Books and Brews explores the art of beer
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STEUBENVILLE -- Beer is more than just the usual lagers on draft, with area residents trying various drinks at the library on Thursday evening.
Guiding the 20 participants of the third Books and Brews event at the Main Branch of the Public Library of Steubenville and Jefferson County were a couple of members of the Homebrewers of the Ohio Valley Clubhouse -- H.O.O.C.H. -- Jim Chaney of Steubenville and Ben Beswick of Toronto.
“It’s another thing to do when we have a kind of slower time before the holidays hit,” explained Sarita Asawa, the library system’s community outreach coordinator. “It’s educational, but it’s also super fun and a great night out. It expands what the library has to offer in the community.”
The evening included a charcuterie board, pizza from Gem City Pizza and insights into the world of craft brewing. Teaming with the library to put on the presentation was the Jefferson County Chamber of Commerce.
Chaney, a certified beer judge, said the evening was about education.
“This gives people an idea of what they are drinking,” he explained before the tasting. “If you’re going to enjoy a beer, you want to know a little bit about it.”
There were about seven different brews offered, ranging from lagers to meads. With the exception of a couple of selections made by Chaney and Beswick, the beers came from Squids Brewery in Toronto. The list included River Rat, a hazy IPA; Squids Lager; Gams Milk and Cookies, a stout; Kiss My Razz, a seltzer; and Cherry on Tap, a sour.
Beswick explained their brewing club has been around since 2012. Active membership has declined during the past several years, he said, but the club still meets at 6:30 p.m. on the third Tuesday of every month at Leonardo’s Coffeehouse on Fourth Street in Steubenville.
“We have six pretty active and faithful members, and we don’t charge dues,” he said. “We discuss beers and we brew together.”
But Beswick and Chaney agreed interest in brewing has been declining.
“There’s other stuff going on, like whiskey and liquors,” Chaney said. “It’s the same with breweries -- there are a lot of breweries out there that are closing.”
“I think maybe the market got a little saturated,” Beswick added. “What people don’t realize is that it’s a lot of work to do it right. If you want to open up a brewery, it’s a big expense.”
He pointed to Mike Bauman, the owner of Squids. The retired Toronto police officer said when he retired, he was going to open a brewery and he did it, Beswick explained. Bauman runs the operation with his wife, Lisa, who was chief deputy clerk in the Jefferson County Clerk of Courts office and served as Toronto’s auditor.
“I think he enjoys it -- he’s a great brewer, but you can see how hard he works,” he added.
Among the topics covered was a discussion about the differences among IPAs, lagers and stouts. Chaney and Beswick also discussed the appearance, mouth feel and alcohol content of each of the beers.
Ales, they explained, are usually brewed at room temperature using a top-fermenting yeast, while lagers are brewed at between 45 degrees and 55 degrees and use a special yeast that ferments from the bottom up. It takes a little longer, they said, but the resulting beers end of being crisper and cleaner.
“There are many different styles of beers,” Beswick said. “Many people think that if it’s a dark beer, it’s heavy -- not necessarily. It might not necessarily be high in alcohol. I can take the lightest beer you can have and make it 12%, and I can make a dark beer with 3% alcohol. Color has nothing to do with the alcohol content.”
Leanna Lulla, the membership coordinator of the chamber and Buster Bowman, marketing and event coordinator for the chamber, said they like working with the library. Bowman added there are projects in the works for the winter months. He ran a trivia contest that was based on beer, literature and local history.
Events like Books and Brews help show off what the library has to offer, explained Mike Gray, the system’s director.
“They get kind of a different crowd,” he said. “There are a lot of faces that I recognize here, but there are many that I don’t. It exposes different people to the library and it’s a fun event.”