Blue Heron Brewery is open for indoor festivities once again
By Ken McEntee
Christmas came early last year at the Blue Heron Brewery.
Good thing, too, because when Brewmaster Mike Piazza broke open the stash of his popular Christmas Ale on July 9, little did he realize that the Medina brewpub would be closed because of Covid-19 throughout the real holiday season.
The good news is that Blue Heron patrons now have a new reason to celebrate: The pub reopened on February 11.
“This has been a few months in the making and we are ready,” says an excited General Manager Khadar Soussou. “For now, we’re going to be open Thursdays through Sundays, with indoor service, plus we’ve almost doubled the capacity for our highly demanded outdoor igloo domes. We now have nine of them.”
The heated igloos, which comfortably seat up to eight people on plush lounge furniture—a sofa, a love seat and chairs—cozily shield your party from the brisk winter weather. They can be rented in two-hour increments and feature full food and bar service.
That makes them the ideal venue for enjoying Mike’s home-brewed specialties. The Blue Heron always has 16 on tap.
“For the cold winter months, we’re featuring some robust brews,” Mike announces. “We have two bourbon barrel aged barley wines with two different styles of bourbon. We also have a bourbon barrel aged imperial stout plus a couple of other strong ales that are perfect for the winter.”
And, he adds, Blue Heron’s brand new growler machine makes it possible to take any of its draft beers home in 16-ounce cans.
“We can them for you on the spot,” he explains.
Blue Heron’s reopening means the return of its Sunday brunch—including its daunting Hail Mary Bloody Mary brunch feast in a mug. The concoction features a skewered filet mignon medallion slider topped with a roasted button mushroom and supported by a breakfast sausage, surrounded by a Caprese skewer of prosciutto wrapped asparagus, peppers, olives, pickles and a boneless chicken wing, flanked by shrimp.
“That’s all on top of a traditional Bloody Mary,” emphasizes Executive Chef Ben Erjavec. “We wanted to see how big and crazy we could get with it.”
The Hail Mary Bloody Mary costs $22, with $6 refills on the drink.
The Sunday brunch, offered from 11:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m., offers some of Ben’s latest creations, like the Heron Sandwich of Texas toast with avocado, aged cheddar cheese, scrambled eggs and bacon. You might also try the fried chicken bagel or breakfast tacos, stuffed with breakfast sausage and chipotle aioli scrambled eggs.
“All of our breakfast items are served with our crunchy au gratin potatoes,” Ben tempts.
Meanwhile, the Blue Heron will continue to serve its take-home family pick-up meals.
“The pick-up meals are delicious and convenient,” Khadar says. “And thanks to the support of the community, they got us through the past three months. When we decided to temporarily close our doors in November to protect our customers and our employees, takeout was the one thing we could continue to offer. The family meals push take-out to new level. Because of the support of the community, we were able to keep some of our staff on payroll. It seems like we found new customers every day. We’re now excited to have people rejoin us on-site.”
Blue Heron Brewery is located at 3227 Blue Heron Trace in Medina. You can make reservations for indoor seating, outdoor igloo domes, order take-home family meals or get more information by visiting BlueHeronMedina.com or by calling 330-870-BLUE. Follow them on Facebook for the latest updates @BlueHeronMedina.