Cincinnati has seen an explosion in recent years of craft breweries and brewpubs – so much so the town has gained national recognition as a great beer town. Since none of us at Mill Creek had ever been, the team took a trip up there this past week to do a little beer exploration. (R&D can be a lot of fun when you’re in the beer industry).
First stop was the Hofbrauhaus in Newport, just south of the Ohio-Kentucky border. It was a great reminder of what a solid German lager can (and should) be: crisp, refreshing, and served by the stein-full.
The brewer there was kind enough to give us an impromptu tour of the brewhouse, and we can assure you if you wondering: old-style German brewing tradition is alive and well.
We also stopped by Rhinegeist, a craft brewery that’s barely 3 years old and already supplying tons of beer to Ohio and surrounding markets. The growth they’ve seen has been phenomenal, and it’s easy to see why from tasting their beer. We hung out in their taproom for a bit to do some.. you know, research.
Definitely check them out if you ever find yourself in Cincinnati. We also managed to hit Taft’s, a brewpub with fantastic food and inventive beer, and the Moerlein taproom, the last bastion of what used to be one the largest old-school lager houses in the city. Breweries we wish we could’ve seen but didn’t have time: Rivertown, MadTree, and Fifty West. Luckily there’s always next time.
