Cincy Brewcast

It’s been far too long since the Brewcast met up with Bircus in Ludlow. Since our show in October of 2017, they’ve been brewing up some great beer for their fans, and doing so in the historic Ludlow Theater, which doubles as their taproom.

We took a few minutes to sit down with owner Paul and head brewer Sean to talk about what it means to run Cincinnati’s only beer-Circus and some of the struggles that come along with trying to open a place with such a unique idea behind it.

Along the way, of course, we drink a few beers and explore how it all comes together. We even take a sneak peek at what’s in store for both the near, and long term future of Bircus.

It’s hard to ignore all the things that are happening at Karrikin in Fairfax. They’re putting out some really amazing spirits, operating a great tasting room restaurant to enjoy them and are firing on all cylinders right now. But the beer side of me wants to make sure that everyone remembers – It’s a brewery!!

They’ve got a solid lineup of taps that range the style gamut – all of which are brewing brewed by some really incredible brewing talent. It’s more than worthy of you spending an hour with us talking Karrikin, talking beer, and talking about how something that has so many sides to it can work.

Back again on the show, local beer fan, author and all around fun guy to drink a beer with Michael D Morgan joins the folks from Urban Artifact to help guide us through their latest release, Missing Linck. This beer isn’t a far stray from an approachable golden ale, except the story of how it came to be, and the idea of what it could be in years to come here in Cincinnati.

The story is fantastic, the beer is delicious and it’s a show packed full of all the things that make Urban Artifact the favorite brewery to so many people here in Cincinnati. We’ll tackle it all – from inception (or discovery) to the current batch of the beer to the holiday that Urban Artifact hopes to inspire around it… This is definitely an action packed episode of Cincy Brewcast!

There are some beer styles that are considered ‘Trendy’ and two of the ones that jump to mind for me were both on tap at Darkness Brewing when the Brewcast rolled in last week. We grabbed a Brut IPA and a Cascadian Dark Ale and asked owner Eric Bosler about the styles, as well as some “bigger picture” stuff about where Cincinnati is, where it’s going and if it’s possible for a place like Darkness to ever happen again in a city like this.

It was a great chance to just get caught up on everything that’s been happening with this brewery – after all, it’s been a while since we’ve really got to sit down with them. From distributing onto the Ohio side of the river, to planning a big anniversary party this summer… there’s plenty to talk about!

It’s time to get to know Silverton’s upcoming HighGrain Brewing Company – the project designed to bring beer, food and sustainability head first into each other into a space that celebrates all three equally.

Andy Foltz was back again for this episode to help out with the co-hosting duties, and we were joined by Matt Utter, Brian Liscano and Josh Jansen to dive into what makes this place a little bit different than everything else that’s happening in Cincinnati right now.

We get a great picture of what they’re going to be offering on both the food front and the beer side of things, and take a peek at the space and how it’s designed to fit whatever mood you might be in – if you leave this episode not excited about checking this place out, I have no idea what to tell you… check your pulse.

There has been a vibrant, exciting and delicious community of breweries crafting sour beers here in Cincinnati, and I tasked myself with getting them all in the same room together to dive into this often misunderstood and under appreciated art form. We opened a few bottles (some very loudly) and explored as deeply as we could what makes it all work.

From what got people into the “sour world” to what it means to spontaneously ferment a beer… there were a lot of topics we touched on… so hang in there for a heck of a ride!

You also might want to pay attention this week for the “secret word” – I’m going to be giving some stuff away on social media, but you’ll need that to win!

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.

It goes without saying that Cincinnati’s beer history is long, and full of great stories. The story of what makes Cincinnati Beer so incredible has been put to paper a few times very well – but none have done it in quite as much detail as Michael D Morgan has in his new book ‘Cincinnati Beer’ – which is why I thought he’d be an incredible guest for this week’s episode

We highlight a few of the stories in the book – and explore what makes this city’s history so fun (and difficult) to dive into. We drink a few beers along the way and talk about what things look like in craft beer today vs what they looked like pre-prohibition. Are things really that different after all?

note – the links to Mike’s books are amazon affiliate links – so they help me, as well as helping him!

March First is doing a great job at putting out all of the beverages that they enjoy, and using their status a brewery/distillery/cidery to experiment with whatever their minds dream up. While this episode of Cincy Brewcast drifts from beer a little bit – it’s only expected when you set foot into a place like this.

This week they’re hosting their first ever ‘Ciderpalooza’ so I knew we had to sit down with them to chat about what the event is going to be like, as well as dive into some of the stuff they’ve been up to… new taproom, new patio, and a ton of new great products coming down the pike. These guys are fun.

Alexandria Brewing Company is gearing up for their quickly approaching first anniversary – which means it was definitely time for me to head back out to the brewery to chat with owner/brewer Andy Reynolds to see what he’s been up to. With one of the areas best Bock beers on tap… just barely it was the last keg – I knew how we had to start the show.

We talked about Bock beer… we talked about IBUs, as per usual Cincy Brewcast standards the conversation meandered around. The biggest part of it all was the discussion of Alexandria’s first anniversary which comes up this weekend (4/20/19) – they’re releasing their first ever bottles along with some really great variant tappings throughout the day – and it’s going to be something you most definitely don’t want to miss!