My night started at Devil's Kettle at around six o'clock. I ordered a taster of the day's Hops School sample: Silk Spider with dry-hopped with simcoe hops. If you're wondering, the simcoe hops lent a fruity tinge to the brew. Each day's Spider Silk seems to be better than the last and I can't wait to see how today's tastes.

While at Devil's Kettle I sampled the rest of their brews on tap. These were: Legion (American strong ale, DK's highest ABV brew at 7.1%), Galatea (a roasty dunkel), Justin IPA (a sweet IPA with 4 kinds of hops), Eric the Red (a red IPA that wasn't too hoppy), Pale Satan (a pale ale with the smooth drinkability of a lager), and Freak the Mild on Nitro (the same great taste with extra creaminess). I am continually impressed by the brews this place has crafted.

My friends and I got a quick dinner before heading to The Over Hang to check out the two breweries they have on tap: Great Black Swamp Brewing (from Toledo) and Seventh Son Brewing Company (from Columbus). I had Bull Frog Stout (a pretty standard stout), Mosquito Red (it doesn't know if it wants to be a sour or fruity beer), Glass City Glory (a wheaty, hoppy ale that got better and better the more I drank), and Midnight Sun (a delicately sweet black IPA) from Great Black Swamp. I also tried both of the Seventh Son beers on tap: Humulus Nimbus (a "Super Pale" ale that lives up to its name--too hoppy for this beer blogger) and Stone Fort Oat Brown ale (my exact at-the-moment description of this brew was "Silky smooth. Dark. Chocolatey, coffee-y, mapely," and I stand by it). The beers here were pretty hit-or-miss, but I enjoyed myself tasting them anyway.

I finished my night at Broney's, which gets a bad rap from my friends but is a place with which I've never had a problem. This is also the place I was most looking forward to hitting up because they have Thirsty Dog Brewing Company's 12 Dogs of Christmas Ale on draft, and holy cow do I love that stuff. Needless to say, I grabbed a pint. So did the friend of mine that I was running with at the time. We also split four tasters. Three were from Thirsty Dog: Siberian Night (an incredibly rich bourbon barrel aged Imperial Stout), Old Leghumper (an expertly-crafted robust porter), and Raspberry Ale (as fruity, sweet, and delicious as the name implies). The fourth taster was Platform Beer Co.'s Smoked Haymaker, which is the best smokey brew I've had this week.

It was a long (but fun) night that was made even longer by how incredibly tired I was. But today I'm well-rested and ready to hit the town. The only two places cemented on today's agenda are Devil's Kettle (for today's Hops School) and Little Fish. The sky's the limit from there. Be sure to check back tomorrow to see how my final night of Ohio Brew Week goes!