I love a good beerfest, and as we gear up for this year’s newly rebranded ‘Bacchus Beerfest’ (you might remember it as The Oakley Beerfest, previously) I wanted to sit down with some of the folks that are helping to make it happen. I sat down with Bill, Mandy and Jack to talk about what draws people to beerfests these days, how you keep upping the game and why folks should be buying their tickets asap!

Of course, with the Garden Bar at Element Eatery opening up after some big rebranding and overhauling, we had to dive into what makes that space so great, too!

It’s a great show, over a few great beers!

As always – thank you to all of you who listen to, subscribe and most importantly, who share this show with your friends! Your support means everything to me! If you like what I do, you can always support this show (or ALL my content) by heading to www.TheGnarlyGnome.com/Support and supporting that way!

There are a lot of different breweries in 2025, and while the industry has plenty of struggles, there is one model that stands above everything else – the neighborhood taproom. This is exactly where the upcoming Depot Brewing Company hopes to align itself. They’re planning a small brewery and taproom for the community of Morrow, Ohio, and from everything I can tell, it’s going to be great.

I sat down with owner Scott Tilford and head brewer Taylor Dent at their soon-to-be neighbors, Cartridge Brewing, to have a few beers and really explore how they’re planning on making it all happen.

It’s a great episode, and one that I hope will get you as excited as I am about this place opening its doors.

If you want to stay up to date on Depot and their plans, make sure you follow along on their website, their Facebook Page, and their Instagram account – things are going to start moving along very quickly, now!

Don’t forget that this show is brought to you by folks just like yourself. If you like what I do and want to support (and get early access to all the episodes, you can head to www.TheGnarlyGnome.com/support to become a Gnomie!

I was afraid that I wouldn’t be able to get a show up this week – and then remembered that I’d be hitting up the Ohio Craft Brewer’s Association’s ‘Pamona’s Abundance’ event at Urban Artifact. This celebration of women in beer would be absolutely perfect! I’ll be the first to admit that it’s not the best audio in the world – it’s a little echoy in the reliquary of Urban Artifact – but the panel is good enough that it won’t matter once you start listening!

Huge thanks to the folks at the OCBA for putting this on and to all the women who took part in the panel:

As always, thank you for being a fan of this show! If you like what I do, don’t forget that you can head over to TheGnarlyGnome.com/Support and become a Gnomie!

If you want to learn more about the Ohio Craft Brewer’s Association – you can visit them at OhioCraftBeer.org or listen to them on the podcast previously!

I’m sure that at this point, most folks here in Cincinnati know some of the brands that CinBev has taken on. Between Christian Moerlein, Little Kings, and Hudepohl, I’ll be the first to tell you that they’ve done an amazing job understanding their personalities and how they compliment and contrast each other. It’s for this reason that I was thrilled when I heard that they were buying the Taft’s brand as it’s former ownership shifted their model into Impact Beverages.

This week, I sat down with Cincinnati Beverage’s Elliot Culter to talk about what this all means for them, for the brands, for Taft’s, and how it all keeps shaping where Cincinnati beer will be in the future.

It’s a great conversation, and one that I hope gets you as excited as I am about things!

If you like this show or any of the stuff that I do, make sure you subscribe to become a Gnomie! If you want to know more about their brands you can visit them online: – https://www.christianmoerlein.com – https://littlekingsbeer.com – https://www.hudepohlbeer.com

I LOVE a new brewery, especially when that new brewery is run by an older brewery that I already love. I love it even more when that team manages to create a new space that takes all the things we already love and gives it a new personality.

If you’re not putting it together yet, that’s exactly what’s going on at Gilligan’s Brewery in Wyoming, Ohio.

In this episode, I sit down with Chris Henry, their marketing manager, to have a beer and figure out exactly how and why the brewery plans to keep connecting even better with the community around them. It’s a wonderful episode, and if you haven’t been yet – I can’t encourage you enough to head out to visit Gilligans! You can check them out online – or hit them up on social media.

This show is brought to you by listeners just like you. If you like what you hear, you can go to TheGnarlyGnome.com/Support to help it keep growing.

When Mellotone Beer Project announced that they’d be taking over a VERY familiar brewpub space here in Cincinnati, I wasn’t sure what to expect. I knew their head brewer and co-founder, Alexandra Nowell, knew what she was doing from her time in the industry, but what I have found since is a space that manages to brew traditional styles really, really well, without being afraid to put their own spin on them. It’s easy to let craft beer get a little too full of itself, and this place knows exactly when and how to shake things up to prevent that!

I can’t thank the folks at Mellotone enough for helping to make this episode come to life, it was great getting to check them out and share them with you!

If you want to check out Mellotone, make sure you head down to the brewpub in OTR, check out their website, and follow them on social media.

As always, if you like this show (or any of the stuff that I do) you can help by sharing this show with someone that you think would appreciate it, or by heading to TheGnarlyGnome.com/Support to show your support that way!

This week’s episode of Cincy Brewcast takes us back to Higher Gravity. Higher Gravity has two locations: the OG spot in Northside and a space in Blue Ash at Summit Park. Their Summit Park has a full coffee program, and both locations have great cocktail menus. They sell amazing, well-curated beer, a variety of wines, seltzer, and THC beverages. It’s incredible how they’ve continued evolving while still staying who they are.

I wanted to understand this evolution and see how they managed to be so great along the journey. Owners Jason and Nick were kind enough to sit down with me over a few beers and help me unwrap everything!

Make sure that if you like Higher Gravity, and what they’re up to you visit them on their website.

If you like what I do here… or anywhere I’m out making stuff – you can support me (and get exclusive access to extra content and cool swag) by supporting and becoming a “Gnomie.” Every little bit helps. Even a quick share on social media makes a massive difference in how this all keeps growing!

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.