The Stark County District Library Foundation will hold a beer tasting fundraiser from 6 to 10 p.m. Oct. 11 at the Lodge at Fieldcrest of North Canton. TAP Into Literacy: A Craft Brew Tasting Experience will feature beer from Samuel Adams, Great Lakes, Sierra Nevada, Magic Hat, Rivertown and Cellar Rats.

The event also will feature food and a special chocolate and cheese pairing. There will be live entertainment and the opportunity to bid on silent and live auction items, including: a beer-tasting for 12 at Glenmoor Country Club; Congress Lake progressive party catered by Joe Peleggi; Barrel Room Private Reserves Wine Tasting; plane ride in a vintage tail wheel aircraft; and Judith Ripka jewelry and collectibles.

The Beer Institute released results of a poll Thursday that showed that likely voters this fall are opposed to increasing taxes on beer. Nine out of 10 agreed that “raising taxes on beer will mean working class consumers will have to pay more,” the group said.

The poll surveyed 1,000 likely voters nationwide. One surprising result? Sixty-six percent of regular beer drinkers said they will watch the presidential debates -- and they are more likely to watch those debates than the World Series or an NFL game.

Jackie O's in Athens has posted a new video detailing the process of opening its new production brewery. Brewer Brad Clark -- sporting a thicker beard and coveralls instead of the crazy checkered shorts from previous videos -- provides a five-minute guided tour through the facility and shows off the brewing equipment, including the fermenters.

The hope is to start brewing beer by the end of October, Clark said. (The video is below.)

The overall U.S. beer industry shrank by 1.3 percent last year, thanks to depressed sales for domestic brands, increased competition from wine and spirits, unemployment and a struggling economy, according to the Beverage Information Group's 2012 Beer Handbook.

The industry lost 35.6 million 2.25 gallon cases to end the year at 2.787 billion cases, the company said. A bit of good news? Craft and import beer categories are seeing increases that are expected to continue.

Hoppin' Frog Brewery in Akron won the Akron Beacon Journal's Beacon's Best 2012 award for "Ohio Brewery/Brewpub." It's the fourth consecutive year that newspaper readers voted Hoppin' Frog as the best.

The rest of the top 10, in order, were: Great Lakes Brewing, Thirsty Dog Brewing, Ohio Brewing, The Brew Kettle, Fat Head's Brewery, Lagerhead's Smokehouse, Cellar Rats Brewery, Cleveland ChopHouse and Main Street Grille and Brewing.

Samuel Adams is trying to find beer drinkers who can hoist a stein the longest as part of its National Stein Hoisting Competitions, which are taking place through Oct. 15 in bars and at festivals around the country.

Cleveland Heights Patch, a news website, has a story about the BottleHouse Brewery and its early success. Co-owner Brian Benchek told the website that the original plan was to offer brew-on-premise for customers, but BottleHouse has been overwhelmed with demand for its own beers so that hasn't happened.

"It was always the intention to feather BOP out as the brewery grew, but we imagined that would be years down the road," he said. "It's just a matter of demand for our beer. We're very happy with the quality of our beer. We're just trying to keep up with demand."

Upland Brewery is expanding into the Greater Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky market, Stagnaro Distributing announced today.

Upland, a craft brewer based in Bloomington, Ind., "has a loyal following that rivals its hometown college basketball team," the distributor says in a news release. "Many of Upland’s award-winning brews are unique twists on traditional recipes, while others are products of their own imagination. Upland strives to maintain a strong sense of community and prides itself on its sustainability efforts. Ingredients and materials used in the brewery are sourced locally whenever possible, and energy saving initiatives such as a solar water-heating system are utilized."

Dayton-area beer drinkers will get the first taste of Third Shift Amber Lager -- a new beer made by MillerCoors -- at a special launch party from 7 to 10 p.m. Oct. 10 at Top of the Market. There's also a VIP event that begins at 6 p.m.

The launch party is free, and you can reserve a spot by clicking here.

UPDATED: Market Garden Brewery in Cleveland has finalized the lineup for its first Pumpkin Beer Fest, which begins at 4 p.m. Oct. 3. The brewery will have 12 guest taps dedicated to pumpkin beers, as well as a real pumpkin -- a pumpkin firkin -- filled with Market Garden's Franklin Castle Pumpkin Ale.

The lineup also features: Hoppin' Frog Frog's Hollow Double Pumpkin, The Brew Kettle Strangeville Pumpkin Ale, Thirsty Dog Barrel Aged Pumpkin, Fat Head's Spooky Tooth, Timmerman’s Pumpkin Lambic, Ace Pumpkin Cider, Shipyard Pumpkinhead Pumpkin Ale, Crooked River Pumpkin Harvest, Buckeye Brewing Pumpkin, New Holland Ichabod Pumpkin, Southern Tier Pumking and Weyerbacher Imperial Pumpkin. The brewpub also will have pumpkin-themed foods and cocktails.

