kevin Risner

Kevin Risner is a product of Ohio. He has lived there for most of his life except for brief stints in England and Turkey. At the present, he resides in the Cleveland area. Kevin's beer history stretches back to when he began indulging bitters, stouts and cask ales at hole-in-the-wall pubs in England. Not long after, for two sad years, he was deprived of delicious brews when living in Istanbul. Thankfully, at the present, he is not lacking in his choice of craft beers.

Posts By Kevin Risner

Great Lakes Brewing Co. | Crushworthy Collection

May 6, 2022 |

In 2021, a dreamy wheat ale entered into the brewing landscape. Great Lakes Brewing Company (GLBC) introduced Crushworthy Lo-Cal Citrus Wheat to our parched lips, and we were all instantly love-struck. Now, after the beer’s one-year anniversary, one of northeast Ohio’s favorite mainstays has returned with three additional versions of this brew just in time for  warmer temperatures. GLBC’s Crushworthy Collection is here, ready to tantalize and titillate the taste buds of picnickers and patio-goers.

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Great Lakes Brewing Co. | TropiCoastal Tropical IPA

September 1, 2021 |

The audacity of time, to go super fast! It’s already September, and it feels like summer just got here. Thankfully, one of Cleveland’s finest breweries has a solution, with a new year-round offering to quench your thirst whether grilling for your next backyard BBQ or huddling up around the fire on a cold winter day. Great Lakes Brewing Company TropiCoastal Tropical IPA has a juicy mixture of flavors and hoppiness, enhancing the brewery’s expanding repertoire of spectacular IPAs on tap.

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Great Lakes Brewing Co. | Crushworthy Lo-Cal Citrus Wheat Ale

April 7, 2021 |

Receiving good news can be a thrill, but receiving good beer news is even better! Months ago, when Great Lakes Brewing Co. (GLBC) in Cleveland, OH introduced their beer lineup for 2021, a newcomer to the ranks appeared on their list. I saw the style, and grew excited at this new option for a new year. Soon after that, we received fresh can art and more tantalizing details about this beer. Now, Crushworthy Lo-Cal Citrus Wheat, one of GLBC’s next offerings, has finally arrived right on target, a year-round ale for those thirsty for something different.

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BREAKING | Great Lakes Brewing Co. Launches New Canning Line, Warehouse Facility

October 15, 2020 |

Three years ago, Great Lakes Brewing Company  (GLBC) made the leap and began canning various beers, including seasonal favorite Rally Drum Red Ale and an earlier offering, Turntable Pils. Starting in 2020, the brewery moved their flagship beer, Dortmunder Gold Lager, to cans, as well as their Great Lakes IPA. Another year-round superstar, Hazecraft IPA, soon found its way into the lineup as well. And just this week, GLBC shared more exciting news: a new canning line and warehouse facility recently opened in Strongsville, Ohio, a Cleveland suburb. GLBC now has the ability to can its beer closer to home, and offer a larger variety of brands starting in 2021.

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Great Lakes Brewing Company | Hazecraft IPA

September 7, 2020 | 1

Buckle up! Great Lakes Brewing Company (GLBC) has some exciting new hardware, and they have already released it through the stratosphere. A year-long favorite that will not disappoint has arrived to wet your whistle during these waning summer weeks, deep into winter. I am talking about Hazecraft IPA, available now everywhere GLBC distributes.

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Great Lakes Brewing Company | Mexican Lager with Lime

June 30, 2020 |

Summer has arrived like it always does, even in these rather unusual circumstances. Now that my favorite season is here, a spectacular variety of warm-weather refreshments have appeared. Great Lakes Brewing Company (GLBC) is no stranger to providing summertime tipplers and this year they have released multiple beers set to quench the thirst of the most parched beach-goer and barbecue attendee. Here’s a beer that will entrance the multitudes: Mexican Lager with Lime.

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BottleHouse Brewery & Meadery | Rising Star Stout

February 24, 2020 |

It’s not a shock that I’m a fan of BottleHouse Brewery & Meadery. I’ve shared this love before when I wrote about one of their award-winning ales in 2018. Since it’s Stout Month, I felt it appropriate to share another stellar example from the Cleveland area and one of my personal favorites: Rising Star Stout.

