CLEVELAND, Ohio - The first thing you might wonder about when you walk into Eighty-Three Brewery on Akron's East End is why the name.

Not the area code - that's 330. There's an Ohio 83, but it doesn't cut through Summit County. It's not the 83rd brewery in the area. Is the owner's favorite Cleveland Browns player Ricky Seals-Jones, No. 83? Nah.

The name refers to "the year I was born," said Chris Surak, owner and brewer. "No big story. We keep needing to come up with a fun story, but it's really simple."

Surak's brewery, located in the Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. headquarters, covers 4,500 square feet with tables throughout, a 15-seat bar with smooth black top and private-event area. It opened at the end of August.

It even features an interior patio in the lobby of the Goodyear Theater, roped off and partitioned with wooden barrels. The space the brewery is in used to serve Goodyear as an employees-only retail store.

It's Surak's first commercial brewing gig. He has home-brewed for 11 years and spent eight years in SAAZ, the Society of Akron Area Zymurgists. That organization is a bit of a farm system for brewers who have gone on to work at or open breweries.

"I know a lot of the guys from the area; I picked up some knowledge. A lot of took the same path," Surak said, referring to Shawn Adams at Akronym Brewing, Mike Pizza at Blue Heron Brewery and Mike Malinowski at Paradigm Shift Brewing, to name a few.

He said the thought to own a brewery came to him not long after he started home brewing.

"I got the idea a year or two into it," said Surak, originally from Strongsville. "It's been a while."

That idea is now a reality, and Surak is churning out beers on the seven-barrel system.

"I was nervous and excited at the same time," he said. "It’s definitely a big undertaking."

Beer flows from a dozen taps, and recently he was getting set to pour a holiday ale. He had a Stout and lager in fermenters. He had worked for more than a dozen years in design/advertising and did the brewery's logo. He also built and laser-engraved the flight trays at Akron Public Library. Flight cards can be found all over the tasting room. And crowlers, but not growlers, are available.

The lighted signage over the beer offerings can change color with the seasons, he said. Recently, it was an orange hue before Halloween.

MMMMMosaic, an American India Pale Ale, and Berliner Nice!, a Berliner Weisse, are top-selling beers, he said. Recently he had a Gose, several different IPAs, Saison and Pumpkin Stout among the offerings.

"I don’t go to a brewery for their staple (core beer)," he said. "People graduate to the new stuff. I'll change out stuff all the time. I'll use different hops, I'll use different yeast strains."

Barrel-aged and funky beers might be coming down the line, he said, and he was awaiting oak barrels that will be positioned under a mural.

For now, he's getting the word out and brewing beer.

"People are still learning about us," he said.

Six-pack of facts about Eighty-Three Brewery

• It's at 1201 E. Market St., Akron. Hours are 3-10 p.m. Monday to Thursday; noon to 11 p.m. Friday and Saturday; noon to 8 p.m. Sunday.

• There's nothing outlandish about the décor and color scheme. "I didn’t want a lot of bright colors," he said about the mural touting Akron. The teal used complements the fixtures and original terrazzo floor. Near the entrance hang classic old photos he got from the University of Akron archives.

• Food covers a basic range - pretzels, pizza and hot dogs. Free popcorn is served, and people can bring in food.

• An adjacent parking lot is free for the brewery (but costs for theater events) and is located to the east between the building the brewery is in and Starbucks.

• The brewery has two pinball machines and a few televisions. An initial candle-making night scheduled recently sold well, Surak said.

• Even though the brewery was not included in the Summit Brew Path, Surak had a stamp made for folks who wanted one and even offered a prize drawing.