Vintage Estate Wine and Beer in Boardman finished third in the North Central region in Craftbeer.com's Great American Beer Bars competition. Nearly 30,000 votes were cast online.

The overall winners, announced today, were: first, Mekong Restaurant in Richmond, Va.; second, Hopcat in Grand Rapids, Mich.; and third, The Thirsty Monk in Asheville, N.C. In the North Central region, Vintage Estate was bested by Hopcat and fellow Grand Rapids location Founders Taproom.

Vitruvian Brewing Co. in Yellow Springs is still seeking start-up money to launch its brewery. Founder Shane Creepingbear has uploaded a faux "brainstorming" video online to try to generate some interest and donations. Check it out here:

Ohio will be well represented at this year's Great American Beer Festival, which will feature 580 breweries and more than 2,700 individual beers. The event takes place Oct. 11-13 in Denver.

The Ohio breweries scheduled to be at the festival are: Samuel Adams in Cincinnati, Christian Moerlein Lager House in Cincinnati, Cleveland ChopHouse in Cleveland, Columbus Brewing in Columbus, Fat Head's Brewery in Middleburg Heights, Great Lakes Brewing in Cleveland, Hoppin' Frog Brewery in Akron, Rivertown Brewing in Lockland, Rock Bottom in Cincinnati, The Brew Kettle in Strongsville, Thirsty Dog Brewing in Akron, Weasel Boy Brewing in Zanesville and Willoughby Brewing in Willoughby. For a full list of the participating breweries, click here.

Here are some Ohio- and non-Ohio related beer stories:

-- The Elyria Chronicle-Telegram has a story about how a Northeast Ohio man is selling Ohio-grown hops to Jackie O's Pub & Brewery in Athens. “Deer don’t like them, woodchucks don’t like them and you don’t have to bend over to pick them, so they’re a perfect old man’s crop,” Jim Pechaitis, a retired auto worker, told the newspaper. To read the full story, click here.

Triple Digit Brewing Co. and Blank Slate Brewing Co. in Cincinnati have teamed up for a new collaboration beer called Determination. It's a Belgian-style golden strong ale "infused with an enormous amount of American and New Zealand hops," Triple Digit said in a news release. The hops give the beer a citrus and "white wine character."

The beer -- which is 9 percent alcohol -- will be available in 22-ounce bottles and on draft throughout Greater Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky. The official draft release is Monday at the Hyde Park Cock and Bull.

There must be something about Columbus that makes musicians want to become professional brewers. Earlier this year, Dan Cochran, the bassist with the band Big Back 40, launched Four String Brewing Co.

Now, The Spruce Campbells, an indie psychedelic pop band, is looking to launch the Spruce Campbells Brewing Co. You may have already spotted their beer around Central Ohio, as the band has had a few of its brews made at the new Zauber Brewing Co.

The special Budweiser beer developed by the Anheuser-Busch InBev workers at the Columbus brewery didn't make the final cut in the company's Project 12 competition. Anheuser-Busch InBev announced this week that Budweiser beers created in Los Angeles, St. Louis and Williamsburg, Va., will be available this fall as part of a special variety 12-pack.

If you recall, the brewmasters at the 12 Anheuser-Busch breweries in the U.S. created "tribute" beers as part of a friendly companywide competition. The 12 beers, which were named after the ZIP codes where they were made, were pared to six to take part in a summer-long sampling effort. Budweiser Small Batch 43229, a light amber lager developed in Columbus, made the final six, but didn't finish in the top three after the sampling.

Vintage Estate Wine & Beer in Boardman is among the finalists in Craftbeer.com's Great American Beer Bars competition. It is the only Ohio bar in the contest.

Craftbeer.com asked readers to nominate their favorite craft beer bars and received more than 3,300 recommendations. The website, run by the Brewers Association, chose 10 per region of the country and people can now select one bar from each region as the best. Vintage Estate is in the North Central zone, along with Ashley's in Ann Arbor, Mich.; Bangers & Lace in Chicago; Clubhouse BFD in Rochester Hills, Mich.; Founders Taproom in Grand Rapids, Mich.; Hopcat in Grand Rapids, Mich.; One Eyed Bettys in Ferndale, Mich.; Public House in Rolla, Mo.; The Tribes Alehouse in Mokena, Ill.; and The Wine Tap in Belleville, Ill. Voting ends Sept. 20

RooBrew is hopping back into the market. The beer that tried to capitalize on Akron’s kangaroo fetish — more on that later, in case you forgot — ceased production at the end of 2010.

But now RooBrew owners John Myers, Gordon Schorr and Barry Rosenbaum are reintroducing the brand and have a new distributor, the House of LaRose, which also carries Anheuser-Busch InBev and Yuengling products.

