Craft brewers' new IPA promotes zoo's sturgeon project
Sep. 30—To celebrate the Toledo Zoo's continuing work to reintroduce state-endangered lake sturgeon to the Maumee River, a local craft brewery will release a specialty brew that will also benefit the zoo's program.
Earnest Brew Works, which has locations in South Toledo and downtown, on Saturday will begin selling a limited batch of its new Sturgeon IPA. The release coincides with the zoo's third annual Sturgeon Fest in which thousands of young fish head-started by the zoo's Maumee River Sturgeon Restoration program will be released into the river.
"We do several IPA releases a year that are special and notable," said Scot Yarnell, the brewery's cofounder. "This worked right into our schedule."
A portion of the proceeds from Sturgeon IPA sales will be donated to the zoo. Earnest Brew Works made about 14 brewer barrels of the beer, half of which is kegged and half will be sold in four-packs of 16-ounce cans that feature a photo of the fish. The beer is a hazy India pale ale brewed using citra, mosaic, and sabro hops. It is 7.4 percent alcohol by volume.
"This one exceeded our expectations," Mr. Yarnell said. "I think it's the best IPA we've ever made."
Matt Cross, the zoo's conservation coordinator, said the restoration effort's aim is to create a self-sustaining population of lake sturgeon that spawn in the Maumee.
"The whole goal is to return sturgeon to the Maumee River that will then swim out to the lake, grow to be adults, and come back to the river to spawn," he said.
The Sturgeon Fest, scheduled to begin at 10 a.m. Saturday at the municipal boat ramp at 2700 Broadway St. near Walbridge Park, will be the zoo's third release. About 3,000 fish were released in 2018 and 2019, with last year's program canceled because of the pandemic. The same number will be released this year.
Mr. Cross said wild eggs collected in the spring are raised at the zoo's riverside facility and at Genoa National Fish Hatchery.
"We power grow them and they're 5 to 7 inches when we release them in the fall," he said.
Each animal is given a passive integrated transponder, or PIT tag, that is much like a microchip for a pet. If one is caught and scanned, its age and origin can be identified. About a half-dozen tagged sturgeon from the program have been found in Lake Erie, Mr. Cross said.
Some of the fish are also outfitted with acoustic transmitters that will ping a collection of sensors in Lake Erie when they swim by, showing how they are traveling. Jorden McKenna, a University of Toledo graduate student earning her master's degree in biology, is helping with that effort.
"The data collected from the receiver network are complex," Ms. McKenna said. "I am using a variety of statistical techniques to piece together survival rates, movement patterns and habitat use of the sturgeon."
Aside from restoring the population of the native fish, increasing the number of sturgeon may also help manage some invasive species.
"There's been some sign that the adult sturgeon eat the round goby and some signs that they may eat the zebra mussel," Mr. Cross said.
The zoo's Sturgeon Fest is free and open to the public. Food trucks, live music, and kid-friendly activities will also be available, and attendees can release one sturgeon per person at no cost. Those who sponsor a fish for $25 in advance or $30 at the event can receive updates on that particular fish if it is ever recaptured.
Earnest Brew Works has sponsored a sturgeon for each of its staff members, Mr. Yarnell said.
"It's a fun project," he said. "We like working with the zoo. It's an area icon."
In April, the brewery released its Red Panda Ale to recognize the zoo's work with the Himalayan animals. That beer is available year-round and a portion of its proceeds also is donated to the zoo.
First Published September 30, 2021, 2:53pm
