🍺 A Christmas Ale Story

Good morning, Cleveland! This is The 216 Scoop: You can feel it in the air—and in your glass. Christmas Ale season is here 🍺🎄

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There were 100 craft breweries in the country when Patrick and Daniel Conway founded Great Lakes Brewing Company in an Ohio City brick building in 1986.

Now there are more than 9,000. But Great Lakes has stood above the crowd in no small part due to its beloved Christmas Ale.

They started making it in small batches, and the brothers would deliver them in a station wagon. Then something wholly unexpected occurred.

“We never dreamed it would have such a cult following,” says Pat Conway. “It kept growing to the point where people would drive from other cities to get some.”

He knew he was onto something when a traveler bought luggage just so he could pack a bunch of it for his trip home to San Francisco after having a single sip at Hopkins Airport.

The ale mixes cinnamon with honey and ginger and is renowned for its taste and as a signifier of Christmas.

“Brewers from all over the country create what they call ‘Cleveland-style’ Christmas ales,” says Conway. “Our spices are very balanced, and the beer is easy to drink – sometimes too easy, which is why we call it ‘Christmas Jail.’”

At 11 a.m. Thursday, 'Great Lakes celebrates the release of its Christmas Ale with First Pour.

“Every year, there’s a line of people around the corner waiting to get their first sip,” says Conway. “And everyone’s laughing, cheerful and happy.”

After all, it’s about more than beer. It’s a celebration of the season and a sip of Cleveland.

The Cavaliers are rolling out a throwback that isn’t a jersey.

The team has unveiled an exclusive members-only club that pays tribute to Cleveland’s golden age of glamour – when the legendary Hippodrome Theater ruled downtown.

The 5,000 square-foot HIPP, a collaboration between Rock Entertainment and the Los Angeles-based h.wood Group, boasts 100 charter members, including civic and business leaders and long-time season-ticket holders.

It features digital projections of Hippodrome marquees and channels the original theater's grandeur with a circular bar, vaulted ceilings, hand-painted frescoes and brass fixtures salvaged from Midwest salvage yards.

Opened in 1907 on the corner of Prospect Avenue and East Ninth Street, the Hippodrome was a Beaux-Arts wonder that hosted vaudeville and luminaries like Houdini, the Marx Brothers, and George Burns.

For three-quarters of a century, the Hippodrome was the epicenter of Cleveland's arts and entertainment scene – until it succumbed to urban decay, a dying downtown and a wrecking ball in 1981.

It has lived on in legend – and now has a shrine to its memory.

It’s one of the area’s oldest inns and a popular destination during spooky season.

After all, the historic Rider’s 1812 Inn is the stomping grounds of “The ugliest woman of Painesville.”

She has a name, of course, Suzanne. But the moniker was given to her by paranormal investigators who have been following her ghost story for decades.

This month, Suzanne will get a new place to roam and a party in her honor.

The charming Rider’s Inn – a restaurant, bar and bed-and-breakfast -- will reopen as Pub 1812 this month.

It will also host a grand soiree on Halloween that features a psychic and ghost busters.

A guest psychic will channel the ghost of Suzanne Rider when a Halloween party serves as the opening event on Oct. 31 for Rider’s Inn in Painesville.

According to legend, Joseph Rider married Suzanne for money so he could open the place the 1812. She died mysteriously six weeks after marriage, but her ghost lingers on.

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The Third Mind: The supergroup founded by Dave Alvin and Victor Krummenacher bring their idiosyncratic brand of psych-rock to the Beachland Ballroom. 7 tonight. Info.

10x3: Brent Kirbys showcase of 10 songwriters each playing three songs takes the Bop Stop at 7 tonight. Info.

Twisted Takes on Historical CLE Photos: Comedian Mike Polk and John Skrtic turn old Cleveland photos in a laugh riot. 7 p.m. Thursday at Music Box. Info.

👉 View Listing on Zillow

Hopkins Airport is refusing to show a video featuring U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem that blames Democrats for the federal government shutdown.

Hopkins is among several airports across the country, including Akron-Canton, that contend that video violates any display of content that could be considered political or partisan. 

“Democrats in Congress refuse to fund the federal government, and because of this, many of our operations are impacted, and most of our TSA employees are working without pay,” said Noem in the video.

A 1929 photo of Otis Steel by Margaret Bourke-White.

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60 °F 🌡️ 50 °F | ⛅ | 30% | 💨 W ≈ 9 mph (≈ 8 knots)

58 °F 🌡️ 48 °F | ☁️ | 35% | 💨 NW ≈ 8 mph (≈ 7 knots)

57 °F 🌡️ 47 °F | ☁️ | 40% | 💨 NW ≈ 8 mph (≈ 7 knots)

_{Please note that weather conditions can change rapidly. For the most up-to-date information, consider checking a reliable local weather service.}

Away vs. Knicks, 7 PM October 22 (Wednesday)

Away vs. New England Patriots, 1 PM October 26 (Sunday)

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