Toledo Express: Tribute beer honors the memory of the Edmund Fitzgerald

TOLEDO, Ohio — Nearly 50 years after the Edmund Fitzgerald sank during a brutal November storm on Lake Superior , a Toledo brewery is raising a glass in honor of the 29 lives lost — and the legacy they left behind.

Quenched and Tempered Brewery is releasing a commemorative copper ale called The Toledo Express — named for the ship’s regional nickname and brewed to reflect both the city’s character and the story of the legendary freighter.

“We sat down over a couple of pints and talked about what we wanted to do,” said brewmaster Alex Drozdowicz. “We came up with a copper ale because of the Great Lakes connection, the copper region and the cargo these ships hauled back and forth. It just made sense — and it speaks to who we are as Toledoans.”

Drozdowicz, a welder and blacksmith by t