BEER BASH - The Renaissance Cleveland Hotel is offering a new Beer Connoisseur Experience Package just in time for Father's Day. The package includes deluxe hotel room, complimentary self-parking at the hotel, cab transportation to and from Great Lakes Brewing Co. and McNulty's Bier Markt, buffet breakfast for two, $25 gift card to Great Lakes Brewing Co. and $25 gift card to McNulty's Bier Markt. The package costs $209 per room and is valid Thursdays through Sundays through Dec. 30.

B-LIVE - The Bacardi B-Live concert series is making two Ohio stops this summer. The Toronto-based duo MSTRKRFT will share the stage with Z-Trip June 26 in Cleveland, while Z-Trip will join Ghostland Observatory June 27 in Columbus. Proceeds from B-Live events will be donated to the VH1 Save the Music Foundation, a nonprofit organization dedicated to restoring instrumental music education programs in America's public schools.

FRESH AIR - Cleveland recently hosted one of the stops on the 2009 US Air Guitar Championships tour. Sponsored by Boone's Farm, the 25-city tour will send a winner from each city to complete in the US Air Guitar Finals in August. The House of Blues in Cleveland hosted the competition on June 3.

EXPOSITION EXPANSION - The annual Philly Beer Week will feature a new festival when it moves to the warmer month of June in 2010. According to organizers, the Philadelphia Global Beer Exposition will present the world's best beers, including the region's own world-class craft breweries and scores of ales and lagers from every great brewing region, including Belgium, Germany, Scandinavia, Canada, Great Britain, the Czech Republic and the United States. Next year's festival will run June 4-13.

MAX TAX - The Illinois state Senate recently passed a spending package including a 90 percent increase in the state excise tax on alcohol, according to the Distilled Spirits Council of the United States. Under the proposal, the current excise tax on spirits in Illinois would increase from $4.50 per gallon to $8.55 per gallon. According to DISCUS, the proposed hike would make Chicago's spirits tax rate 78 percent higher than the rate in New York City.

Best Bartender - The United States Bartenders' Guild National Cocktail Competition and its sponsor, Tres Generaciones tequila, recently named Armando Rosario of Las Vegas the “Best Bartender in America.” Rosario won for his cocktail creation, “Real Dill,” featuring Tres Generaciones Plata tequila. Daniel Love of Chicago took second place for his cocktail, “Aztec Gold,” while Ricky Gomez of New Orleans took third place for his cocktail, “The Real Pepper Daisy.”

TAX DEMAND - The Marin Institute recently “demanded” that officials in California, including Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, include a new 25 cent-per-drink alcohol tax in any new budget proposal to help the state recover from its current economic troubles. “The alcohol tax should be back on the table to help ease California's budget crisis," said Marin Institute Executive Director Bruce Lee Livingston, who pointed out that despite being the largest alcohol market in the nation, California's current al-bev excise tax rates, which have not been raised in 18 years, are lower than the national average.