CLEVELAND, Ohio - The long-discussed and much anticipated Cleveland Brewery Passport is now a reality.

Destination Cleveland has partnered with 30 Greater Cleveland breweries, reaching out to local residents and visitors to highlight the area's rich brewery scene, said Jennifer Kramer, senior local marketing manager for the group.

The Cuyahoga trail will stretch as far as Avon to the west, Willoughby to the east and Strongsville to the south. All the participating breweries are within 25 miles from downtown Cleveland.

"We wanted to make sure we were looking at the region to make sure they were included," she said.

How it works

Craft-brewery fans can pick up a free passport at any of the participating breweries or the Cleveland Visitors Center at 334 Euclid Ave. downtown.

Two tiers are offered: Get eight stamps, then redeem for a Cleveland bottle opener. Thirty stamps will get you a snap-back trucker hat with Cleveland logo. Anyone who gets all 30 will be entered to win a weekend getaway in Cleveland, with hotel, the Rock Hall and restaurants offering prizes. And you can win tickets to a sporting event just for coming down and checking out the visitors center when you redeem your passport. Kramer said that added bonus will pull more traffic into the center while giving staffers a chance to hear feedback from residents and visitors.

Participating breweries are required to be a Destination Cleveland partner; levels start at $250, Kramer said. They also must maintain proper alcohol permit and have a brewing system that is on premise and available to the public.

The passport program's first round will run through Sunday, June 30, 2019. The Summit Brew Path in Summit County operates on an annual basis, too, allowing new breweries to jump in to the program.

The Cleveland Brewery Passport will require a purchase of something - beer, food or gift item - while Summit's requirements have been a bit looser. (Though realistically, most people going to a brewery will buy a beer.)

The Cleveland passports have an area for stamps, a brief history of brewing in the region and maps. Each brewery capsule will list whether they have food, offer tours, and are pet friendly. Details about the Cleveland Brew Bus also are included.

The bus has acted as a de facto, brewery trail on wheels for several years. It ferries craft-beer fans to breweries in various Northeast Ohio neighborhoods. Its owners, Leslie Basalla-McCafferty and Brian McCafferty, are well versed on both the industry and its history. The couple are two of six people who sit on an advisory council to help usher in the passport program. The others are local beer advocate Zachary Acerra, Sara Cleary of Fat Head's Brewery, Jay Demagall of Forest City Brewery and Rick Seibt of Willoughby Brewing Co.

"The goal is to keep moving forward," Kramer said. "With the ever-changing scene we want the most recent list of breweries to participate."

That "ever-changing scene" is one showing continued growth. Ohio has about 280 operating breweries, said Justin Hemminger, communications manager for the Ohio Craft Breweries Association.

The tourism factor

Beer trails are a popular way to promote breweries as an aspect of tourism for a state or region. It encourages craft-beer fans to visit. (Cleveland draws about 18 million visitors annually, Destination Cleveland says.) For visitors, optional tours are given to explain the brewing process up close. Visitors can taste samples, have a pint, or stay for lunch. For breweries - especially newer ones - it brings exposure that a nascent brewery might not have compared to more established ones.

Several trails exist on varying levels in Ohio.

Alex and Kait Hertzer, a couple who run a food blog in Youngstown, work to promote regional craft breweries through the State Line Brewers Guild. The guild, which started about a year and a half ago, incorporates 14 breweries in Northeast Ohio and western Pennsylvania. The Hertzers promote an active lifestyle as well as the craft-beer industry. The SLBG takes a similar approach to a passport program, with participants getting stamps on brewery visits. The idea, they said, is to take a bike ride and finish with a pint.

"We're the only passport-type trail that covers both states," said Alex, who with his wife help with the guild's marketing, public relations and social media. "They're definitely getting more people. One of the best parts that goes for any passport-type trails, once they visit one they are more likely to go to another. ... We're getting people who went to the Summit Brew Path. They want something new to do. We're getting people from Cleveland and Pittsburgh."

