One of my favorite beer pairing events was Great Lakes Brewing Company’s comic books and beer night

When I hear the phrase “beer pairings,” my thoughts – as yours probably do – immediately go to beer and food. From cheese and chocolate to bacon, seafood, and sushi.

However, this post is not about that kind of pairing. (If you’re here looking for that, save the date for Cleveland Beer Week 2014 October 10-18, which promises to be full of great food and beer events.)

Instead, I’m talking today about beer paired with some unexpected activities. From comedy to science to art, here are 3 upcoming events if you’d like to do something different while drinking your favorite pint.

Did you miss Great Lakes Science Center’s Yuri’s Night? I have good news for you:

This Thursday, June 26, GLSC is continuing their series of 21-and-over ‘Science After Dark’ events with HOME BREW from 6:30-9:30 pm.

• Do you know what happens to beer when you take away air pressure? Witness it firsthand when the Science Center staff tests it out with different kinds of brews. 
• Want to learn about home brewing? Meet Paul and Reed from Cleveland Brew Shop at their “Yeast: The Workhorse of Beer” demonstration.
• Ever wondered, as I have, why your speech sounds funny after you start drinking? Dr. Amee Shah of CSU’s Speech Acoustics & Perception Lab will discuss your brain on booze.

There will also be hands-on activities including LEGO-building and science board and card games created by Cleveland Institute of Art students. Or you can try creating a putt-putt golf hole using everyday materials.

And, of course, beer and coffee samples from Fat Head’s Brewery, Crafted Artisan Meadery, Jackie O’ Brewery, Great Lakes Brewing Company, and Phoenix Coffee will be available.·

Tickets are $18 in advance/$21 at the door (only $12 for members). Buy tickets online here or call 216-621-2400.

“Avengers Artists, Assemble!”

It doesn’t matter whether you’re a professional, amateur, or completely-out-of-practice artist like me. Join the Cleveland Drink & Draw Social Club at one of their twice-monthly meetups. They’re at Great Lakes Brewing Company the first Wednesday and Lava Lounge the third Thursday of every month.

That means the next one is July 2nd in GLBC’s Rockefeller Room (7-11pm).

Started in 2012 by the Rust Belt Monster Collective, the Drink & Draw Social Club is “a place to exchange techniques, build contacts, and most importantly; bond over what is far too often a solitary passion.”

All you have to do is bring your art supplies. Every event also includes group “jam pieces” and prizes from long-time supporters Carol And John’s Comic shop. 

Not into science or art? Well, everyone likes to laugh.

On July 10, the Greater Cleveland Food Bank’s YP Pantry group will be hosting the inaugural BrewHaha – Lager and Laughs for Hunger Relief.

From 6-9pm at the Food Bank’s distribution center, enjoy the talents of Last Call Cleveland and local comedians Josh Womack, Mary Santora, and Jake Solomon while sampling beer from Chardon BrewWorks, Great Lakes, Market Garden, Willoughby Brewing Company, Platform Beer Company, Deschutes Brewery and others.

The comedy show will be hosted by the always-hilarious Bill Squire, co-host of the Alan Cox Show and live music will be provided by Newshoes.  

Individual tickets are $25, which includes 20 samples of beer in a souvenir beer tasting glass and the evening’s entertainment. Tickets for two are discounted at $45 and designated drivers can enjoy water, non-alcoholic beverages and all of the performances for only $10. Get them here.

All proceeds from the evening go to benefit the Greater Cleveland Food Bank’s mission to provide food to those in need.

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I hope you check out at least one of, if not all of these events. The Cleveland beer scene is incredible, and it’s exciting to see the city not just embrace it, but do so in such eclectic ways.

Disclosure: I was invited to attend the Great Lakes Science Center’s HOME BREW with a guest. I also used to be on the YP Pantry board. However, I chose to blog about these events independently of those decisions and the opinions are 100% mine.

Dec. CLE Read: Damn Right I’m From Cleveland by Mike Polk Jr.

UPDATE: This giveaway is now closed. Congratulations to the winners!