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Urban Artifact | Pickle

July 29, 2019 |

I jumped onto the Urban Artifact wagon a bit late. “Better late than never” is a cliche that I find myself faced with quite regularly. Needless to say, I became an instant fan of the brewery’s vast array of spectacular beers that often steer away from the typical IPA and other popular beer styles we’ve come to expect in the craft beer circle. My first dive into their collection was while watching a soccer match at a local restaurant that sells numerous beers, canned and bottled. I saw Urban Artifact’s Keypunch, a key lime Gose, and my mouth instantly started watering. I had two of those sweet, flavorful Goses. Later, I learned of their other varieties. One stopped me in my tracks when my brother-in-law introduced it to me. Urban Artifact Pickle is a dill pickle Gose. It intrigued me enough to return again and again for more salty and sour sips to refresh during the dog days of summer.  

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Great Lakes Brewing Company | Buckin’ Mule Moscow Mule Ale

July 4, 2019 |

Great Lakes Brewing Company has been busy this year, releasing two new beers during the first few months of the year. So far, we have Great Lakes IPA now out for year-round distribution and Midnight Moses as a part of their Holy Moses variety pack. Late last month, a third offering arrived ready to meet our taste buds during this summer season. Great Lakes Brewing Company’s Buckin’ Mule Moscow Mule Ale is a unique and refreshing alternative to the mainstays one normally comes across in the beer cooler.

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Great Lakes Brewing Company | Midnight Moses

May 21, 2019 |

Cleveland-based Great Lakes Brewing Company has created a vast array of beers over the many decades the brewery has been in existence. They recently resumed brewing and distributing an old favorite, Holy Moses Belgian White Ale, year-round in 2018. Not too long after that, raspberries were added to the recipe and we had Holy Moses Raspberry White Ale filling our glasses with fresh fruit and hints of summer. Not to be outdone, Great Lakes is bottling another variation of their original Moses recipe this year. Great Lakes Brewing Company’s Midnight Moses is a dark Belgian-style ale that rounds out the collection of Moses beers for one and all to sip and enjoy.

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Great Lakes Brewing Company | Great Lakes IPA

March 11, 2019 |

Year-round offerings, especially for long-standing breweries, are special for various reasons. With Great Lakes Brewing Company (GLBC), one would be hard-pressed not to have a beer of theirs that has become a mainstay, a fall-back favorite. In 2019, Great Lakes has done something really, truly special: not just creating a new year-round, but also commemorating the people who make the brewery what it is and keep it a sustainable community. Great Lakes IPA is a welcome addition to the brewery’s already stellar cast of characters. It’s a beer I foresee fitting in nicely with old favorites.

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Platform Beer Co. | High Brow Barista

February 19, 2019 |

Like many of Cleveland’s newer craft beer bastions, Platform Beer Co. is attuned to the desires of beer connoisseurs and consumers. They have tackled many popular varieties from New England IPAs to saisons and goses. Platform is willing to experiment and re-evaluate their styles, releasing many offerings throughout Ohio, sometimes for a limited time (like their Small Batch IPA series, for example). Whenever I enter a local supermarket, I’m amazed by how prolific they have become. Still, some of their tried-and-true mainstays are what keep me coming back. One of Platform Beer Co.’s seasonals, High Brow Barista, is a particular favorite of mine.

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Fat Head’s Brewery | Sunshine Daydream

November 8, 2018 |

This is it, my friends. We are in November. At least for many of you throughout the country, the weather has shifted. The jet stream has begun to re-calibrate. Winds are picking up, the clouds are more uniform, and the precipitation has already started to solidify into the four-letter word most people loath to use. It’s inevitable, though. Unless you are in Yuma or Miami, or you have your sights set on Hawaii for a month, that thermometer isn’t going to budge much over 60 degrees for awhile. Your bright and sunny days are going to be at a minimum. Thankfully, a well-known brewery has just the antidote to shoo away the clouds and bring back the warmth for a little while. Fat Head’s Brewery’s Sunshine Daydream is at your beck and call; this session IPA is available all year long, rain or shine.

