Cincy Brewcast

I messed up this week… which I’ll explain when you listen to this week’s episode – but that doesn’t mean I’m going to let it stop me from sharing with you a beer that I fell in love with recently at Darkness Brewing Company. I jumped on a phone call with Eric Bosler about their Sazerac Attack, which is easily the best cocktail inspired beer that I’ve ever tried… it’s mind blowingly good.

We talked about the beer, about how they’ve been fairing during the current… weirdness. And we talked about a bunch of other stuff that isn’t in the show (we address that… again, I’m sorry). This brewery is incredible… these folks are worth more time than I can hope to give them, and this beer? It’s stunning.

Fresh of a week packed full of pumpkin-spiced happiness (in addition to last week’s show – I finally got a chance to try Braxton’s pumpkin spice seltzer, which was awesome) I am now turning my attention back to Oktoberfest beers, of which we have a TON around town. I’ve been on an eternal quest to figure out which one is my favorite – and it continues this year with a bracket-style competition with the best judge ever. Me. I explain how it will all work, and even roll through the first two matchups in this week’s episode. There’s more to come on some other formats with this idea – so stay tuned and make sure you’re following me on all my social media!

I had the chance this week to head down to Taft’s Ale House for the big tapping of their Frisch’s Pumpkin Pie Ale… which opened up a can of worms for me. Now headfirst into pumpkin thoughts, coupled up with the good timing of Braxton’s announcement of their pumpkin spiced Vive… we needed to talk about this a little bit. I got some sound from the tapping event to share with you – and then got home and made a phone call to Braxton’s Jake Rouse to talk about how this all happened.

I’m not drinking any pumpkin anything on the show… but stay tuned, anything is possible in the next few weeks – the pumpkin seal has been broken!

Nine Giant is fun. There’s no simpler way to put it than that. They took the idea of what a brewpub meant here in Cincinnati and turned it on it’s head when they opened their doors in Pleasant Ridge, and now they’re looking to do it again when they open up their expansion that is being dubbed the Fermentorium. But the nagging question from their fans has been a big, and simple… when is it going to happen?

This week on the show we look to answer not only that, but to get a good look at what it all looks like. We drink a few beers and get caught back up on things (because it’s been far, far too long between episodes) and try to understand a little deeper at why they do what they do, and how they became such a favorite place for so many people in this city.

I love these guys – I love their beer, I love their attitude and I love sitting down and having a drink or two with them whenever I get the chance. I hope you enjoy listening to this one as much as I did making it!

Alone in the basement trying to put together a quick show for you doesn’t mean that I have to really be alone. Right? I gave Sonder Brewing Company’s Danny Herold a quick phone call to talk about their latest collaboration, an easy-drinking lager called Giga Coaster that they created with Kings Island. We talk about the beer, about the collaboration and have a quick beer together before I dove into a short little episode about what has been happening in the industry.

There’s a lot of thank you’s, a couple beers… and the promise of a full episode next week!

Figleaf and March First have come together as one company since the last time that we talked to either brewery. It’s hard to describe what that means though, without sitting down with the folks behind it all to see how the relationship really plays out on a day to day basis. These are two breweries that while yes… are under the same umbrella, still operate as separate pieces of the same team. It’s special.

In order to really get a good look at how it works, we dove in deep to it via the best way we know how… a few beers. We talked about how FigLeaf has changed, about where it all goes from here, and about what things each brand brings to each other in the bigger picture of it all.

Times are tough… scary… insane. You know, it’s hectic opening a brewery. Couple that up with all the other stuff going on in the world right now – and it’s down right crazy. I sat down with a couple of the folks behind Sharonville’s Third Eye Brewing Company to get a look into not just who they are and what the place is all about, but to get an idea at how they’re navigating the process of opening their doors during unprecedented times like this.

We (of course) drank a few beers along the way to give you an idea of some of the stuff that you’ll find when you hit up the socially distanced taproom with your friends.

I LOVE Mike Stokes and his company, Cincy Brew Bus. With all that has been going on, they’ve been on the surface of my mind a lot. It’s obviously not the same world as it was, and running a company that tours taprooms doesn’t look anywhere like it did a year ago.

We talked about that, of course.

We also drank a few beers, and talked about the general overlook of the current craft beer scene in Cincinnati. Mike shares a deep love for this community in the same way that I do, and it makes for a good time.

We were at DogBerry Brewing up in West Chester, so during the show we worked our way through a flight of their beers… so even if you get bored with hearing us talk – you can look forward to a little beer tasting to make it worth your while!

You can’t talk about Cincinnati beer without mentioning Brink Brewing company. They’ve won more medals at GABF than any other local brewery, and have done it on the back of some amazing beers. To me, they have personified what it means to be a neighborhood brewery.

It hasn’t been easy, and with their head brewer/co-owner recently making the jump to a bigger brewery with the newly opened Third Eye Brewing in Sharonville… it seemed like a good time to touch base and talk about the last couple of years.

I sat down with Brink’s owner Andy McCleese to talk about how they’ve gotten to this point and how you direct and push forward a brewery like Brink without losing the parts that seem to make it so special to it’s legions of fans who fill the taproom with smiling faces.

It’s always joked about new breweries, how long it took them to get their doors open. We laugh about the roadblocks and hurdles (it’s a lot funnier once it’s over with and the taproom is full of happy beer fans) – but few places can even come close to the journey that Northern Row has been on. Year after year they worked their butts off to get the taproom open.

And here we are. Finally. The brewery/distillery/winery/restaurant has a TON going for it, and couple it up with a taproom that is unlike anything else in this city and there is definitely a lot to talk about with them. It’s a daunting task, but one that I’m more than willing to take on.

I took an evening to hang out in the taproom and get to the bottom of their story. Who are they and how do they fit into the bigger landscape of Cincinnati Craft Beer? What’s with this “outlaws welcome” tagline that we keep hearing? And for a lot of you… most importantly, is their beer any good? There’s a lot of ground to cover, and we spent nearly two hours trying to get to it all. You can read more about the brewery here on the blog… but my recommendation? Just listen!

I can guarantee that we will be back to here to keep diving deeper, the beer deserves a lot more looks into it – and we didn’t even scratch the surface of what’s going on with distilling or winemaking. I think you’ll find them on a future episode of Drinking With The Gnome as well!