Category Archives: Experiential Drinking

Events, Experiential Drinking, Festivals

Zootoberfest

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The book of Ecclesiastes tells us that there is a “time for everything,
 and a season for every activity under the heavens” – a time to dance, a time to mourn, a time to speak, etc. In the world of beer, the Fall season is the time for Oktoberfest and the wonderful Märzen-style beers that accompany it. I have to admit (while I do not care for Pumpkin Ales) I love
Märzens.

Oktoberfest has its origins in the festivities to celebrate the marriage of Crown Prince Ludwig and Princess Therese of Saxe-Hildburghausen  that were held in the German city of Munich in 1810. In 1811, Bavarian Agricultural Association decided to continue holding the festival, seeing it as a forum to showcase their farming achievements. Over the years, the festival evolved – carnival rides and food vendors were added, and beer became an integral feature of the event. Indeed, today many view Oktoberfest primarily as a beer festival. Not surprisingly, it attracts lots of people, with Its 189th iteration in 2023, attracting 7.2 million visitors from around the world.

Not only does Oktoberfest attract millions of visitors, it also attracts a large number of imitators. Today, town and cities across the world hold their own version of Munich’s famous festival. In the United States, Cincinnati, OH boasts the largest Oktoberfest in the country.

We don’t have an Oktoberfest celebration here in Toledo. But we do have Zootoberfest, a single-evening beer festival held in October at the beautiful Toledo Zoo & Aquarium Having attended Zootoberfest in 2023, I was looking forward to the 2024 version. It did not disappoint.

Opened in 1900, the Toledo Zoo & Aquarium is a beautiful facility. I particularly like the architecture dotted around the zoo’s 51 acres. These include the zoo’s earliest buildings inspired by the architecture of the city’s namesake, Toledo, Spain, and those built during the 1930s as part of the federal government’s Works Progress Administration (WPA). For those of you unfamiliar with the WPA, it was an employment and infrastructure program created by President Franklin Roosevelt during the height of the Great Depression in 1935. Its objective was to employ as many Americans as possible, building schools, hospitals, roads and other public works. Toledo Zoo buildings that were constructed as WPA projects include the Reptile House, the Amphitheater, the Museum of Science, the Aquarium, and the Aviary. The zoo is a true gem within the city and is universally loved by Toledo residents. Such is the value placed upon the zoo by local residents that, in 2014, it received enough votes to be named the nation’s No. 1 Zoo in the USA Today Reader’s Choice poll.

Dedicated in 1936, the Toledo Zoo Amphitheater has seen great such as Louis Armstrong, Paul Simon, and Bob Dylan grace its stage.
Toledo Zoo & Aquarium provided a beautiful setting for a beer festival

A total of 29 breweries were represented at the event, many of which were from northwest Ohio. My ticket to the event gave me access to 15 beer samples that I enjoyed in a souvenir beer glass. Several food trucks were also in attendance providing participants with some tasty food options. Most of the breweries had their version of an Oktoberfest beer available for sampling. For the first half of the evening Oktoberfests were my beer of choice. After that I switched it up and enjoyed some IPAs, Stouts, and Brown Ales. While Oktoberfest beers were freely flowing at Zootoberfest, it is worth noting that in 2022 The European Commission made “Oktoberfestbier”, brewed in Munich, a protected geographical indicator of Germany. One of the intents of this designation is protection against imitation.

Findlay Brewing Company was one of the northwest Ohio breweries participating in Zootoberfest
Patron Saints Brewery was one of the Toledo breweries participating in Zootoberfest

In addition to drinking beer, Zootoberfest provided an opportunity to enjoy some of the zoo’s exhibits. Toledo Zoo & Aquarium is home to over 16,000 animals, representing over 680 species, many of which were accessible during the beer festival. And if the exhibits did not provide enough entertainment, local cover band The Red Carpet Crashers put on a fantastic show in the zoo’s beautiful amphitheater.

