Anthology Cask House To Open in Former Bookhouse Brewing Space

When he announced the closure of Bookhouse Brewing last year, founder Vaughn Stewart alluded to a likely second chapter for the Ohio City pub. This week, Shaun and JoLyn Yasaki of Noble Beast Brewing announced that they would be breathing new life into the charming brewery.

“I loved Bookhouse,” says Shaun. “It’s such a beautiful space. Part of the reason why we wanted to move in was to preserve a lot of that character, what they built there. I’d hate to see all that get ripped out or turned into the next Ohio City vape shop.”

Halfway through their ambitious Biergarten endeavor on Lorain, slated to open later this year, and nine years after opening their Downtown brewery, the Yasakis are tackling another project. Shaun describes Anthology Cask House as a stand-alone pub and brewery that will serve cask ales brewed onsite as well as an ever-shifting selection of imported draft beers.

“This project is inspired by some of the great, classic beer bars in the country, like Monk’s Café in Philly, Hopleaf in Chicago and Brick Store Pub in Atlanta,” Yasaki says. “Those kinds of places and those types of beer selections don’t really exist in town anymore.”

Yasaki says that thanks to brewers like himself, there has been a dramatic shift away from bars like the old La Cave du Vin – and those mentioned above – where beer lovers could explore new options. He and his wife hope to reopen those avenues of discovery.

“There has been such a huge shift to hyper-local, with brewers popping up everywhere,” he explains. “Super-great, fresh, local beer has never been more accessible than it is right now – and that’s awesome – but now there aren’t spots where you can rediscover a lot of these great European beers. Places where you can find new and exciting things to drink.”

Anthology will focus on European beers like Belgian lambics, English ales and more. Yasaki will fire up the brewhouse to make ales that will be served onsite the old-fashioned way.

“Cask ale, pulled from an old-school beer engine,” he says. “Cellar temperature, like all beers used to be served.”

Anthology will not serve Noble Beast beers, he explains.

“With building the biergarten, all that beer will be made Downtown at the longstanding Noble Beast location,” Yasaki says. “We would never be able to make enough beer for both places. This allows Downtown to focus more on lagers and then we’ll brew other beers at the new brewery.”

Yasaki and the team will make a few changes to the space, including adding TVs so patrons can watch soccer, F1 racing and more.

As for food service, Anthology will partner with Little Cloud next door to create a “seamless restaurant experience.” A physical connection to the neighboring kitchen will be established and a new and different menu will be created by Noble Beast chef James Redford in collaboration with Little Cloud.

Yasaki says that he is hoping to open Anthology in the coming months.

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