Cincy Brewcast

It takes me about an hour to get from my doorstep to the barstool at Sons of Toil, but the drive is a really small price to pay for a brewery that is doing what they are doing. They’ve captured a laid back “country” vibe that is genuine, relaxing, and exactly what we all need from time to time. When you couple that up with some absolutely awesome beer? Well… it could be a three hour drive and it would be worth it.

I sat down with owners Dave and John along with their head brewer Nate to figure out how it all comes together, and where some of the inspiration comes from. We get into their histories, and how they decided to start a brewery in Mt. Orab, and even got a few sneak peeks at what might be in store for the brewery in the coming years.

If you’ve never been out to the brewery – it’s 100% time that you remedy that! This show will certainly make you craft a few beers sitting out in their backyard.

As always, this show is brought to you by people like you – I’m so, so grateful for all the folks who support what I do and make it possible every month – if you want to know more, or you might want to spend a couple bucks each month to help out, head over here to do just that! I have to give a special shoutout to this month’s sponsor level backer, Bret Kollmann Baker, who as I hope you’re aware is from Urban Artifact. They’re doing some really spectacular stuff over there, and you should show them some love, too. You can get onto their website and order beer now, to have it delivered right to your doorstep – it changes the game, for sure!

Zane freaking Lamprey. I have wanted to get this man on my show for a very, very long time. An inspiration to what I do as a “drinking content creator” or whatever this journey I’m on is, and a really, really funny dude, Zane has pioneered the way for people who want to entertain around drinking culture. He’s getting ready to hit the road all across the country to have a pint or two and put on a standup show in taprooms and it provided the perfect opportunity for him to make an appearance.

We talked about his upcoming tour and chatted about his career, and how he’s got from point A, to where he his today… point G? It’s been a long winding road, and I find the route pretty fascinating.

Do yourself a major favor, and head over to Adv3nture.com to check out his company that not only provides some fantastic outdoor gear, but plants three trees each time you buys something. Also… make sure that you head over to his website to grab your tickets for the tour – they’re making stops at a few cities around – including right here in Cincinnati at Fretboard in September.

Lager beer spent a lot of time building a reputation – and it wasn’t always a good one. In the modern world of craft beer there are places, though, like Rebel Mettle doing everything in their power to break the reputation and bring lager back in a BIG way. It was awesome getting to sit back down with these folks right as they were rolling out the first cans from their brewery and dive into how they make it all work.

The show might have been a little chaotic, but I should have just trusted my back up systems, because it turned out fine… (I’m an idiot, and didn’t have a memory card… it’s a long story – you don’t need to worry about it).

It’s been 7 months since we last did a show at Rebel Mettle, and it seems both like it was just yesterday – and like it’s been a lifetime. We sipped on a few beers, and explored a LOT including the cans – how they’ve been handling opening a brewery during a pandemic, and maybe what they see for craft beer in the future. It’s a good one!

I don’t get a ton of chances to sit down at one of the country’s top 25 craft breweries. We’re pretty freaking lucky, though to have one tucked right away in a little building on Elm Street in Over-The-Rhine. I’m being a little sarcastic, here… if you’ve been to Rhinegeist, you know that ‘little’ is the last thing you should use to describe them.

Sitting down with their director of Education, Chris Shields, though… we talked about how they’ve managed to create a massive brewery, and somehow kept that taproom feeling the same today as it was the day they opened their doors almost 8 years ago.

We rolled into a few rabbit holes during the conversation, and we might have gone a little longer than I planned – but we hit some conversation points that I’ve been itching to talk about for a long time. We explored the journey that Rhinegeist has been on – from their early days to now – and how they did it.

Of course – you can’t really talk about their past with trying to figure out their future, too… and of course we tried to explore that, too. Along the way? You know we knocked a few beers back to chat about what they’ve been brewing!

I love shows like this. We used to call them bottle shows, but there really aren’t many bottles these days vs cans. The basics are simple. Crack open a few beers, shoot the breeze and see what comes up. We started the framework of the episode with a text message a few weeks ago that posed the question “What would Cincinnati look like if Rhinegeist never opened here?”. From there… we dove down a rabbit hole of great conversation, and really fantastic beers.

