I hope that you get the same warm fuzzy feelings from this as I do. Fifty West is celebrating its tenth year in business by returning to its roots. The brewpub is reopening its doors, and that’s about the best reason I can think of to show up and sit down for an episode with them.

I sat down with Bobby and Max to talk about it all… the brewery’s journey to get here, how they fit into craft beer today, the return of the brewpub (and how that fits in with who they are, too). It’s an extensive conversation that could have really stretched out even longer if we had the time.

I love what this does for them, for Cincy beer, and if I’m being honest – for me as a craft beer drinker, too!

While part of this week’s episode might not be what I thought it was going to be – It’s a really great one. I got Bobby Slattery from Fifty West on the line to chat about how they are dealing with all of this, while also opening up their burger restaurant, and putting the finishing touches on their big expansion at the same time (read more about that here). The brewery is just another example in the long line of Cincinnati breweries that are managing to show us their ability to bring a bit of joy to their customers in the middle of the chaos that breaks out around us.

This week was pretty jam packed full of chaos – but as the world around us attempts to find their place in this new normal… so am I in my life. I’ll get there, we’ll get there – hang in there Cincy.

You’ve been hearing a lot about Fifty West in the news lately – from Del’s beer fast that went viral across the globe, to the recent news that the brewery is going to be opening up their third location late this year (or early next year) in Chilicothe… there’s definitely a lot that’s been going on with these folks. That means it’s prime time to sit down for an episode of the brewcast and catch back up with them!

We grabbed a couple pints of beer and sat down with Max and Del to dive in a little deeper into what’s been going on… which means that this is going to be a long one!

We explored it all, from the obvious big stuff to a quick trip into the slow pour faucet that the brewpub has on for their lager experimentation… and at the end of the day, it’s easy to see that we just scratched the surface with what we could talk to them about.

There’s a lot to talk to Fifty West about… and I suppose that’s partially my fault for not having a chance to sit down with them on the show for about a year.  Of course, it’s also their fault for having a TON of stuff going on at all times.  From some big medal wins, to their upcoming annual Punch Out event, we’ll try to cover it all.  I even found a quick minute to chat with Bobby about his “road to craft beer” and how it all happened for him.  If you’re getting antsy for Punch Out, and need something to hold you over – this is most definitely it.

Huge thanks to Bobby for making this show happen, it’s a good one!

This was originally recorded as a live broadcast with Cincinnati’s GCCBS facebook group to prepare the world for the much anticipated Blue Melvin bottle release at Fifty West, but as these things tend to go, the conversation was just too fantastic to have it only live inside of a live video, I knew that eventually I’d have to let it loose as a podcast too!

We were joined by Max from Fifty West to dig into all the details about the release event, and Bobby stopped by for a minute after (during) his weekly run.  We were even graced by a one of Cincinnati’s OG bloggers, Queen City Fresh too.  We talked all things that you’d expect from a Blue Melvin show, including how the beer came to be in the first place.  Of course… we also drank both a cellared version of the original beer, as well as taste of this years version too.

This was a rough one. We lost Mike last week, and it was impossible to record an episode without spending it talking about what losing someone like this means. Sometimes words are hard to come by, and I can’t thank Bobby and Blake for helping to guide this episode right where it needed to go.

Craft beer stands for many of the same things that Mike stood for, and sitting around a table with a couple of friends is a great reminder to relax, don’t worry, and have fun.

Raise a pint, and hug the folks you love.

What a great way to start off the second year of Cincy Brewcast! We headed out to Fifty West to hang out with co-owners Blake Horsburgh (also the head brewer) and Bobby Slattery (50 West’s CEO) to talk all things Fifty West. We wanted to understand their brewing philosophy, their quest for excellence in experience and product, their planned expansion to increase production for both distribution and package – and so much more!

There are, of course, several great beers involved along the journey, as any good craft beer podcast would include. We dive into this week’s asked-and-answered segment courtesy of Tina… which includes some good stories about time at Ohio University.

This episode definitely gets me pretty excited about what’s to come in the future of this OG Cincinnati Brewery!