Once known as the Rubber Capital of the World, Akron can also justifiably style itself a beer mecca. More than a century ago, brewers like Renner, Burkhardt and others vied for local supremacy. Although these forerunners disappeared, a beer renaissance blossomed in recent years, with today's craft purveyors serving up some of the nation's finest brews. Several of Thirsty Dog Brewery's beers have won awards, and Hoppin' Frog consistently ranks as one of the top one hundred breweries in the world. Rob Musson presents a chronological look at Akron beer from its origins along the Ohio & Erie Canal in 1845 to the present day, featuring one hundred vintage and contemporary images.

Once known as the Rubber Capital of the World, Akron can also justifiably style itself a beer mecca. More than a century ago, brewers like Renner, Burkhardt and others vied for local supremacy. Although these forerunners disappeared, a beer renaissance blossomed in recent years, with today's craft purveyors serving up some of the nation's finest brews. Several of Thirsty Dog Brewery's beers have won awards, and Hoppin' Frog consistently ranks as one of the top one hundred breweries in the world. Rob Musson presents a chronological look at Akron beer from its origins along the Ohio & Erie Canal in 1845 to the present day, featuring one hundred vintage and contemporary images.

From a prehistoric locale like the Big Falls of the Cuyahoga River to the cavernous 1970s majesty of the Coliseum, explore the places that have melted away in Akron's changing landscape. Remember M. O'Neil Company? Akron Times-Press? The North Hill Viaduct? WAKR-TV? Norka Soda? Rolling Acres Mall? These are icons that all defined the city and its people. For those who live in Akron, for those who have moved away and for those too young to remember the Rubber City's heyday, author Mark J. Price takes a fascinating look at fifty vanished landmarks from Akron's past.

Beginning in the mid-1800s, the beer-brewing industry in Cleveland experienced its most extensive growth due to the rapidly increasing immigrant population of mostly Germans, Czechs, and Irish. The breweries enjoyed great success until the Prohibition era closed all brewing operations down for 14 dry years. In 1933, the industry started anew, and Clevelanders were able to enjoy locally made beer for 50 more years before business conditions led to the industrys second demise. Today the industry has once again experienced a rebirth, this time on a smaller scale with the emergence of a number of popular brewpubs and microbreweries.

Akron and Summit County's classic hot spots have satisfied palates since the early twentieth century. Akron alone could sit up to thirty thousand people at once during the golden age of the '50s and '60s. Marcel's made a name for itself with its scampi, and Icaomini's became synonymous with lobster. Ladd's dished crowd-pleasing coney dogs, and Yanko's sliced up its mouthwatering shish kabobs. Digging up vintage images and recipes, author Sharon Myers leads readers on a delectable trip down memory lane to the area's most renowned and cherished eateries.

Many Ohioans remember the names Leisy, Erin Brew, P.O.C., Gold Bond, Crystal Rock, Carling Black Label, Burkhardt's, Burger, Souvenir, and Renner Old Oxford Ale when thinking of local beers from their youth. But how many remember White Rock, Bula, Zest, Tuscora, Red Band, American Maid, Old Lockport, or Milt and Gold Beers? Not to mention Zepp, Reno, Perlex, and Hock-Ola beverages from the fourteen dark years of Prohibition? Volume I of Brewing Beer In The Buckeye State is the culmination of more than ten years of research by the author, Robert A. Musson. Building on his previous history of Akron's brewing industry, Brewing Beer In The Rubber City, this new text takes on the industry throughout the entire eastern half of Ohio. Cities covered here include Cleveland, Akron, Youngstown, Ashtabula, Sandusky, Mansfield, East Liverpool, Steubenville, Canton, New Philadelphia, Zanesville, Lancaster, Marietta, and Ironton. The modern era is not forgotten either, as more than 40 brewpubs and microbreweries from the region are included, right up to the end of 2004. All in all, more than 240 brewery sites are chronicled over 342 pages. These span the entire spectrum of the brewing industry, from Nineteenth Century tavern owners who made beer for customers in back rooms to giants such as Carling, which churned out millions of barrels of beer each year and rose to become one of the nation's top five brewers before dwindling into obscurity. Along the way, more than 400 illustrations of buildings, people, and artifacts help to tell the story. In addition, included with the book is a DVD which contains an extended, 737-page version of this book, but in full color and with more than 3000 illustrations of people, advertisements, brewery collectibles, buildings, floor plans, etc. This version is presented as a series of pdf files that can be printed out by the reader if desired. Brewing Beer In The Buckeye State is meant for anyone with an interest in beer, brewing, Ohio history (or history in general), advertising, architecture....or anyone who likes reading about the growth and development of an industry over nearly two centuries, and the people who made that growth happen....especially with some rags-to-riches stories of immigrants who came to America with only dreams and made fortunes through their hard work, innovation, and some luck (both good and bad) as well. In this modern era, it can be refreshing to remember why people have and continue to come to the United States to build new lives.