YOUNGSTOWN — In the early 1990s, many music fans were plugged into a new, mellower sound from singer Eric Clapton, courtesy of the variety of acoustic songs on his “Unplugged” album, but more recently, many people found themselves plugged into a variety of mellow tastes.

“It’s a beer for Cleveland Browns fans,” Scott Richter, a sales representative for Elyria-based Unplugged Brewing Co. said.

He was referring to Muni Lot lager, a beer with a light, smooth and crisp flavor, which also features on the can two Browns fans who frequently sit in the Dawg Pound section of the bleachers during home games and call themselves “fists of fury.”

It’s also ideal for tailgate gatherings before games, he said.

Unplugged also was among the local and regional breweries represented at Saturday’s fourth annual Groundhog Craft Beer Fest in Stambaugh Auditorium’s Jeanne D. Tyler Grand Ballroom.

Hosting the event, which was in two sessions, was the Rotary Club of Youngstown. Premier Bank was the main sponsor.

Each of the 20 local and regional brewers brought two beer flavors to the fundraiser. The other one from Unplugged Brewing was called Candela, which Richter described as “a midnight wheat ale with a little hint of coffee and a little hint of chocolate.”

Assisting with serving the two varieties was Roger Gillespie of Austintown, who also was part of a group called “Flight Crew.” He and the other five members visited local breweries and wrote review articles for the Youngstown Business Journal and the former Vindicator, Gillespie recalled.

Money raised from the fest — which gave the brewers an opportunity to showcase their wares and attendees to sample them — will be converted to community grants. They will benefit area nonprofit organizations with programs that align with Youngstown Rotary’s “areas of focus,” said Kevin Chiu, who, along with Youngstown Councilwoman Samantha Turner, D-3rd Ward, co-chaired the event.

Those areas include childhood health, care for women and children, economic development and clean water. Others are disease prevention — specifically to eradicate polio in a few places in the world — and environmental concerns, under the umbrella of which is a districtwide program to further sustain native and needed pollinators such as honeybees and monarch butterflies, Turner and Chiu noted.

Chiu did not have a financial goal for Saturday’s fest, but said in its first three years the event raised slightly more than $43,000 that was distributed to the local community.

He added that Saturday’s fest also can raise funds to promote “mom-and-pop” breweries.

Frank Estremera, owner of Canton-based Muskellunge Brewing Co., had for sampling a double IPA beer made with seven hops and an Ohio grown West Branch malt.

“It’s a smooth, intense malt with a flavor that hints of pine and citrus,” he said.

The other was a Greek Chub Mango Gose that Estremera described as “a sour beer” with a large quantity of pureed mango that gives it an extra fruity taste. The two varieties are the brewery’s top sellers, he continued.

Also on hand was Penguin City Brewing Co. of Youngstown, which closed on the 32,704-square-foot former Republic warehouse property in December 2020 for $575,000. The building is in the 400 block of East Federal Street, downtown.

For the fest, Penguin City Brewery had two varieties called Honey Dark Lager and Rogenbier, which are a Greek-style dark honey-flavored malt, and a spicy rye variety with natural citrus, respectively. Both will be available to the public when Penguin City opens, likely in mid-April, Aspasia Lyras-Bernacki, co-owner, noted.

The warehouse will consist of a taproom and restaurant, rental space and an events center, said Lyras-Bernacki, who’s also a Rotarian.

Beyond the business aspects of the venture, the move is eagerly anticipated because it will be another step toward further revitalizing the downtown corridor, efforts that have been hampered because of the COVID-19 pandemic, she continued.

“It will bring life to the east end of Federal Street, and it’s very exciting,” Lyras-Bernacki added. “It opens up downtown even more.”

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