Many of the exhibits (above and below) were open for Zootoberfest participants to view
Entertainment was provided by local cover band, The Red Carpet Crashers

I have been to a number of craft beer festivals over the years. Many of these have been held in a bland trade convention center type settings. The beer was usually great but the venue unexceptional. Zootoberfest combined some exceptional local beers with a stunning setting. In effect, Zootoberfest took what could have been a rather routine beer festival and turned it into an experience. To that, I say Kudos to the staff of the Toledo Zoo and Aquarium. I am already looking forward to next year’s event.

Community, Craft Breweries, Experiential Drinking

Inside The Five and The Experience Economy

I am not a football fan (the American variety that is), but I do know that the phrase “inside the five” refers to the zone between the five-yard line and the goal. It is also the name of a brewery (with three locations) in northwest Ohio. Inside the Five Brewing Co. was established in 2018, with the first location opening in Sylvania, OH. Two of the brewery’s owners, Chris Morris and Brandon Fields, were at Michigan State University together – the former was an offensive linesman and the latter a punter on Spartans football team. Both would go on to play in the NFL – Chris with the Oakland Raiders and Brandon with the Miami Dolphins. Such was their desire to make craft beer more accessible to more people in northwest Ohio, they opened a second and third location in Perrysburg, OH in 2020 and Toledo, OH in 2023. After its opening, all beer production was consolidated at their Toledo facility. In 2024, they opened a taproom at the Toledo facility.

On Father’s Day weekend, I visited all three of Inside the Five’s (ITF) within the space of three days. While it had not been my intention to do so at the start of the weekend, circumstances transpired that I ended up enjoying beer at all three venues. On the Thursday evening, I got a text from a friend asking for suggestions as to where we could meet the next afternoon to watch the opening game of the European Soccer Championships between Germany and Scotland. I suggested a local sports bar, but Glynn made the case for ITF in Sylvania. So that is where we met, and while my team, Scotland, were on the wrong end of a 5-1 drubbing, I at least was able to watch it while enjoying some excellent local beer.

Sunday was Father’s Day of course. My wife had already suggested ITF in Perrysburg for a Father’s Day dinner. She chose it because it was a brewery taproom (and she knows I like breweries) and because of its location near her stepmother’s apartment. Her stepmother had recently undergone a second hip replacement surgery, so a dinner venue nearby seemed like a good idea. So, I knew that I was going there.

What I did not know, however, is that my wife had made plans (with my youngest daughter and her boyfriend) to take me to ITF in Toledo in the afternoon of Father’s Day. In many respects, this is the most impressive of the three ITF locations. As I noted above, all of ITF’s production occurs there in a beautiful purpose-built production facility/taproom. This location is named The Fieldhouse, a nod to its proximity to the University of Toledo

What really impresses me about this location, however, is the way that they have developed and utilize their sizeable outside space which sits at the back of the brewery. When we arrived just after 1:00pm a farmer’s market (including craft vendors) was in full swing. This occurs every Sunday during the June – September from 11am-3pm. The fact that the number of vendors was relatively small probably reflects the fact that the market is in its infancy (it had only been going for a few weeks). I am sure that it will grow as the summer progresses.

The newly established Farmer’s Market at Toledo’s Inside The Five Brewery (Photo taken by Neil Reid)
The newly established Farmer’s Market at Toledo’s Inside The Five Brewery (Source: Inside the Five’s Facebook Page)

While ITF’s other two locations are more oriented towards adults, its Toledo location is clearly designed to attract families, including those with young children. While I was there, I saw a number of families sitting on the brewery’s outdoor patio and children playing in the purpose-built play area. For those who want to be more active while enjoying one of ITF’s excellent beers, there are a number of outdoor yard games available such as cornhole, for customers to enjoy. If the weather is not conducive to being outside a nice selection of board games are available. The outdoor space also includes a firepit, where folks can sit down and enjoy a beer and perhaps something to eat from one of the rotating food trucks when the weather is cooler.

