The Best Craft Beer Bars in Cleveland

Cleveland is the type of city that would serve up bacon chorizo queso dip with your craft brew, and we're most, most interested in being a part of this scene.

Written by CraftJack | Updated 11/15/22 | 3 min read

Interesting Tools

• Beer BrüMate Hopsulator
• Brewing Northern Brewer Beer Making Kit
• Spirit Crystal Whiskey Glasses
• Wine Wine Decanter/Aerator

Unlike the bars in Boston, Cleveland bars can revel in the joy that is happy hour.

ABC the Tavern

ABC and their friendly and knowledgeable staff have been slinging beers for over 20 years of slinging beers down on W. 25th Street. They serve up brews from big names such as 3 Floyds and Bell's, as well as some smaller names like Rooster Fish Brewing. Happy Hour might be on hold, but you can still enjoy a House Cured Pork Belly BLT.

Beerhead Bar & Eatery

Beer on the Cuyahoga. Score!

Beerhead Bar & Eatery's craft offerings include beers and ciders from all over the country. What's nice is that they have We're Not Mad Just Disappointed, an Imperial Stout that checks in at 10.5% ABV from Cuyahoga Falls's Missing Mountain Brewing Company on tap. Also fantastic is the fact that you can get 32oz crowlers to go from Beerhead.

Buckeye Beer Engine

Getting back to happy hour, you can join the Beer Engine from 3-6pm on Weekdays for some tasty pub grub and a few cold ones. Reasonable prices, reasonable pours, and reasonable people make Buckeye Beer Engine a great time.

At BBE, you can find Troegs (PA), Toppling Goliath (IA), and even Connecticut's OEC Brewing on tap. And, they reserve several taps for international brewers, including Bavik, Chimay and Rothaus.

City Tap

Deagan's Kitchen & Bar

Awesome lookin' burgers, brews from local breweries (and cideries), and enough space to throw an Irish Funeral, Lakewood's Deagan's Kitchen & Bar is everything you want from a local watering hole.

You can find local Cleveland brewers including Great Lakes Brewing and Masthead, as well as Cincinnati favorites like Urban Artifact and Rhinegeist on tap.

Deagan's also seems like the kind of bar you'd have caught Wade Boggs drinking beer in after a doubleheader with The Tribe in the late '80s.

Jukebox

You can't go wrong with a $15 domestic beer bucket at Jukebox. Setting college-level fun aside, it's better to set your sights on their craft menu, which, speaking of college-level fun, is available in pitcher format.

You can grab a pitcher of Bell's Tropical Oberon and a couple of burgers/burritos for under $50. Not a bad deal.

Sauced Taproom & Kitchen

Sauced ... what a great name for a bar.

Inflatable Flamingo ... what a great name for a beer. Thank you, Land-Grant Brewing Company for that one.

So, you're mission, should you choose to accept it, is to not get too Sauced on Inflatable Flamingos.

Fun fact: You can get a 'Gansett at Sauced. Gotta rep Rhode Island when you can you know.

Tremont Taphouse

48 taps to choose from. What's not to love about that?

Featured drafts, amongst many others, include Jackie O's, Ommegang, Urban Artifact and Weihenstephaner (the oldest brewery in the world).

Town Hall

This Ohio City haunt dishes out a robust lineup of cool, one-word named craft beers, including Ricky (Jackie O's), Cheetah (Platform Beer Co.), and Exultation, which is from the Pretentious Barrel House of course.

Pair those with some Hot or Cold Bowls and you can have yourself a fine Sunday brunch. Or, maybe it's date night and you're headed out for Sushi. Whatever works for you.

Winking Lizard Tavern

The Winking Lizard Tavern sounds like a Prohibition Era speakeasy. Forget Joe sending you, we are sending you to the Winking Lizard for their Tour of Beers.

The tavern has been "touring" beers around the world for 35 years now, so they know the craft game. Plus, there are trophies for finishing 50/100/150 beers, including a logo'd sweatshirt for hitting the 150 mark.

The tour includes beers from Ommegang, Stone Brewing, Victory Brewing, and a ton of other microbrewers in the United States. We highly recommending checking out the Winking Lizard.