Taste of the Harvest Offers Local Food, Beer for Good Cause

It’s Beer Week in Cleveland. For many people, that is reason enough to imbibe hand-crafted, artisan ale, but this Friday in Lakewood offers another reason: charity.

will feature eight beers brewed by the Cellar Rats, a group of home-brewers based in Westlake, appetizers from nine Cleveland restaurants including , Dante’s and Crop Bistro and live music from The Blue Notes, who've played with Harold Melvin and Neil Young, beginning at 6:30 p.m. Oct. 21 at in the Lake Erie Building, 13000 Athens Ave.

The event, in its fourth year, is a benefit for The Covenant Adolescent Drug Treatment and Prevention Center. All the money raised goes to the charity.

The Covenant’s executive director, Rich Piazza, said he expects the event will bring in about $10,000.

“That money will support chemical dependency treatment programs we offer to kids and families who don’t have the ability to pay for them elsewhere,” Piazza said.

Located in Ohio City, The Covenant was founded in 1984, and was one of the first urban-based treatment centers for poor adolescents in the country. It offers day treatment programs on a sliding fee scale to children from all over Northeast Ohio, including Lakewood.

Piazza said the event is important not just to raise money, but to show the organization’s funders, including the United Way, that they can raise funds independently as well.

“Taste of the Harvest is good because it shows support for our board, and support for the community,” he said.

The beer list includes a paw paw rye ale, Oktoberfest lager, apple lemon shandy cider and a pumpkin ale. For dessert, 13 shops, including , Elmwood Home Bakery and Wild Flour Bakery will be serving “the best desserts in Cleveland,” Piazza said.

Tickets are $55, and the event lasts until 10 p.m.