West Point Market in Akron will host a special beer tasting with Willoughby Brewing Co. from noon to 4 p.m. Saturday. The tasting will feature four beers on draft. The cost is 25 cents a sample. Growlers also will be available for purchase.

The featured beers are: Peanut Butter Cup Coffee Porter, Cosmic IPA, 14th Anniversary Ale (a Belgian strong dark ale) and Kaiserhof (a Kolsch). Willoughby Director of Brewing Operations Rick Seibt will be at the tasting to pour the beers and answer questions.

Jason Roeper is co-owner and head brewer at Rivertown Brewing Co. in Lockland, a Cincinnati suburb. Rivertown, a production brewery that also offers a tasting room now, was formed in late 2009 by Roeper and Randy Schiltz, both homebrewers and members of the Blotarian Brewing League at the time. Roeper was an award-winning homebrewer and was a finalist in the Samuel Adams Longshot competition.

Question: Why did you become a brewer?

"I think that this is going to be a great option for the craft beer fans in Toledo," manager Steve Wherry, a former brewer at Grizzly Peak Brewing Co., said in a prepared statement. "Until now, if you wanted a growler of fresh unpasteurized beer in the area, you only had whatever our two [brewpubs] in the area made to choose from. Now, we have the ability to offer any beer from any brewery that's available in kegs to fill growlers with."

The Beer & Wine Cave will fill growlers for $10 plus tax, or $13 plus tax with the purchase of a new growler, unless the product is a limited release or expensive enough to require a higher price.

Jackie O's in Athens has posted a new video detailing the process of opening its new production brewery. Brewer Brad Clark provides a five-minute guided tour through the facility and shows off the brewing equipment, including a 20-barrel steam-fired brew kettle. (The video is below.)

Clark mentions that they hope to be operating in two months. Jackie O's -- rated as one of the best breweries in the world according to Ratebeer.com -- already has a brewpub in downtown Athens.

The Other Paper in Columbus has a lengthy preview of the Columbus Microbrew Festival, which takes place today, Saturday and Sunday at the North Market. The story includes several beer recommendations, depending on your level of beer snobbishness. To read the full story, click here.

Hoppin' Frog Brewery in Akron will release its bourbon barrel-aged version of Frog's Hollow Double Pumpkin Ale from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sept. 21 at the brewery. Food truck JiBaro also will be at the brewery serving food from noon to 1:30 p.m. The cost is $13.99 for a 22-ounce bottle.

Frog's Hollow Double Pumpkin Ale won a gold medal at the 2010 Great American Beer Festival. "And, it is really a great beer for barrel aging, creating the perfect blend of bourbon barrel character, and creamy pumpkin ale flavors," brewer and owner Fred Karm said in an email.

Fresh off being knighted by the Belgian Brewers guild and the Mashstaff of the Knights in Belgium, Winking Lizard Tavern co-owner John Lane will chat with beer drinkers at a special celebration of Belgian beers at 6 p.m. Friday at the Lizardville in Bedford Heights.

The event has been dubbed a "Night with a Knight." It will feature Houblon Chouffe, Liefmans Cuvee Brut, Tripel Karmeliet, Blanche de Bruxelles, Ommegang Gnomegang and DeKoninck Amber on draft.

Great Lakes Brewing Co. is releasing a new brewpub exclusive beer called Fighting Heart Irish Red Ale in honor of Cleveland-born fighter Johnny Kilbane (April 9, 1889 – May 31, 1957) .

Fighting Heart Irish Red Ale will be tapped at 6 p.m. Sept. 25 at the brewpub in Ohio City. The free event coincides with the 100th anniversary of Kilbane’s victory against Abe Atell, which made him the World’s Featherweight Champion. He held the title for 11 years.

Ohio beer drinkers have a choice of four beer festivals this weekend: the Columbus Microbrew Festival in Columbus, the Medina Beer Fest in Medina, the Chardon Brewfest in Chardon and the Ohio Pawpaw Festival in Albany.

The Columbus Microbrew Festival is from 5 to 9 p.m. Friday, noon to 8 p.m. Saturday and noon to 5 p.m. Sunday at the North Market. Admission is free, but the beer tasting costs $20 and includes a commemorative pint glass, 10 tasting tickets and a $5 food certificate. Additional tasting tickets are 50 cents. The following breweries are participating: Barley's,, Barley's Smokehouse, Buckeye Lake, Columbus, Elevator, Four String, Gordon Biersch, Great Black Swamp, Great Lakes, Hoof Hearted, Mt. Carmel, Neil House, Thirsty Dog, Weasel Boy and Zauber.

Weasel Boy Brewing Co. in Zanesville -- the brewery that features Weasel-related names for its beers -- has opened its pizza shop. The brewery has talked for years about serving pizza.

