portside distillery
There's been a change in brewers at Portside Distillery & Brewery in Cleveland.
(David Petkiewicz, cleveland.com)
CLEVELAND, Ohio - Portside Distillery & Brewery has made a change in brewers, with the hire of Vaughn Stewart, formerly of Arcadia Ales in Michigan.
Dan Malz has stepped back from his brewing role but will maintain a stake in the ownership, said Matt Zappernick, one of the owners.
"We needed a full-time brewer, we needed a nine-to-five brewer, and Dan is not in his position to leave his day job," Zappernick said.
Stewart had been overseeing Arcadia's operations in Kalamazoo, Zappernick said, adding the brewer's wife is from Cleveland and he was "looking to get back to Cleveland." Stewart, who has a bachelor's degree from Ohio University, had been with Arcadia since 2013.
"He's a truly unique guy with an immense amount of knowledge of brewing," Zappernick said. "It's a real coup for us."
Malz said he won't seek other brewing jobs.
"I'm still an owner," said Malz, who said he has had others approach him about brewing opportunities. "Because of my fiduciary responsibilities, it wouldn't be right (to take another brewing job.)"
Zappernick said Portside - which is the first licensed distillery in Cuyahoga County since Prohibition - will maintain its rum production. He said Cleveland-based Heidelberg has "taken the lead on being the spirits broker." But he added the emphasis will remain on producing quality 216, a dry-hopped Pale Ale, and Rusalka Vanilla Stout. A grapefruit India Pale Ale also is in the works, Zappernick said.
Brewers leaving or jumping to other places is not an anomaly. Breweries change up for a variety of reasons, and brewers move on, often shifting from one place to another. Shaun Yasaki, the first brewer at Platform Beer Co., left in October to pursue other opportunities. John McGroarty is the second brewer at The Canton Brewing Co., which recently marked its first anniversary. And many brewers throughout Northeast Ohio cut their teeth at Great Lakes Brewing Co. before pursuing jobs elsewhere.