Green Valley Brewing in Hudson features 10 draft beers, homemade wood-fired pizzas
On a painted mural at the new Green Valley Brewing Company in Hudson, there's a guy in a green T-shirt holding a beer out of the window of a Cuyahoga Valley Scenic Railroad car.
The figure in the green shirt represents John McGroarty, co-owner of the new brewpub he's created at 53 Milford Drive, just east of downtown, with his wife, Emily, and friends Nick and Beth Speck of Medina.
McGroarty is the brewmaster at the brewery that opened Oct. 28, now featuring 10 draft beers that include a Tree Farm Holiday Ale with notes of cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger and brown sugar.
Bartender and artist Sharkayla Bender is the talent behind the big mural on a back wall of Green Valley's taproom. It depicts the Station Road bridge in Brecksville framing a picturesque railroad scene with a "Green Valley" train traveling amid evergreens in the Cuyahoga Valley National Park.
Both the Green Valley Brewing Company name and mural are inspired by the Cuyahoga Valley National Park, which McGroarty lives near in Cuyahoga Falls and has been an important part of the brewery owners' lives.
"The inspiration behind the name is like, we all grew up around here, so we spent so much time in the Cuyahoga Valley National Park," said McGroarty, whose business logo also features a bridge and evergreen trees.
The mural's railroad track is also a nod to the track that runs through Hudson right behind Green Valley.
"I paired that railroad track back there with their love for the Cuyahoga Valley National Park," Bender said of her mural design.
McGroarty, 36, who previously worked as an accountant, started brewing 13 years ago at a production brewery in Houston, where his wife was getting her master's degree. When they moved back to the Akron area, he ran the barrel aging program at Thirsty Dog in Akron, and next ran Canton Brewing Company in downtown Canton.
That was followed by about six years at Butcher and the Brewer on East Fourth Street in Cleveland, and most recently, brewing at HiHo Brewing Co. in Cuyahoga Falls.
Now, he's living out his dream of running his own brewery. It's located at the site of the former board game cafe the Malted Meeple in a building that originally was a daycare.
The entrance to Green Valley has a chalet-type look with a cedar wood entrance and a peaked roof. The owners and their friends and family put a lot of sweat equity into redoing the outside of the building as well as gutting the inside to create the brewpub's taproom on the left side of the building and the brewery operation on the right.
Renovations, which totaled about $700,000, started last winter. The owners tore out the old faux-wood vinyl flooring, and Nick Speck's father, Joel, helped them grind down the concrete floors and add an epoxy coating.
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What's on tap at Green Valley
Green Valley has 10 beers on tap now, from a Boxcar Blonde Ale to a Snowed Out milk stout, conditioned on coffee. Three of the beers are collaborations with other breweries: Ausgezeichnet Dortmunder with Butcher and the Brewer, Bound for Glory Altbier with Bell Tower Brewing of Kent and Wise Goat Weizenbock with Akronym Brewing of Akron.
The Heart Cider hard cider is currently a guest beer from Market Garden Brewery of Cleveland.
Green Valley has a capacity for 20 taps. McGroarty's goal is to have 12 to 14 of his own beers and to fill out remaining taps with guest beers.
He plans to introduce a seltzer this week, another version of the Snowed Out milk stout next week and a German Pilsner in the next couple weeks.
"The world of beer is like the world of wine in that there's a lot of different interpretations in style," the brewer said. "To me, the process is more important than the recipe is. Process is about 90% of how something turns out."
Green Valley seats 88 inside at oak tables and chairs made by Northern Ohio Lumber. A variety of unstained woods make up the decor, including reclaimed wormwood behind the bar, bathrooms done in elm and a maple bar top.
Outside, the property has a large, fenced green space and patio that seats about another 90 people. It was important to both the McGroartys and the Specks, who each have two little girls, that Green Valley be a family friendly place where kids can run around outside during warm weather.
"It was more or less inspired by like, European beer gardens, where you just have big long communals [tables] and definitely bring your whole family out," McGroarty said.
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Food at Green Valley Brewing Company
Chef Mike Jones is the man who created Green Valley's six wood-fired pizzas along with the rest of the menu. The thin-crust pizzas were being made Wednesday in an 800-degree wood-fired oven outside by chefs Jeremy Doolittle and Nathan Kreider.
The pizzas are the biggest hit on the menu so far, McGroarty said. Jones makes the pizza sauce in house as well as the dough, which he makes with Caputo Double Zero flour. Jones said this flour makes the dough stretchier so it can roll thinner.
He also makes his own mozzarella cheese.
"It's a little time consuming, but it's worth it," Jones said.
The menu includes cheese, pepperoni, margherita, vegetable, fig and goat cheese, and spicy sausage pizzas. Sandwiches on the menu are a Cuban, pulled pork or grilled cheese, and salads include a house salad and Caesar salad.
Appetizer choices are Bavarian pretzels with house-made beer cheese and house-made whole grain mustard aioli, kettle chips with house-made French onion dip, and a charcuterie board.
"We make sure the food stands on its own," McGroarty said.
The brewpub is open 3-10 p.m. Wednesday through Thursday, noon to 10 p.m. Friday and Saturday and noon to 7 p.m. Sunday. The kitchen closes one hour before the taproom.
Green Valley doesn't have just beer. The brewpub also offers seven cocktails — from an old fashioned to a pineapple jalapeno margarita — and a variety of wines.
"I truly believe that everyone who walks through the door can find something they like," McGroarty said.
Arts and restaurant writer Kerry Clawson may be reached at 330-996-3527 or kclawson@thebeaconjournal.com.
This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Green Valley serving up craft beer, thin-crust pizzas, more in Hudson
