It should feel a little familiar if you’ve been a fan of this show for a while, now – Big Cis brings together old friends to celebrate a beer that is in itself a celebration of craft beer itself. This year’s tapping of Big Cis coincided with Cincy Beer Week, which only made it that much more special – and I hope that resonates with everyone else the way that it does with me!

To everyone that keeps all of this still going, and makes it feel as great as it does… thank you!

The long quest to find the mysterious “Party Tree” comes to an exciting conclusion for me with a short hike through the woods with the one and only Matt DeMaris. I really wanted to get him on the podcast to talk about this year’s Honor Bus, his Vets & Brews charity work… and of course to have him lead me to this legendary, mysterious spot in the woods.

If you want to learn more about Matt and Vets & Brews… you can find them online right here. More importantly, if you want to support the honor bus this year – you can do that right here!

There might have also been a couple more beers consumed that afternoon… the Party Tree demanded it.

In this episode of Cincy Brewcast, I sit down with Garrett Hickey from Streetside Brewery to dive into the latest happenings in the world of craft beer. We kick things off by discussing the recent gold medal win for Streetside’s Black Cats English Brown Ale at the Great American Beer Festival (GABF). Garrett shares insights into the brewing process, the significance of the award, and the unique characteristics that set Black Cats apart from other brown ales. We also touch on the broader implications of winning such a prestigious award and how it impacts the brewery and its patrons.

As we sip on some of Streetside’s latest beers, including a delicious Pumpkin Pie Cheesecake Demogorgon and an Oreo Peanut Butter variant, we explore the challenges and triumphs of running a brewery in today’s market. Garrett opens up about the evolving craft beer landscape, the pressures of maintaining quality and innovation, and the importance of staying connected with the local community. We also delve into the logistics of barrel aging, the excitement of experimenting with unique barrels, and the meticulous planning that goes into creating standout beers.

Finally, we look ahead to the much-anticipated Demogorgon Day at Streetside Brewery, discussing the lineup of variants, the logistics of the event, and what fans can expect. Whether you’re a seasoned craft beer enthusiast or new to the scene, this episode offers a behind-the-scenes look at the passion and dedication that drive one of Cincinnati’s beloved breweries. Tune in for an engaging conversation filled with beer insights, industry reflections, and a celebration of craft brewing excellence.

This is the end of a fantastic Oktoberfest season for me. For the fifth year in a row, as soon as the first local Oktoberfest beers hit shelves, I started my quest. It’s a journey to find the “best” Cincinnati Oktoberfest beer that takes me through a massive bracket, head-to-head matchups between every single packaged Cincinnati Oktoberfest beer, and culminates in a live event to let the final four battle it out in a blind, head to head face off.

There are always a lot of great beers (32 of them this year), and almost any of them could, and deserve to, win – but only one can.

This year’s finals took place in the beer garden at Sonder Brewing Company in Mason, Ohio – last year’s winner – and MadTree, Sonder, Third Eye, and West Side Brewing battled it out together before triumphantly, MadTree’s Ziegler came through as this year’s champion (Their second time winning “The Golden Gnome” trophy).

Huge thanks to all who came and hung out to watch the finals this year! We’ll be back at it again next year, so stay tuned!

There are several things that make an Oktoberfest great – and Sonder has it absolutely dialed in. Every year, we take a few minutes during their festival to make a podcast (probably an excuse to hang out over a few beers as much as it is anything else) – and this year, we explored a little bit about those things that make it so great. We drink a few beers and share a few laughs… it’s a good one!

If you like this show, if you like any of the stuff that I do, you can always support by going to http://www.TheGnarlyGnome.com/support

There’s been a lot of confusion in the local beer circles about what’s going on with Bircus. They got a lot of folks a little worried when a ‘For Sale By Owner’ sign appeared on the marquee of the Ludlow Theater. I headed down to Ludlow, Kentucky to talk to Paul Miller (The Chief “Goof Officer”) of Bircus to get it all settled.

Paul lets us behind the curtain to talk about how the brewery’s move down the street and the long-term growth plans of the whole idea of Bircus call for a new evolution. The sale of their historic space is one piece of that puzzle. Over a couple of beers, a lot of laughs we work our way to the bottom of what’s happening with Bircus.

That’s not all, though – Paul made a quick phone call to Obekeng Malope (you’ve hopefully read her work in ‘Final Gravity’, or in ‘On Tap’ Magazine) all the way in South Africa. She’s incredible, and I feel like I need to do a full episode with her when she’s here in the US, soon!

Action Packed? I’d say so… it’s a lot to cram into one episode of Cincy Brewcast!

There has been no shortage of moments in time when Listermann has gone through big changes, and the last year has been the latest. With new ownership on board to run things, a new kitchen program is coming to life – and a ton of new classic-styled beers to sit next to the fan favorites… things are exciting.

If anything sounded like a great time to sit down with owner Terrie and head brewer Payton… that certainly does, doesn’t it? We talk about how they are trying to stick to things that folks love about the brewery from the last 16 year while also improving on all the pieces that need improved.

It’s a great episode, and I can’t thank the folks at Listermann enough for helping to make it happen.

The folks at Happy 2 Brewing in Anderson don’t have any major aspirations to be the next big Cincinnati brewery. In fact, they seem to be happy just being in a neighborhood spot located in a little pizza shop, making beer that they really enjoy.

I’m a firm believer that this is a model more places should adopt. Small pockets all over the city can support a taproom model like this, and I hope that we see a lot more of it going forward!

I sat down with brewers/owners John and Dave Maddrill to learn how Happy 2 came to be, why they ended up where they are, and how they try to do things their own way without paying too much attention to what the world tells them they’re “supposed” to do.

The world of craft beer in 2024 is very confusing sometimes. It’s easy to get caught up in a lot of different things that can distract you from why you fell in love with all of this in the first place. What I love the most about Gravel Road Brewing Company in Middletown, Ohio, is their focus on doing the things that they fell in love with back when they first started drinking beer.

They’ll never be the biggest or the trendiest place in town – but along their journey, hopefully, they always feel good about how they’re doing what they are doing… I can get behind that.

I sat down with owner/brewer Dan Lauro to discuss how he got from where he started to where he is today and where he thinks they’ll go from this point on. We drank a couple of beers (of course) and talked about what it means to make a beer that’s meant to be drank.

For more information about Gravel Road, follow them on social media or visit their website here.

It’s been a very, very long time since we stopped out at HighGrain Brewing Company to record an episode of the podcast, and with their recent opening of a new brewery over in Springfield Township – I think it’s a great time to make it happen. I was joined by Austin Neal, Brad Brooks, and Matt Utter to talk about how they keep things growing without losing sight of what makes them who they are.

There’s a lot of reasons that the pandemic set them on a course that got them to this place, and we talked a lot about how that road actually “appeared” before them, and how they managed to travel down it without coming apart at the seams.

Of course, it wouldn’t be a Brewcast if we didn’t have a few beers along the way. Would it?