Westlake Cellar Rats' hand-crafted brews on tap at Taste of the Harvest

Cleveland Beer Week is upon us! Now, the most important choice is what to drink. While most Clevelanders have enjoyed a Great Lakes or Buckeye Beer, few realize that really great beer is being brewed on both small and large scales by hobbyists and professionals alike right here on Cleveland’s west side.

The Westlake Cellar Rats, a brewing club made up of local area residents, has spent over 10 years taking to their kitchens and basements to create unique, hand-crafted beer that they are showcasing at the Taste of the Harvest event on Friday, Oct. 21, at the Lake Erie Building in Lakewood.

I caught up with Cellar Rats founder Jerome Welliver of Westlake to get his take on the local beer scene. Welliver has been making wine since he was 11 years old and beer since 1991. Today Welliver is the owner of JW Dover Wine and Supply on Detroit Road in Westlake and commercial brewer for Crooked River, Western Reserve and Black Box Brewing Co. 

Welliver started the Cellar Rats in 2000. “Everyone was hanging around so we decided to make it official and now we have almost 70 members,” he says. The Cellar Rats come from all over Northeast Ohio, getting together monthly to discuss varied styles of admired commercial beers and wines, along with bringing their homemade creations to sample and critique. From harvesting to drinking, the Cellar Rats goal is to educate each other about the brewing process and help make each other better brewers and drinkers.

“The beer and the wine stuff is so scary to some people,” says Welliver. “I like breaking the globe of mystery or the ‘you’re not worthy’ syndrome that has been created by a lot of wine and beer companies.”

Dover Beer and Wine Supply opened in 1930 and was the oldest alcohol supply store in the Cleveland area. After years of patronage, Welliver bought the store in 1996 and reopened it as JW Dover. In 1999, he opened a winery in the same location, with Black Box Brewery following in 2007.

Taste of the Harvest, a benefit for the Covenant Adolescent Drug Treatment Center, will be held Oct. 21, 6:30-10 p.m. in the Lake Erie Building, 13000 Athens Ave., Lakewood. Visit tasteoftheharvest.com to buy tickets or for more information.