The Athens News

Thursday, July 19, 2007
Stephanie Laird
Athens News Campus Reporter

Ohio Brew Week, Athens' second annual week-long celebration of craft beers from micro-breweries across the state, kicked off Monday at Jackie O's Pub & Brewery with the official keg-tapping ceremony and a packed house.

Brad Clark developed and brewed Ohio Brew Week Sparbock for the occasion in honor of the late Jon Sparhawk, a founder and visionary of Ohio Brew Week who unexpectedly passed away on June 2.

Ohio Brew Week 2007 is dedicated in Sparhawk's honor, and a scholarship has been established in his name to carry on his legacy of supporting the Athens community and its youth. Last year's speaker, Alan D. Eames, a beer anthropologist, historian and writer who died in February, was also remembered at Monday's gathering.

Dan Gates, Ohio Brew Week director, shared a letter with Monday's crowd from Athens Mayor Ric Abel, which proclaimed that July 17 would be Jon Sparhawk Day in remembrance of his contributions to the Athens community.

This year's keynote speaker, Julie Bradford, editor and co-owner of All About Beer magazine and Web site, spoke at Jackie O's on Monday about beer and society prior to the much anticipated keg-tapping ceremony. Her discussion on how "beer keeps society sane," focused on beer's contributions to society over the centuries.

"Every ancient culture that discovered fermentation saw it as a gift from the gods," said Bradford, adding that humans' earliest connection with beer was spiritual. Traditionally, women brewed beer for their families, said Bradford, since this beverage was safe and nutritious for all family members, including children.

This hearty concoction was also a staple for America's first pilgrims. Plymouth Rock was selected in part because the pilgrims on the Mayflower ran out of beer and other vitals, said Bradford, though they were not worried about partying as much as concerned about having something safe to drink, she added.

Over the years this traditionally feminine beverage has captivated societies across the world, though it has been regarded more as an intoxicant than a nutritious brew in recent history.

"Beer has always been the most democratic beverage," said Bradford, "because anyone can have it and anyone can afford it." In addition, the invitation to share a beer with someone is welcoming, said Bradford, because people often meet and host a casual get-together over a frosty beer.

Bradford also encouraged the festive crowd to pick the beers they like the best to drink and enjoy them, because purchasing your favorite beer often costs significantly less than swilling your favorite wine, for example.

According to Bradford, the final thing beer is, is local. National beer brands did not begin infiltrating and dominating the beer market until the 1950s, she said. During the reign of national domestics in the past few decades, many small regional brewers, exemplifying local character and local identity, disappeared. However, a renaissance in local brews has emerged in recent years, she said, adding that around 1,400 American brewers are currently in operation.

While this was Bradford's first venture to Athens from her base in the Raleigh-Durham, N.C. area, she noted that the "community is fired by a sense of identity," since it is sponsoring an "anti-guzzling, beer appreciation" event of this magnitude. Bradford also served as a judge for a food-cooked-with-beer competition Tuesday evening at Toscano's.

According to Ohio Brew Week's marketer and co-director Melody Sands, 76 beers from 23 different Ohio breweries are being featured during Brew Week.

"Micro-brews are enjoyable because of their flavor," said Sands, a participant and organizer in Brew Week from the beginning. Sands said she hopes that this event will develop and market awareness concerning the array of hand-crafted local beers available, as well as attract people to Athens to sample unique food and beer.

This year's Brew Week features (or featured) seminars on the history of beer, the history of taverns, home-brewing demonstrations, beer-related videos and movies, cooking with beer demonstrations, pool tournaments, local musicians and beer-song contests at 17 restaurants, pubs and taverns in the Athens area, said the press release.

This evening the Brewer's Ball, a five-course meal cooked and paired with special micro-brews, will be held at the Blue Gator. Proceeds from this event, along with several others, benefit the Jon Sparhawk Memorial Scholarship Fund.

Saturday, Brew Week culminates with the Boogie on the Bricks community festival, a daylong event on Court Street featuring the Ohio Microbrew Tasting Tent.

For additional information on Brew Week and the participants, and for a complete schedule of speakers, demonstrations and other special events occurring this week, visit www.ohiobrewweek.com.

©Copyright Ohio Brew Week 2008