Columbus Ale Trail exists, and the Summit Brew Path is in its second year and covers 18 breweries in Summit, Stark, Portage and Medina counties.

The Cleveland Brewery Passport is on paper, but digital operations will be considered in the future, Kramer said.

The Ohio Craft Brewers Association offers Ohio On Tap, the not-for-profit trade association's mobile brewery finder and passport app. The organization will start a new set of rewards for users who visit 10 or more Ohio breweries beginning Monday, July 16. In the app's initial year, users could earn merchandise rewards for visiting 25, 50 and 100 breweries. Now it rewards various visit levels from 10 to 150 with stickers, shirts, hats, signs, flags and other swag.

The importance of relating tourism to beer is not lost on brewers like Matt Cole of Fat Head's Brewery. The brewery is close to opening its massive new operation adjacent to Interstate 71 in Middleburg Heights. Huge fermenters stand parallel to - and in sight of - the thousands of vehicles that pass daily. Cole said he is hoping the Fat Head's name could be added to roadside directional highway signs, like the ones that direct motorists to restaurants and gas stations.

It's not a far-fetched idea, said OCBA communications manager Justin Hemminger. He said BrewDog has such signs in the Canal Winchester area.

Interestingly, two breweries have landed on both local trails. The Brew Kettle's Strongsville hub in Cuyahoga County is 24 miles to the west and a bit north than its newest location, in Hudson, on the Summit Brew Path. And Thirsty Dog Brewing Co. appears as stops for both its Akron taproom and Flats East Bank location.

"They're absolutely a no-lose situation," said Jack Kephart, head brewer at The Brew Kettle. "It promotes the craft-beer community and everyone's a winner. It's really good thing.

"With the craft-beer community, people owning their little markets is akin to looking at a pie. It's not divided into pieces; it's an ever-expanding pie. So within the brewing community I think we're all happy to see little breweries open and this only helps to grow that," he said.

"We're really excited," Kramer said. "We worked really closely with the brewery community to do this, what makes sense, what is good for them to engage with the community. I think it's going to be something people really like and enjoy exploring."

Participating breweries in the inaugural Cleveland Brewery Passport program

Avon Brewing Co. - Avon

Bad Tom Smith Brewing - Cleveland (Ohio City)

Boss Dog Brewing Co. - Cleveland Heights

The Bottlehouse Brewery - Cleveland Heights

The Brew Kettle - Strongsville

Brim Kitchen + Brewery - Willoughby

Brick and Barrel - Cleveland (Flats)

Butcher and the Brewer - Cleveland (downtown)

The Cleveland Brewery - Cleveland (East Side)

Collision Bend Brewing Co. - Cleveland (Flats East Bank)

Fat Head's Brewery - Middleburg Heights

Forest City Brewery - Cleveland (Duck Island, near Ohio City)

Goldhorn Brewery - Cleveland (St. Clair-Superior)

Great Lakes Brewing Co. - Cleveland (Ohio City)

Hansa Brewery - Cleveland (Ohio City)

Hofbrauhaus - Cleveland (downtown)

The Jolly Scholar - Cleveland (Case Western Reserve University campus)

Market Garden Brewery - Cleveland (Ohio City)

Masthead Brewing Co. - Cleveland (downtown)

Nano Brew - Cleveland (Ohio City)

Noble Beast Brewing Co. - Cleveland (downtown)

Platform Beer Co. - Cleveland (Ohio City)

Railroad Brewing Co. - Avon

Rocky River Brewing Co. - Rocky River

Saucy Brew Works - Cleveland (Hingetown)

Sibling Revelry Brewery - Westlake

Terrestrial Brewing Co. - Cleveland (Battery Park)

Thirsty Dog Brewing Co. - Cleveland (Flats East Bank)

Willoughby Brewing Co. - Willoughby

Working Class Brewery - Cleveland (Kamm's Corners)

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