Michael Amann from Adena is always a pleasure to have on the show, and his thoughts and opinions definitely make him a great guest!

If you enjoy this show, my website, or definitely my YouTube channel – you can always support them all by heading here to spend a couple bucks a month to keep it all running. I also have a pretty sweet swag shop available if you want some shirts, hats, or stickers to show your love for Cincinnati Craft Beer to all your friends.

Speaking of support… I have to give a huge shout out to the month’s sponsor – Bret Kollmann Baker over at Urban Artifact. If you live here in Cincinnati, you already know how awesome these guys are, and they’ve made it so, so easy for us to get their beer. You can hit up their website and order it online, having it dropped off right on your doorstep without you having to go anywhere. I will say, though – if you want to go somewhere, now that their taproom is back open, it’s a pretty great spot to grab a pint of some of the city’s most innovative beer. — Please support them, they support me!

On one hand, I get upset with myself when it takes me this long to get out to a local brewery to help them share their story with you. It drives me crazy. On the other hand, it feels so flippin’ good to finally get out there – that I almost forget about how crazy it makes me.

The folks over at Cincy Brewing Company have been on my “need to record list” for far too long – but my lord am I glad to finally get out there.

Their beer is better than ever, they are starting to really figure out who they are – and the taproom is finding it’s place in this bigger community in a really fun way. I dig this one, a lot.

We talked about how they got started, who they are, and about what they’re brewing. We even dove into the big question of “how big is too big” for a place like Cincy Brewing Company. It’s a long, fun show!

Also – I have to give a massive, massive shoutout to this months sponsors of the show:

These folks are sponsors… they make this happen. You can help too, though. If you want to dedicate a few bucks each month to the Brewcast, to the website, the YouTube channel… all of that. You can always hit up the support page and do just that. It helps… it helps a lot!

Linsey Kraeling runs the Tour de Cincinnati – which is a website that if you aren’t already familiar with – you need to quickly make yourself familiar with. It’s a one stop guide to all things Cincinnati, from top ten lists to a whole slew of reviews and advice on places to go. It’s incredible.

She’s got a wealth of beer information on her site, how could you write about Cincinnati and not have beer information? Which means I needed to get her on the show – and this week (in the middle of my Covid lockdown) seemed like a great time. I was locked in my basement, and she was kind enough to keep me company for a little bit to talk about her website, social media, Cincinnati, and how it all comes together.

Enjoy this episode – and if you don’t already follow her on social media – do it!

I got Covid. Because I have it, I’ve been locked up in the basement this week, separated from my family and hacking up a lung. It’s been miserable, and unfortunately it bleeds over into the Brewcast this week, too. It’s a short one, and it’s a solo one… but how else would I start year 7 than with some chaos?

We’ll be back to normal next week – in the meantime, come take a peek at how this show has evolved over the years – spoiler alert – it’s about you.

I’ve been waiting to do this show for a very long time… It’s a heavy one. I haven’t sat down with Dogberry Brewing company (on the Brewcast), and the brewery’s owner Tony Meyer for a couple of years now, and there is a lot that has happened in that time.

I wanted to give Tony a chance to tell his story, not because you guys don’t understand the terrible things that have happened in the last year – but because it is really important to understand who DogBerry is.

It’s not that any of this has changed fundamentally who they are – but it has solidified it in a way that not many things are able to do. I love these guys – and you deserve to hear this story from Tony’s own voice.

If you have been around Cincinnati Craft beer for a little while, you probably know Del Hall – he’s definitely caused a few waves with his yearly ‘Beer Fast’ that he does each spring – but he’s also one of the owners of Mason’s 16 Lots Brewing, and a really fantastic guy to sit down and have a beer with.

So… we did.

16 Lots is in the midst of a big rebrand, and a refresh of their identity – and since their new cans were making their debut in the taproom – I thought the timing just seemed perfect, right?

We cracked open a couple of beers and chatted about everything, from Bockfest, to 16 Lots, to Del’s history and how he got into craft beer… and how he ended up at 16 Lots after all this time.