The brewpub now offers artisan pizzas, salads and breadsticks. The wheat pizza crust is beer-infused and the ingredients are produced locally, owner/brewer Jay Wince said.

The Cincinnati Enquirer reports that Oktoberfest beers are alive and well in the Queen City. Cincinnati is a great beer town, Rivertown Brewing co-owner/brewer Jason Roeper told the newspaper.

"In other cities, you have to explain to people the difference between an ale and a lager," he said. "Here people get it. We have lots of homebrewers, with one of the oldest home-brew clubs in the country (The Bloatarians). Not to mention our long history of the brewing business.”

Reuters reports that Red Robin Gourmet Burgers is starting to sell a special beer milkshake today. The milkshake is made with Samuel Adams Octoberfest, soft serve vanilla ice cream, vanilla syrup and caramel.

"Now our guests don't have to choose between a beer or a shake to go with their burger," Donna Ruch, Red Robin's master mixologist in charge of developing alcoholic and nonalcoholic drink recipes, said.

Willoughby Brewing Co. in Willoughby will again host a beer sensory evaluation class. Certified beer judge Paul Shick and certified beer judge and certified cicerone Rick Seibt, the head brewer at Willoughby Brewing, will lead the class from 7 to 9 p.m. Oct. 22.

The goal is to teach beer drinkers how to evaluate beer and detect off flavors. The cost is $20 and the class is limited to 50 people. To reserve a seat, click here. For more details, click here.

The fourth annual Big Tap In Real Craft Beer Festival is returning next year to the Shepherd Event Center in Boardman, SunCo Entertainment and Making Kids Counts announced today. The event will be held April 20.

“The Shepherd Event Center is a more spacious venue," organizer Sandy Reda said in a prepared statement. "It is better at accommodating the sold-out crowds we have experienced in the past.”

Luke Purcell is the brewer at Great Lakes Brewing Co. in Cleveland. He's been with the company -- the state's oldest operating craft brewery -- for nearly two decades. The brewery also is arguably the most recognized Ohio craft brewery outside of the state.

LD Carlson President Ron Hartman spotted the first email urging him to check out an online video released by the White House over the weekend.

The four-minute video profiles the kitchen staff making beer at the presidential mansion.

In honor of the NFL kicking off its season, Evan Benn, the food critic and beer columnist for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, put together the 2012 NFL Beer Guide, a feature for Esquire magazine that pairs all 32 teams with local beers.

His picks include: Great Lakes Edmund Fitzgerald Porter for the Cleveland Browns, Mt. Carmel Nut Brown Ale for the Cincinnati Bengals, B. Nektar Meadery Wildflower Mead for the Detroit Lions and East End Session Ale for the Pittsburgh Steelers. To read the complete rundown, click here.

Here are some interesting beer stories:

-- The website Drink Up Columbus has a preview of the seventh annual Columbus Microbrew Festival, which takes place Sept. 14-16 at North Market. To read the preview, click here.

Tim Webb and Stephen Beaumont have a new, entertaining book that explores the brewing industry in 35 countries and highlights tasty beers from around the world. The World Atlas of Beer: The Essential Guide to the Beers of the World ($30 hardcover, Sterling Epicure) is broken down by countries and regions, and includes beautiful photos and maps. It also has sections devoted to malt, hops, yeast, how to pour and taste a beer, and pairing beer with food. It reminds me of the late Michael Jackson's book Ultimate Beer.

The 256-page book also features a tip of the hat to Great Lakes Brewing Co.'s Dortmunder Gold. "Evidence that 'malty' need not correspond directly with 'sweet,' this dry beauty has an almost chewy malt appeal, hints of minerality, and a satisfying, mildly bitter finish," they write.

Hoppin' Frog Brewery owner and brewer Fred Karm shot a video earlier this year at Brouwerij de Molen in the Netherlands while brewing a collaborative beer called U.S. Meets Europe (or Europe Meets U.S. in the Netherlands). The beer -- a saison India pale ale -- will be available at the brewery starting Friday.

The video is available here:

Fat Head's Brewery won the People's Choice award and took home the Best of Show prize for its Battle Axe Baltic Porter at the 2012 Cleveland Labor Day Oktoberfest. The event includes a microbrew competition.

West Point Market in Akron has named the top 10 finalists – well, top 11 because there was a tie for the last beer -- in its Bottle My Brew Homebrew Challenge. The winning beer – which will be brewed by Thirsty Dog Brewing Co. in Akron and be available at West Point and select Winking Lizard Taverns – will be announced Oct. 26 at a special beer tasting event at the grocery store.

The finalists are:

As America celebrates Labor Day, the Beer Institute and National Beer Wholesalers Association are reminding people that the beer industry generates more than $88 billion for the U.S. economy.

In Ohio, the beer industry contributes directly $3.8 billion to the state economy, according to Beer Serves America, a joint project of the Beer Institute and wholesalers group.