The Long Road to Brew Week

Weary travelers make 4-hour trek to the hills for Brew Week

From Kent to Athens, Brew Week's increasing popularity has seemed to appeal to our neighbors-to-the-North once again.

"This is my second Brew Week," said Alex Zarlino, a nursing student at Kent State University. "I'll probably be here next year too, if they let me back in..."

Zarlino is a senior at Kent State and says summertime in Athens is "much better than summertime in Kent. Here, people take more walks, blocks have more parties, ice cream is cheaper. These are all things a college town in the summer needs."

Brittany Hoose, a student in Cleveland, Ohio, is another tourist here for Brew Week.

"It's too hot here," said Hoose. "I love Bourbon Berry Grove, though. Helps me forget about this damn heat."

The "Bourbon Berry Grove" she's talking about is a honey-wheat wine which is barrel aged for about 8 months. Apparently, the 12% ABV is a tourist attraction.

The Barbarlian is Lewis Paul's main attraction for Brew Week, another 12% ABV brew. Except Lewis didn't hop in the car and take a little day trip to Athens.

"Tampa doesn't have anything like this," he said.

Tampa. As in "Florida".

"I like these beers enough to use my sister as an excuse to visit." Paul's sister is a senior at Ohio University living in Athens over the summer and seems to have the right accommodations for her brother's beer fancy. "It took about 14 hours to get here, all in all. I love this city, I love the road, I love the bricks, I love the beer. Traveling here was half the fun," he said.

On behalf of all of us Athens beer drinkers here, we welcome the amateur and enthusiast alike with open arms and tapped kegs.