Toledo’s Inside The Five Brewery offers a number of experiences for its patrons (Photo taken by Neil Reid)
One of the rotating food trucks that sets up at Toledo’s Inside The Five Brewery (Photo taken by Neil Reid)
Fire Pit at Toledo’s Inside The Five Brewery (Source: Inside the Five’s Facebook Page)
Games available for customers to play (Photo taken by Neil Reid)

ITF’s Toledo location is part of two larger trends that have been manifest in the American craft brewing scene for a number of years. These are a desire to be a different kind of drinking space, where children are welcome and where there is more do than just drink beer.

As noted in a 2018 report published by the University of New Hampshire Cooperative Extension, “while breweries have a reputation for attracting young people, . . . they appeal to families as well. They provide an atmosphere that is comfortable for parents and their children to eat and enjoy social time with others”. This is exactly what is happening at ITF’s Toledo location.

ITF has also positioned its Toledo brewery to be part of what is termed the “experience economy”. According to Bart Watson, Chief Economist of the Brewers Association, experiential drinking, which he defines as “not just going to drink” but “going to do something… and drink”, is on the rise. And, according to Nielsen, Craft breweries are proving very adept providing “new and creative experiences for craft drinkers to engage with their favorite brews”

The term “experience economy” is an interesting one. It was coined, as far as I can tell, by B. Joseph Pine II and James H. Gilmore in a paper published in the Harvard Business Review in 1988. There are ample data to show that people are increasingly spending more of their disposable income on experiences rather than things. This is particularly the case for the millennial cohort (the demographic frequently cited as the driving force behind craft beer’s popularity). Part of the reason why this might be the case is that, compared with things, purchasing experiences brings people more enduring happiness. Indeed, in a paper published in the Journal of Consumer Psychology, Ellizabeth Dunn and her co-authors suggest that to enhance their level of happiness, “consumers should buy more experiences and fewer material goods”. This is especially true of individuals with higher levels of disposable income (e.g., craft beer drinkers).

But why should purchasing experiences rather than things make people happier? In a paper published in Advances in Experimental Social Psychology in 2015, Thomas Gilovich and Amit Kumar suggest several reasons. These include the fact that experiences are often shared with other people, are less susceptible to unfavorable and unpleasant comparisons, and are less likely to invoke feelings of regret.

So, breweries that provide their patrons opportunities to engage in experiential drinking are in sync with a large portion of their customer base. The experiences offered by breweries do not need to be sophisticated or cost a lot of money to provide. Sitting round a fire pit with friends or playing a game of corn hole are often sufficient.

Inside the Five’s Toledo location is an excellent addition to its west Toledo neighborhood. The owners have taken a piece of undeveloped land and turned into an oasis where families and friends can go and have a beer and enjoy the amenities on offer. When I was there on Father’s Day, I noticed that there were still a couple parts of their property that remained undeveloped. I’ll be interested to see what they decide to do with these spaces.

Further Reading:

Dunn, Elizabeth W., Daniel T. Gilbert, and Timothy D. Wilson. 2011. If money doesn’t make you happy, then you probably aren’t spending it right. Journal of Consumer Psychology, Volume 21, Issue 2, Pages 115-125.

Gilovich, Thomas and Amit Kumar. 2015. We’ll always have Paris: The hedonic payoff from experiential and material investments. Advances in Experimental Social Psychology, Volume 51, Pages 147-187.

Pine, B. Joseph II and James H. Gilmore. 1998. Welcome to the experience economy. Harvard Business Review, Volume 76, Issue 4, Pages 97-105.

Community, Events, Experiential Drinking, Health

Experiential Drinking: Building a Terrarium

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Back in September, I went with my wife and daughter to HEAVY Beer Company, one of the newer breweries here in Toledo, OH. I was going to drink beer, but that was not the primary reason why my wife and daughter were heading to the brewery. They were going to build a terrarium – yes, a terrarium. In case you are not familiar with a terrarium, definitions range from “a jar of dirt and some weeds” to “a sealed or unsealed container that contains elements of a terrestrial ecosystem“. More about the construction of my wife and daughter’s terrariums later, but first a little background on these living ecosystems.

