I know what you’re thinking.

At some point there must be a market saturation point for locally produced craft beer, right?

Well, apparently we haven't reached that point yet, because we have a new entry into the Akron craft beer and food club and it’s already jumping.

Lock 15 Brewing Co. was founded by two local beer-loving and business-minded cousins and opened about a month ago. It's housed in the bottom of the Cascade Lofts building, which you may not have known existed. Lock 15 is difficult to see from the street, but once you get there, you’ll likely see a pretty full parking lot on most nights.

The space is quite large and like many recently constructed drink-and-eateries, it has a wide open floor plan, with a lengthy bar on one side of the room and some high tables for folks who want to check out the seven-barrel brewhouse or the large screens. The other side holds the dining area with many tables and a big door that leads to the large (smokeless) patio area.

It also has the exposed ventilation and drop lighting favored by contemporary restaurant designers, which means the reverb, noise and murmur level can get a bit intense, so anxious imbibers and folks who simply prefer quieter environs may want to avoid high-traffic hours, such as weekend nights.

Lock 15 currently offers nine locally themed beers in a good array of styles. Yes, there are multiple IPAs but also the smooth, creamy Towpath Porter, the very session-worthy Mustill Mild and the meaty, wheaty Mutton Hill Hefe. In addition to the year-round beers they'll be brewing a variety of seasonal beers; it’s likely that all you pumpkin ale lovers will be serviced fairly soon.

Flights are $10, and they come in cute little handmade wooden canal boats. If you find a beer you love, you can get a growler for $26 to start and refills are cheaper.

The food menu is surprisingly compact for such a large space, but it’s also smartly constructed. Nearly every item is under $20, with a solid variety of red meats, including some fancy-ish burgers and sandwiches like a tasty pork belly BLT (sourdough, arugula, sun-dried tomato, onion and Cajun aioli for $11) and the straight-up delicious Bahn Mi "Sliders" (perfectly cooked pork belly on a steamed bun, pickled carrots and cucumber with a lime aioli for $12).

There’s also a healthy heaping of fish items such as shrimp tacos, fish and chips and grilled salmon, and veggie-oriented choices such as salads and a veggie burger that I’ve been told is tasty.

North Hill residents Richelle Wardell and Cristina Gonzalez Alcala were having a few beers and food with their chipper baby Isadora Gonzalez-Wardell. The women own and operate Not Yo’ Daddy’s Mexican hot sauce in the Northside Marketplace, and were casually celebrating just having their ghost pepper sauce officially added to the condiment caddies at Lock 15.

“The food is very good and the beer — in particular there’s an IPA with dill in it and I’ve never had an IPA with dill in it — so the brewmaster is pretty creative, doing things you don’t see all the time, and it’s really good,” said Wardell, a self-described “beer girl.”

“What I like is that we’ve seen a lot of breweries come up, but we haven’t really seen one with kick-ass food yet ... We’ve been here three or four times in the last two and half weeks,” Gonzalez Alcala said as baby Isadora smiled at everyone.

“One, the beer is excellent. They have a habanero (IPA) here, and what’s not to love for the hot sauce lady when you can get some spice in your beer too?” she said chuckling.

“So the fact that the beer is good and the food ... to the eye it’s pleasing, to the mouth it’s pleasing and definitely to the soul,” Gonzalez Alcala continued, noting that the exposed brick walls and industrial-revival feel was very “stripped and very raw. So you feel like you're in it. You're in the history of Akron and it’s by the Towpath Trail too.

"It’s in a great location and the vibe it has is too. The servers will come and treat you like you’ve been here before, which is one of the things I like about restaurants. As soon as you know my name and what I like, I’ll be here every day.”

Yes, the Akron area craft brewery tour just got a little bit longer, but for folks who enjoy a contemporary space with good beer, smaller but on-point menu and friendly bartenders and servers, Lock 15 is worth visiting.

Malcolm X Abram can be reached at mabram@thebeaconjournal.com or 330-996-3758. Like him on Facebook at http://on.fb.me/1lNgxml, and follow him on Twitter @malcolmabramABJ.