Minkin's Music: Ohio City’s new hot spot

By Jay Minkin

Located between Tremont and Ohio City, Duck Island is an old neighborhood that was primarily comprised of blue-collar workers who staffed the mills, factories and warehouses in the Flats. It also was a place where bootleggers would “duck” the prohibition law. The tiny neighborhood is home to Forest City Brewery, which is becoming quite a destination location for libations and entertainment.

Once one of Cleveland’s oldest beer gardens, the former Atlantic Beer Garden structure was resurrected in 2014 by Jay Demagall. Forest City is named after another former brewery that once thrived on the east side. Demagall salvaged bricks after that building was torn down. Reclaiming materials is part of the charm connecting the past to the present found throughout the space.

A nooks-and-crannies maze will eventually lead customers into a 40-seat tasting room. Along with hand-crafted beer, you’ll be surrounded by vintage wood coolers, old school brewery memorabilia, a beloved 1920s car and a view of their brew system while sitting below timber frame from the 1900s. From the tasting room, you can step either into the 5,000-square-foot Waldorf Beer Hall or, when weather permits, the outdoor Atlantic Beer Garden.

Some of the monthly events include The Potluck (live music and BYO food) with Brent Kirby and The Duck Island Bootleggers (Honky Tonk classic country two-step dancing) led by Thor Platter on select Sundays. Music by Hikyoga Cleveland and Mental Illness and Friends, swing dancing, and open-to-the-public fundraising programs grace the eclectic calendar. The New Soft Shoe will be having a yearlong residency performing on the second Thursday of each month in the beer hall. They’ll be playing that cosmic Americana country from the Gram Parsons songbook. For the latest happenings, visit ForestCityBrewery.com.

Contact Jay at Blues4Bird@aol.com or post on his Minkin’s Music Facebook page.