Regardless of how it is defined, the word “terrarium” has its origins from the Latin word for earth, terra. The first terrarium was created by a British botanist by the name of Nathaniel Bagshaw Ward in the 1820s. It was something of an accidental creation on the part of Ward. Investigating how different gases effected plants, Ward discovered that plants sealed in glass containers did pretty well. His first terrarium was a simple affair – a fern sealed in a jar. Ward’s discovery significantly increased the survival rate (from 5% to 95%) for plants being shipped long distances. As proof of concept, Ward had a carpenter build two large terrariums which he filled with ferns. In July 1833 the terrariums were loaded on a ship bound for Sydney, Australia where they arrived six months later “alive and thriving“. In 1842, Ward published a small book in which he documented the results of his work which focused on the benefits of putting plants in glass cases.

The cover of Ward’s book on terrariums

Terrariums (or Wardian Cases as they were originally known) were popular in Victorian Britain. Their popularity soon spread to the United States.  In the late 19th century “terrariums were all the rage“. Their popularity declined during the early 20th century, but “experienced a resurgence in the 1970s” and remain popular today. The appeal of terrariums is multi-faceted; they are low maintenance, do not take up a lot of space, and can be good for your mental health.

Whatever the motivation for owning one, a group of approximately twenty gathered at HEAVY Beer Company for a “Plants and Pints” workshop, where they would make their own terrarium. Helping these folks achieve their lifelong dream of terrarium ownership were Greer and Matt, owners of The Green Crow, which they describe as “Toledo’s First and Only Mobile House Plant Store“. During the course of an hour or so, Greer and Matt led the group through the process of making a terrarium. Of course, participants enjoyed a number of the brewery’s excellent beers while doing so.

Making a terrarium at HEAVY Beer Co. in Toledo, OH
Making a terrarium at HEAVY Beer Co. in Toledo, OH

Making a terrarium at HEAVY Beer Co. in Toledo, OH
A completed terrarium

All of those making a terrarium at HEAVY Brewing Co. were engaged in a practice called “experiential drinking” – that is drinking a beer while engaged in some other type of activity. Examples of experiential drinking abound. At Prison City Brewing in Auburn, NY a group of fifteen folks met one evening recently for a painting lesson from artist Christy Lemp. While Lemp’s usual medium is watercolors, on this occasion she used the brewery’s imperial stout. While being instructed in the art of painting with beer, many of the participants sipped on one of Prison City’s own brews. At Black Cloister Brewery in Toledo, OH, on the first Monday of every month, a group of women (and the occasional man) met for a knitting and crocheting session. While doing so, many of these fiber artists enjoyed one the brewery’s many beers. Sadly, the Black Cloister closed its doors in September 2019. Beer yoga (drinking beer while doing yoga) is another example of experiential drinking. Beer Yoga has grown in popularity in recent years, Apparently, there is a style of yoga called Vinyasa, which is conducive to holding a beer while transitioning from one posture/pose to another. For those not into painting or yoga, other common examples of experiential drinking include playing cornhole, a board game, or pinball. Trivia Night is another common activity at craft breweries.

As noted by Beth Newhart in BeverageDaily.com, “drinkers are now more drawn to experience-based locations for their alcohol consumption than typical bars with no extra incentives”. A 2011 study published in the Journal of Consumer Psychology examined the relationship link between how consumers spend their money and their happiness. One of the study’s key findings was that buying an experience resulted in more happiness than buying a material good. There are several reasons for this. First, people anticipate and remember experiences with more frequency than material goods. Second, (and this is a defining characteristic of experiential drinking), experiences are more likely to be shared with other people. The social aspect of experiences is good for human well-being. According to an article posted on the website of The Center for Compassion and Altruism Research and Education at Stanford University, “heaps of research suggest that social connections make people happier. Satisfying relationships not only make people happy, but they also associated with better health and even longer life.” In a previous blog entry, I cited the work of British anthropologist, Robin Dunbar, whose research has demonstrated the health benefits of moderate alcohol consumption, especially when done so in a social setting such as a British pub. So next time you go to a craft brewery with your friends, whether or not you build a terrarium, not only will you enjoy yourself, but you may add a few extra days to your life.