Volume 11 Archives - The Gnarly Gnome

I LOVE the yearly tradition that consumes my garage fridge every winter. We call it Beervent, and it’s more than just a box filled with a different beer that I get to open each day – it’s a piece of the holidays that can’t be skipped. It starts my days (though… I don’t always get to drink the day’s beer until later), and I’m not sure that Christmas would feel right without it.

For this year, I thought it’d be fun to chat about my favorites, to break down some themes, and to fill you in on WHY you need to get one for yourself next year!

It’s a solo episode, with a can of Northern Row’s Hustler Helles… crack one open and enjoy it with me!

This has been an eagerly anticipated episode for me. As someone who both LOVES Alexandria Brewing Company, AND lives on the other side of the Greater Cincinnati area from them, a West Chester outpost is pretty perfect for me. Full disclosure, I work with Alexandria in my day job, and while that doesn’t come in to play at all with this episode… I want you to know!

Andy Reynolds has been on the show a lot, but this one hits a lot different. This is a show that talks about both the growth of them as a company, about the changes that the industry is going through and how some places are managing to navigate them with growth, while others aren’t. We drink some beers… of course – but it’s really an episode about the future of what all this might look like as we keep forging on into uncertain waters.

Huge thanks to Andy and the whole Alexandria crew for making this episode come to life – make sure you’re following along via their social media to catch the latest about the new location (or their website at https://www.alexandriabrewingcompany.com of course) and if you like the stuff that I’m doing on this show, or any of the stuff I’m working on – head to http://www.TheGnarlyGnome.com/support to help it all keep going!

Big shout out to http://www.CincinnatiBartenderJobs.com for being the sponsor of Cincy Brewcast, Drinking With The Gnome – and hopefully a lot more in the future! Stay tuned!

In this episode of Cincy Brewcast, I had the pleasure of welcoming back Garrett Hickey as we celebrated some exciting achievements in the world of Streetside Brewery, particularly coming off the recent GABF weekend. We dove into the significance of winning medals and the competitive landscape of Ohio breweries, and discussed how certain styles dominate the awards scene. Garrett shared insights on their approach to selecting beers for competitions and the challenges of standing out in a crowded market. We also reflected on how awards can influence sales and the importance of brewing what they believe to be their best offerings.

As we transitioned to the upcoming Demogorgon Day, we explored the unique variants that will be featured this year, including a special collaboration with Superstition Meadery. Garrett explained how the event has evolved, bringing together the community and showcasing their experimental spirit. We touched on their new food partnership and the excitement surrounding their 10th anniversary celebrations, highlighting the importance of staying connected with their roots while embracing growth and change in the craft beer scene.

If you want to know more about Streetside, Demogorgon, or any of the other awesome stuff that they have going on, you can always check out their website – or make sure you’re following them on Facebook or Instagram. If you like THIS show, or any of the stuff that I do: make sure you hit up http://www.TheGnarlyGnome.com/support to become a Gnomie!

My goodness. Technical difficulties? Again?! I get it slightly under control as the episode progresses, and it WOULD be frustrating if I didn’t have so much fun with this show every year. It’s Oktoberfest season, and this is the finale of a massive bracket I do every year to determine the winner, and the brewer of Cincinnati’s BEST packaged Oktoberfest!

I was joined by Marco and Julia from Truth Beer Podsequences – because you know… I can’t make this final decision by myself… and as expected, it was tough.

If you want to know the final four, and you want to know who takes the ‘Golden Gnome’ trophy – you’ll have to listen to this episode!

Huge thank you to this year’s host, MadTree, to Truth Beer and Podsequences for helping with the judging, and of course to every brewery that made a KILLER Oktoberfest this year!

It’s a painful process to watch, the closing of a brewery. I can only imagine what it’s like from the perspective of an owner and founder of a brewery… but we get a little peek at what it’s like in this week’s episode with DogBerry’s founder, Tony Meyer. He talks about how he has rediscovered a love for craft beer, after it had almost disappeared at the end of DogBerry’s run… It’s a wonderful episode with someone that I’m happy to call a friend.

If you like this show, or any of the stuff that I make, don’t forget that you can go to http://www.TheGnarlyGnome.com/Support to become a Gnomie and help make things happen!

Norwood, Ohio, gets a big win with the opening of Braxton’s new taproom at Factory 52. In what COULD have been a huge loss, HiWire recently announced the closure of their Cincinnati taproom to focus on their efforts back home in North Carolina, and with it, a partnership of sorts where Braxton will always be keeping some HiWire beer on tap there.

I sat down with Jake and Evan Rouse, two of Braxton’s founders and owners, to talk about what this means for the brewery’s future growth, for the future of craft beer, and for the future of what taprooms might look like.

It’s a great conversation, and one that I know a lot of beer drinkers here in Cincinnati are going to be excited to hear! If you’re curious to know more about Braxton or their new taproom space, make sure that you hit them up on the Braxton Factory 52 Facebook page.

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