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The Bottlehouse Brewery & Meadery | Spring Gruit

July 12, 2018 |

In the Cleveland, OH area, there are breweries that most of the locals and others who are not so local mention right away as must-visits. The Bottlehouse Brewery and Meadery has become a steady favorite for many craft beer fans. This taproom and brewery has been receiving a larger number of recommendations from those who have experienced the beer, the mead, the cider and the sours created over the past six years.

Today, the beer gracing the spotlight is a more exotic ale, one that has received a bit more press this past year. It also happens to be on tap and in bottles this month, so the time was ripe to share this beautiful beverage with a wider audience. Let me introduce you to The Bottlehouse Brewery and Meadery’s Spring Gruit.

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Great Lakes Brewing Company | Holy Moses Raspberry White Ale

May 15, 2018 |

Last January, I waxed nostalgic a bit. Great Lakes Brewing Company decided to re-introduce Holy Moses White Ale as a constant, everyday staple in the beer fridge at the local, and not-so-local, supermarket. I quivered with anticipation when I heard the news, and then I balked at their seasonal May release. It was a beer that would add raspberries to its refreshing citrus undertones, and at the time I did not think I would be ready for that transition. After GLBC’s foray into Holy Mimosas after the Holy Moses release earlier this year and after trying to make them myself—I used mango juice—the idea that there would be another form of Holy Moses to grace our shelves and our bellies was more exciting than the initial reveal. Now, Great Lakes Brewing Company and Holy Moses Raspberry White Ale has arrived, just in time for the warmer weather—FINALLY.

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Great Lakes Brewing Company | Holy Moses White Ale

January 17, 2018 |

As a wee lad of 21, I waltzed into the Great Lakes Brewing Company brewpub before a baseball game with my family, and I was able to buy a beer there legally for the first time in my life. This was a wildly new experience for me, as all I had encountered in the past had been Budweiser, MGD and similar beverages. Craft beer was uncharted territory. Therefore, as I stood there with a much larger selection, I opted for something I never bothered to try before, a beer whose label stood out from the others, a beer named after the founder of the city of Cleveland: Holy Moses White Ale.

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Great Lakes Brewing Cans Are Now Available!

June 1, 2017 |

The wait is overGreat Lakes Brewing Company cans are now available for purchase. The brewery made an announcement in March that it would begin packaging some of its products differently. GLBC has been creating a solid product for 29 years, and what better way to continue this legacy than by promoting some of their newer offerings just in time for the summer season?

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Great Lakes Brewing Company | Turntable Pils

February 9, 2017 |

Turntable Pils graphic courtesy of Great Lakes Brewing Company, artwork by Darren Booth.

ABV: 5.3% | IBU: 35

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Great Lakes Brewing Company | Barrel Aged Christmas Ale

November 21, 2016 |

It is Christmas ale season: a festive time of year many people anticipate with a frothy fervor! However, it may be that you would rather hide away from the hubbub of ginger and cinnamon and all things Christmas. I enjoy a little bit of holiday cheer in my beer from time to time, and the weather has finally become chilly enough around these parts to warrant a few Christmas ales in my tummy. This year, Great Lakes Brewing Company is not simply rolling out their most popular beverage for all the good little boys and girls. They are also bottling their barrel-aged Christmas ale right after Thanksgiving for everyone to sip around the mistletoe. I received a nice 22-ounce bottle to try in advance of the bottle release later this week, and I am here to give you the details about the beer and what will take place very soon.

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Ultimate 6er | Cleveland Indians

October 25, 2016 |

It has been nineteen years since the Cleveland Indians made it back to the Fall Classic. But I suppose we cannot claim to have the biggest drought at the present especially with the opponent we have…

This time around, we have a scrappy, injury-laden team many have considered underdogs the entire way by almost all the sports analysts out there. But we like it that way. It’s just like Cleveland to be a fly in the ointment, the ones who people count out immediately. So in this Ultimate 6er we include  some of the best of Cleveland’s beer scene – with a few surprises that some people may not have considered to try as they head to their favorite bar to check out the Tribe battle with the best of ’em, or perhaps even watching the games in the comfort of home with a few close Cleveland Indians baseball fans.
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