Nearly 100 beers, ciders and meads will flow through the atmospheric domed auditorium of the Akron Civic Theatre on Friday, October 9, when the annual Pints & Pies Craft Beer Festival returns at 7 p.m. Local brewery Hoppin' Frog crafted a special exclusive beer called Croak at the Moon just for the event, and organizers have paired the drink lineup with unlimited pizza and dessert pie samples from seven local vendors.
The festival's beer list, organized by style rather than by brewery, spans everything from Belgian classics to hazy IPAs to non-alcoholic options, according to cleveland.com, which published the full pour list this week. Belgian imports like Brasserie d'Achouffe's Mc Chouffe, Chimay's Premiere Ale and St. Feuillien's Grand Cru will sit alongside hometown pours such as Great Lakes Brewing Co.'s Asplash and Market Garden Brewery's Hometown Lager. The event is scheduled at the Akron Civic Theatre, and tickets, which run $56.55 and include 25 drink tickets, are available through akroncivic.com, the theater's box office, or by phone.
A Milestone Year For a Local Brewery
Croak at the Moon is not the only reason Hoppin' Frog is a name to watch at this year's festival. The Akron-based brewery, founded in 2006 by brewmaster Fred Karm, is marking its 20th anniversary throughout 2026, according to The Beer Connoisseur. The brewery operates a taproom in Akron and distributes to dozens of states and foreign countries, per the same outlet. Beyond the anniversary beer, Hoppin' Frog will also pour Pineapple Upside Down Cake, Blackberry Turbo Shandy, an Oktoberfest and a Peanut Butter Caramel Chocolate Cake, per cleveland.com's list.
Other regional breweries are well represented too. Twin Oast Brewing, Fat Head's Brewery, Thirsty Dog Brewing Co., Masthead Brewing Co. and Collision Bend Brewing Co. all appear on the pour list, alongside out-of-state names like Toppling Goliath Brewing Co., Brooklyn Brewery and Southern Tier Brewing Co. Mogadore-based Crafted Artisan Meadery will provide a Spiced Maple Cranberry Mead along with several other mead offerings, while cider makers Blake's Hard Cider, Ace and Ash & Elm Cider Co. round out the non-beer selections.
Craft Beer's Growing Footprint in Ohio
The mix of ready-to-drink cocktails, hard ciders, meads and non-alcoholic beers on this year's menu reflects a broader shift underway across Ohio's craft beverage industry. Ohio's 442 craft breweries generated $1.29 billion in economic output and supported 12,255 jobs in 2024, according to a biennial study covered by Business Journal Daily, up from $1.27 billion in 2022. The state's breweries produced 1.15 million barrels of beer in 2024, ranking Ohio sixth nationally in craft beer production volume, though that figure dipped slightly as brewers shifted capacity toward seltzers and non-alcoholic drinks.
The number of active Ohio craft breweries has climbed from just 45 in 2011 to 442 by the end of 2024, with 46 new breweries opening in that final year alone, according to the Ohio Capital Journal. Dozens more brewery projects remain in planning stages statewide, the outlet reports.
Inside a Rare Surviving Movie Palace
Pints & Pies has been hosted at the Akron Civic Theatre since 2019, according to cleveland.com's reporting, placing this year's festival inside one of the country's few surviving atmospheric theaters. Built in 1929 by Marcus Loew and designed by architect John Eberson, the venue is one of only five remaining atmospheric theaters still operating in the United States, according to the Akron Civic Theatre. Eberson designed the space to resemble an outdoor European Moorish garden, complete with a domed ceiling featuring fiber-optic twinkling stars and projected clouds drifting across a simulated night sky.
The theater underwent an $8.5 million restoration and expansion completed in 2021, which added the 200-person Knight Stage and upgraded the Grand Lobby and entry arcade, per CoolCleveland. The multi-phase overhaul was supported by city grants and foundation funding. That same year, the theater also partnered with The East End development to manage and program the historic 1,462-seat Goodyear Theater, expanding its footprint across Akron's entertainment scene.
Pizza, Pie and Plenty to Sample
Festivalgoers won't be limited to drinks. Tickets include unlimited pizza and pie samples from seven vendors: Jet's Pizza, Totally Baked, Gardner Pie Co., D'Agnese's, Merriman Valley Pizza, Papa Roni and Marques Restaurant, according to cleveland.com's rundown. The festival pairs beer with local pizzerias and dessert pies.
Temporary liquor permits in Ohio — such as the $150 F-2 permit issued by the state's Division of Liquor Control — restrict sales to charitable purposes for up to four consecutive days, according to the Ohio Department of Commerce. State agencies issued more than 5,500 such temporary permits in 2024 alone.
