Hoppin' Frog wins Akron Art Museum tasting

Hoppin' Frog Brewery's B.O.R.I.S. the Crusher took home the "best beer" award Friday night at the Akron Art Museum's eighth annual Art & Ale beer tasting.

A panel of three "celebrity" judges -- myself, Northeast Ohio Media Group beer writer Marc Bona and Acme Fresh Market's Jon Albrecht -- chose B.O.R.I.S. as the top brew among 11 that were submitted for the less-than-scientific competition. Brewers could nominate a beer for consideration and then we judged them on a scale of 0 to 100 based on a variety of categories, including appearance, aroma and drinkability.

MadTree Gnarly Brown and Thirsty Dog Coffee Stout finished second and third, respectively. The second-, third- and fourth-place finishers were separated by a single point. Main Street Joe Porter was fourth. The other competitors included Fat Head's Bumbleberry, Jackie O's Razz Wheat, Ohio Double Irish Red, Portside Rusalka Vanilla Stout and a bourbon beer from Elevator. Griffin Cider Works and Crafted Artisan Meadery also entered.

As Albrecht noted, it was a tad unfair to pit B.O.R.I.S. against the other beers, cider and mead. After all, it is a two-time gold medal winner at the Great American Beer Festival.