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Portside's owners huddle around a tiny bar in their Front Street brewery. From left, Keith Sutton, Dan Malz, Matt Zappernick and John Marek.

(Scott Shaw, The Plain Dealer)

A brewery has opened its tasting room in Cleveland, and it's not in Ohio City.

While the city's West Side neighborhood has seen an emergence of craft breweries in the past few years, this one is on Front Street on the east side of the Flats and a Hail Mary pass from FirstEnergy Stadium. Portside is open 5-7 p.m. weekdays and noon-4 p.m. Saturdays.

Its spacious bare-bones room with concrete floor is a shell of what it eventually will become, says co-owner Dan Malz. A bar, restaurant, kitchen and gift shop all are planned to fill the Warehouse District space.

Don't expect much in d cor -- distillation equipment for rum is in sight, and the only wall hangings are a pair of framed New York Times pages about the end of Prohibition -- but the ales are tremendous. Portside touts itself as Cleveland's first distillery since Prohibition, and it is making and selling rum.

Like most craft brews, expect flavor. No light lagers or wimpy pilsners are served here. This eclectic mix of rotating ales is on tap as samples, pints and growlers:

• An imperial maple stout, brewed with 13 gallons of maple syrup form Geauga County. Amazingly, at 12 percent, it doesn't taste overly alcoholic, and it's not sugary sweet, with the syrup being reduced quite a bit in fermentation.

• A rauchbier at 5.5 percent. This smoked style has a woodsy aroma that you would expect around a campfire. It's very drinkable, crisp and not heavy.

• The "216," a 5.8 percent dry-hopped session ale that "is becoming everyone's favorite beer," co-owner Matt Zappernick says.

• A 7 percent Scotch ale that is thin for its style but smooth and dark.

• A vanilla stout modeled after an Irish stout. Vanilla beans create a nice flavor with a creamy feel that isn't over-the-top at 5.3 percent.

• A double pale ale is a bit high at 8.3 percent but might be the most complex and drinkable of the bunch. Incredibly flavorful with floral notes, it's delicious and unlike most pale ales.

• A double IPA that weighs in at 9.6 percent will satisfy serious hop-heads.

Malz describes Portside's brewing mission: "We want to make beers that you can drink a lot of, and we want to make beers you can't drink many of." Hence session ales being poured alongside an imperial maple stout.

The co-owners appear to want to stay; Malz says they have a 20-year lease at 983 Front Street. Keith Sutton and John Marek also are owners.