Between the usual stress of the holidays and what happened last week, I don’t think I’m alone in thinking we could all use a little laughter right now.

So I figured I’d pick a book for my December CLE Read that lightens the mood. And there was Mike Polk Jr.’s Damn Right I’m From Cleveland to the rescue.

If you’re a Clevelander who spends any amount of time online (which I assume you do since you’re on a blog right now), you’re likely familiar with Polk’s Hastily Made Cleveland Tourism Video.

I first saw it courtesy of Scott’s Animosity Pierre comedy team who seriously still quote it to this day when they visit.

However, between other viral videos like One Semester of Spanish – Love Song or his ode to the Factory of Sadness and his sketch comedy work with the award-winning Last Call Cleveland, Polk isn’t a one-hit wonder.

Repeatedly named one of Cleveland’s best comedians, Polk’s comedic chops caught the attention of local publisher Gray and Co. who invited him to put it all down in writing.

And so we have just over 100 pages of hilarity, equal parts broad and subversive, poking fun at everything Cleveland – including himself.

It may be a quick read, but each 2-page spread got a laugh out of me that lasted long after I put the book down. My personal favorites:

• Cleveland Thrifting Like a Pro (which I had to keep Scott from reading so that he wouldn’t immediately go on a shopping spree)
• Potential Cleveland Bumper Stickers (“Cleveland: We’re Just Crashing in Canada’s Basement Til We Can Get Our Shit Together”)
• 3 Plans to Resurrect Downtown Cleveland (I think the urban paintball arena would have more than its fair share of fans)
• And this…

A Better Cleveland Flag from Mike Polk’s Damn Right I’m From Cleveland. Godd-Dawg!

A Browns fan by birth not choice, Polk also mines a lifetime of tortured sports memories for laughs. I even learned a few things – like the fact that the ultimate Cleveland sports fantasy Major League isn’t even about a championship game, just a pennant.

Some Cleveland supporters may cringe at what Polk writes or give him flack for making fun of the city.

They should get over it.

Good comedy is rarely ever nice and with Polk it comes from a place of love. Polk notes in his introduction that this city with “a rich history and a promising future” is like a younger sibling he can tease “because we’re family and that’s what we do. But if some asshole from Indianapolis mouths off about it, I do not hesitate to set him straight.”

Damn right.

You can purchase Damn Right I’m From Cleveland from Cleveland publisher Gray & Company for only $14.95 or find it in local bookstores: www.grayco.com/stores/index.shtml.

I’m also giving away two copies to add a bit of humor to your holidays.

There are 5 Easy Ways to Enter the Giveaway!
Leave a separate comment on this post for each entry.

1) For one entry, leave a comment on this post recommending a Cleveland book you’ve read or want to read.

2) Follow @ClevelandBooks and @ADHicken on Twitter and leave one comment here letting me know you did both.

3) If you’re a fan of Clue Into Cleveland on Facebook, leave a comment on this blog post letting me know. If you’re not yet a fan, you can become one here.

4) Twitter users can also get an extra entry each day for tweeting: “I want to win @clevelandbooks’ Damn Right I’m From Cleveland. Enter @ADHicken’s giveaway for your chance to win: http://wp.me/p2Ukr0-1If”  (Each day you do this, you must leave a new comment.)

5) Subscribe to receive Clue Into Cleveland blog posts by email or via the RSS feed and leave a comment letting me know you did. This can include signing up to receive email notifications in the top-right “Subscribe” section of this page.

You have until Monday, Dec. 24 at 11:59PM to enter. On Christmas Day, I will select 2 winners using Random.org and will announce their names on my blog.  Remember to leave a separate comment for each entry.

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This is the latest in my CLE Reads series. Check out my previous installments:

• Harvey Pekar’s Cleveland (September 2012)
• Les Roberts’ Whiskey Island (October 2012)
• Rust Belt Chic (November 2012)

I’ll be back next month with Women Behaving Badly: Cleveland’s Most Ferocious Female Killers.

Disclosure: I was invited to review a copy of Damn Right I’m From Cleveland and give away 2 copies. The opinions expressed here about the book are 100% my own.