Milan, Ohio is best known as the birth town of America’s most famous inventor, Thomas Edison, in 1847. Just a few years after the birth of Milan’s famous son, a tradition of brewing began. The Milan Brewing Company, followed by Jos. Herb Brewing Co., began brewing “Milan Pure Beer” in the 1850s and continued brewing prize-winning beers for nearly 100 years. Prohibition killed the craft and the company converted to a mushroom plant. The still-standing structure now operates as the Growers Chemical Corporation.
The Milan Museum will celebrate the town’s brewing heritage with its 2nd annual beer tasting on Saturday, September 25, featuring Ohio-brewed beers. Brewery sponsors include the Gordon Biersch Brewery from Columbus and local brewer, Put-in-Bay Brewing Company. A variety of microbrews will be available to taste including Put-in-Bay Brewing Company’s Summer Brew (a wheat beer) and Dead Leaf Lager (their special Oktoberfest beer), as well as Gordon Biersch’s Festbier (a rich, moderately hopped bronze lager.)
A traditional Oktoberfest menu of food items will be available for purchase to accompany beer tastings, sponsored by Milan’s The Invention Restaurant. Food items include bratwurst with sauerkraut and onion toppings, German potato salad, sauerkraut balls and dessert items.
The event takes place from 2 – 5 pm on the Milan Museum’s lawn. Admission is just $8.00 for non-museum members and includes tokens for four tastings and a souvenir 5 oz. pilsner glass. Additional beer tasting tokens can be purchased for $2.00 each. Or, guests can purchase a full-sized Milan Brewing Company mug for $20.00 and enjoy free beer refills all day! Food samples are offered for $2.00 per person.
Raffle tickets will be sold throughout the event for a Mr. Beer Home Brewing Kit, limited edition reproductions of Milan Brewing Company memorabilia and merchandise from the Put-in-Bay Brewing Company and the Gordon Biersch Brewery. Milan Brewing Company reproductions will also be for sale in the Museum’s gift shop. Tours of the museum will be offered during the event.
For more information, please contact the Milan Historical Museum at 419.499.2968.
The Insider 