The taproom usually has 11 beers and a hard seltzer on tap.

CHAGRIN FALLS, Ohio – So many neighborhoods and pockets of Cleveland boast breweries, from the enclave of Ohio City to the heart of downtown and beyond. But slowly, over the past six years, the burg of Chagrin Falls has created its own brewing mecca.

Hop bines grow near the patio.

It started with Crooked Pecker Brewing Co. in 2019. Since then a trio of breweries – Pompatus, Bummin’ Beaver and 8th Day – have all opened. All are located on E. Washington St.

The taproom is a comfortable one, and there's a patio as well.

8th Day Brewing Co. is coming up on its fourth anniversary this fall, tucked just northwest of U.S. 422 and Ohio 44. The brewery’s address is Chagrin Falls, but it is located east of the city’s downtown, in Geauga County.

“It keeps expanding,” said Matt Boddy, main brewer and one of the owners along with some silent investors, about the region and beer.

That’s a good thing because craft beer remains a draw for folks.

“Outside of going kayaking at LaDue (Reservoir), there’s no reason to be out here. There wasn’t ever anything here,” Boddy said.

George Quay, who works at the brewery in a variety of capacities, said the area is experiencing some growth.

“Being in a semi-rural space, having multiple locations to attract people and turn us into a beer destination has been super important,” said Quay, who studied aquaculture – fish farming science – at Ohio State. He said his studies and brewing have a couple of things in common, sanitation and water-quality monitoring being similar traits.

Boddy, who said “competition isn’t really a thing” between area brewers who all get along, guesses 50% of 8th Day’s weekend customers are actually from the west side of Cleveland.

Matt Boddy and George Quay.

Boddy’s entré to beer is a story familiar to many commercial brewers.

He used to design outside kitchens and bars, but in 2017 he blew out his back. He found he couldn’t do the work alone and couldn’t hire anyone, so he shut down the business.

8th Day is one of several breweries that have opened in recent years in the Chagrin Falls area, drawing craft-beer enthusiasts to the region.

But he couldn’t sit still.

Matt Boddy works in a 3.5-barrel brewhouse.

“Four months into my retirement my wife bought me a beer kit and said, ‘You need to get out of the house, you’re driving me nuts.’ I brewed the beer and proceeded to let my wife know this is going to cost her a lot of money someday. And it did,” he laughed.

Many brewers start with tiny systems in their garage. Some keep it as a hobby, content to make a few bottles of beer for friends and families. For others, the passion hits, and Boddy got the bug.

The origin story of 8th Day’s name is one of the best.

“God created Earth in seven, and God’s got a sense of humor,” Boddy said. “I believe that on His day of rest he forgot to make beer.”

The space was Sirna’s, a restaurant that is now across the street. The original front part of the building the brewery is in was the old Auburn Stable House, the third building built in town dating to about 1826, said Quay, who started at the brewery about three months after the doors opened.

TVs and artwork hang in the space.

It has been home to a variety of business, eateries, dental offices, other places.

“It’s worn a lot of hats,” said Boddy, who grew up nearby in Newbury Township.

Now it’s a comfortable taproom with hundreds of stickers touting breweries all over, plastered behind the bar and in the bathroom. Customers often leave them, Quay said. Glass-blown mugs come from a local maker for mug-club members. Tasteful artwork hangs along with a couple of televisions.

For beer, Boddy works on a 3.5-barrel system and keeps 11 beers and a seltzer on tap. A Kolsch and a Hazy India Pale Ale are big sellers. But the top seller is not a beer; it’s the hard seltzer.

“It’s the only thing that is on tap 24 hours a day and seven days,” Boddy said. “It has taken off. The following of our seltzers - if they walk in and we don’t have it, they’ll walk back out. It’s 6% alcohol – a tad stronger than most hard seltzers on the market, which usually come in about 5%. Flavoring can be added to zest them up, he said, and they are looking at canning it.

8th Day Brewing will mark four years this fall.

“The current alcohol buyer is not tied to a specific style,” Quay said. “People are shopping based on flavor experience. If you tell them a drink is going to taste like cherry, a seltzer is going to translate that really well.” Compare that to a less-experienced beer drinker trying a Kolsch, and that flavor doesn’t translate as easily, he added.

An outdoor fire pit has a smart design for 8th Day Brewing Co.

The brewery hasn’t abdicated its beer roots, though, and often has a very low-alcohol beer on tap, like a Belgian table beer or English mild, they said. And, Boddy said, “We’ve done a lot more fruited beers than we used to.”

Beer to go is sold in four-packs of 16-ounce cans. Most of its cans are sold out of the taproom, with some limited-range distribution. They offer twist-top crowlers in the taproom and can some beers for local restaurants.

Distribution is limited because of having nominal cooler space, but they hope to expand that part of the business this summer.

“We’re not knocking on doors and getting our names out there as much as we should be,” Quay said.

They recently planted hop bines near their large patio, which includes a fire pit shaped like an ‘8’, which Boddy built. They have patio-expansion plans down the road, he said.

For now, 8th Day is content with serving its community and the beer-fan travelers who head east of Cleveland. It’s a modern-day, corner-bar mentality.

“It’s true they are filling that niche, but it’s a blessing and a curse that breweries have such a hyper local following,” Quay said. “Every brewer is trying to figure out how to get more people to show up at their place. But the great thing is you build up your regulars, you provide good beer and service to them, they are always going to keep coming.”

Four-pack of facts about 8th Day Brewing Co.

Location: 11782 E. Washington St., Chagrin Falls (Auburn Township). Dedicated parking lot and patio. It’s 31 miles from downtown Cleveland.

Hours:

• 3 to 10 p.m. Wednesday to Friday

• Noon to 10 p.m. Saturday

• 3 to 8 p.m. Sunday

Closest breweries: Bummin’ Beaver Brewery (1 mile), Pompatus (6 miles) and Crooked Pecker Brewing Co. (7 miles). All are west of 8th Day. Also: Eleventhree Brewing Co. is 14 miles to the north in Chardon.

Events: 8th Day has regularly scheduled events. Bingo on Wednesday offers a rolling cash prize with a portion earmarked for charity. A bring-your-own vinyl night is held. But the most popular is open-mike night for what Quay calls the brewery’s very “music-oriented crowd.” It draws 20 to 30 performers, and “not just karaoke-level people. They are really, really talented musicians that by the end of it a lot of them will jam together and form groups which I think is really neat,” he said. “Some voices, when they start singing, the whole place goes silent. It’s kind of neat that at an open mike half the people are here to actually watch, not participate. It’s that level of talent here.”

Four-pack of facts about 8th Day Brewing Co.

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