Building a better Blue

Blue Heron Brewery has fortified its position among Ohio’s best breweries, earning six awards, including Best Brewery and Best of Show in the 2023 Ohio Craft Brewers Cup competition—and adding another two last year. But the popular Medina brew pub isn’t resting on its laurels, promises owner Bill Rini.

“Big changes are coming to Blue Heron this year,” Bill says. “We’re adding new activities throughout the week, and we are launching a summertime concert series from Friday, July 18, to Friday, September 26. We’re going to end the season with an Oktoberfest, and we’ll have different types of festivals throughout the summer.”

By next winter, Bill plans to open an on-site ice skating rink.

“We are a family-friendly destination and that will be reflected in the exciting new things we’re planning,” Bill says. “The summer concert series is going to be really cool. You can bring a blanket or lawn chair and sit with your family in the rolling meadows on site and enjoy some good beer, good food and good music.”

Blue Heron is building a covered stage for the concerts.

“We’re going to have a nice mix of country, throwback music and today’s hit music, so we’ll feature different types of genres every week,” Bill says.

The concert series will add to Blue Heron’s special events that include comedy nights, murder mysteries and other entertainment.

The concept for the brewery, which opened in 2019, developed after Bill visited his home-brewing neighbor, Mike Piazza, who proposed the idea while he and Bill sampled some of his creations. Bill, a caterer and owner of A Taste of Excellence, in Strongsville, owned the Blue Heron Event Center. 

“The beer was an immediate success because of the quality, care and passion Mike puts into it,” Bill says. “I would equate Mike more to a chemist than a beer connoisseur. There’s a lot of science and chemistry behind it, and he does very well with that.”

Meanwhile, Ben Erjavec, an executive chef who had worked with Bill before moving to the East Coast, was looking to move back home.

“We had always planned to open a business together,” Bill said.

Bill, along with Mike and Ben, has owned the brewpub since its opening.

“Mike had the passion for beer and I had the passion for food, and all three of us are trained chefs, so it was an ideal match,” Ben explains. “We opened the pub, then we were shut down by Covid a year later. But once we reopened, we’ve been growing and have never looked back.”

Ben says a cooperative, team approach has been a key to Blue Heron’s success and popularity.

“I’ve got an awesome chef team with no egos,” he says. “We will sit in the kitchen and brainstorm ideas and we collectively come together as a team. We come up with better ideas than just one person throwing a dish on the menu. It gives us so much creative freedom and changeability.”

The transition from making beer at home to opening a commercial brewery was intimidating at first, Mike acknowledges. Now, however, Blue Heron has been recognized as one of the best breweries in Ohio.

“Winning the awards has assured us that we’re doing something right,” Mike says. “It’s given us good feedback in knowing that our recipes and process are working and it motivates us to get even better going forward. We’re always striving to make our product better, with Ben being the lead on the food side and me on the beer side.”

You can keep up with the events at Blue Heron Brewery by visiting BlueHeronMedina.com. You can call Blue Heron at 330-870-BLUE. Blue Heron is located at 3227 Blue Heron Trace, in Medina.