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Unleash the Flavor of Thirsty Dog Brews
By Laura Barmore
Thirsty Dog Brewing Company started out in 1996 as a Grill
and Brewery in Canton, Ohio. It was originally formed by three partners and a
brew master who at the time was an award winning home brewer. The Grill and
Brewery utilized the full “dog theme” serving kids meals and adult appetizers
in dog dishes and providing their own beers that were brewed on premise.
The Old Leghumper brand, their flagship beer was actually
first brewed and tested before the opening of the Grill and Brewery but it
wasn’t long before Thirsty Dog Brewing came up with other brews with dog themes,
such as Hoppus Maximus, Balto Heroic Lager, Siberian Night and Golding’s
Retriever. They also branched out their Brewpubs to include locations in Akron
and Centerville (just outside of Dayton).
The company had only been in existence for four years when
they won their first distinguished awards. In 2000, the Old Leghumper won the
Bronze and Raspberry Old Leghumper won the Silver in the World Beer Cup. The
World Beer Cup is often referred to as “the Olympics of Beer competitions”
because every two years a highly qualified professional panel of beer judges
honors the top three beers in 81 beer style categories with gold, silver, and
bronze awards. It is one of the very few international beer competitions
awarding only one gold, silver, and bronze “medal” in each category. In 2004
there were roughly 500 breweries from 30 different countries competing.
That same year, Raspberry Old Leghumper won the Gold at the
Great American Beer Festival. According to the Guinness Book of World Records,
there is no other place on earth where a beer aficionado can find more beers on
tap. It is the American brewing industry’s top public beer tasting and
competition. It is held each year with roughly 40 thousand people taking in the
largest beer festival in the world.
Since 2003 when a new group of investors took over the
rights to bottle and distribute the beers, the company has continued to rack up
the distinguished awards. Thirsty Dog Brewing now has a total of five World
Beer Cups (Old Leghumper counting for two) and six Great American Beer Festival
awards on their mantle.
Each of these beers is meticulously hand crafted in small
batches using only the finest ingredients. It is this careful selection of
ingredients, along with specially designed recipes and brewing processes that
give Thirsty Dog beers their unique full flavor profiles which have enabled
them to win these numerous awards. Old Leghumper for example uses imported
Belgium chocolate malt to give this porter a rich, chocolaty taste. Siberian
Night, a Russian Imperial Stout- the darkest beer made, received the bronze at
the 2003 Great American Beer Festival and is also described as looking like
motor oil when it is poured due to its richness. Right now it is ranked 20th
in the world by ratebeer.com.
What originally started out as a combination of
brainstorming which conceived the Old Leghumper name has turned out to be an
award winning label. John Najeway Vice
President of Marketing and Sales and one of the new partners that joined Bob
Bolen, Gary Jones, brewmaster Fred Karm along with Ulo Konsen and Eric Konsen,
designed these award winning packaging and marketing materials. In 2004, Old
Leghumper won a Gold Addy and Hoppus Maximus won a Silver Addy from the
Advertising Federation of America for their design and packaging of the labels
and six pack carriers. The Advertising Federation of America is a juried panel
which awards approximately 90 categories of marketing and advertising from
radio, print, catalogue and beverage packaging to name a few. In addition, the Craft
Brewers Association has recognized the Old Leghumper poster for the last three
years in a row. So many times, advertising suckers you in to a nothing product,
but that is definitely not the case with Thirsty Dog Brewing Company. They have
cornered the market on both great taste and good looks.
Originally Thirsty Dog brews were only available through
distributors in Ohio but since August of 2004, Thirsty Dog brews are now sold
to distributors in Maryland, Kentucky, Indiana, and Pennsylvania, with plans to
include Michigan, West Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina and New England.Every
two to three weeks the company will brew between 50 to 100 barrels and
distribute them so that consumers will have the very freshest beer possible.
So this summer when you are looking for that cold one,
follow John Najeway’s advice and “try a craft brewed beer and see why there is
a place for all of us out there.” If you’d like to meet the folks at Thirsty
Dog, they are putting on Brews, Blues and Burgers on the lawn, July 30th from 2-5pm at the Stan
Hywet Hall and Gardens (home of F.A. Seiberling, the co-founder of Goodyear
Tire & Rubber Co.) in Akron, Ohio. Make sure your dressed for the occasion by purchasing a Thirsty Dog T-shirt from our store because July is
American Beer Month.
For more information about Thirsty Dog, visit them at www.thirstydog.com. Also try the Great American
Beer Festival at www.beertown.org.
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