Volume 8 Archives - The Gnarly Gnome

I can’t even begin to tell you how much I enjoy Bockfest every year. It’s very, very Cincinnati – and always stands out as one of the best festivals that happens every year. This year was no exception… even though the weather forced the parade to cancel, folks showed up in droves on Saturday to celebrate, and I thought it might make a good chance to hang out and make a podcast (why not?)

Podcast we did. I was joined by Bret Kollmann Baker from Urban Artifact and Author, Historian, and all-around fun podcast guest Mike Morgan to have a few drinks, tell some Bockfest stories and have a blast hanging out.

We recorded this one in front of a live audience – which always keeps things even more exciting! I hope you have as much fun with it as we did!

It’s not a topic that anyone wants to discuss, the closing of a brewery. But it’s part of what we must come to terms with as our beer scene keeps growing and evolving. New places open, and others close their doors. In this episode, I sat down with Jason Surniak from the former Queen City Brewery to talk about what happened with them, what it meant for him as a brewer and a beer fan, and what we as drinkers can take away from it.

This was a great conversation over a few beers out at Little Miami Brewing Company one afternoon, and it was great not just reminiscing about the brewery – but getting a chance to catch up with Jason.

I hope that you get as much value out of this one as I did!

It’s been a really long time since I’ve had Third Eye on the podcast. Things have been busy for the Sharonville Brewery since opening back in the summer of 2020. With that being said, they aren’t about to get any less busy in the near future, they’re planning a big production space in Hamilton and a mystery third taproom, too.

I managed to get Tom Collins and Kelly Montgomery to sit down and share with me some of their big plans, and some of the mindset that has gotten them to the point they’re at today. We dove deep into a lot of different things that I think you’ll find really interesting from current trends in craft beer, to a bunch of really nerdy beer talk from Kelly that if you’ve ever geeked out over a pint I know you’ll enjoy.

We drank a few beers along the way too… you know we wouldn’t let you down on that front!

It’s been a while since we did this. The founding crew from Sonder, in a big, empty, echoey room, talking about what a new location is going to be like. It feels great. I sat down with Justin, Chase and Jen to talk about how they got here – and where exactly “here” is. Their new West Chester spot is going to be awesome, and I hope that this gets you as excited as I am.

We drank a few beers to christen things the right way… of course!

I assume at this point that you’ve heard of these folks. Rhinegeist is a pretty big deal, not just around Cincinnati, but in craft beer today. This show takes a little different look at what our city’s biggest “local” spot does to help tell it’s story via packaging, and marketing materials. I was lucky enough to sit down with the brewery’s director of Marketing, Tracey Irel,and and Creative Director Mike Gertz to see what goes into their process.

We talked about a lot, but used a couple of new products to illustrate some of it all – namely their Imperial IPA, called ‘Terror Bird’ and their new hazy/juicy IPA ‘Juicy Truth’ – it was not just a great peek at what makes these two products come to life – but it did give me a really great excuse to drink both of them on a gorgeous afternoon.

I hope that you guys find this as much fun as I do – I love having the opportunity to explore some sides of our local spots that we might not always appreciate when we’re cracking open a beer with friends!

It’s not enough just being a brewery in Cincinnati these days… and as Jason Brewer from the upcoming Wandering Monsters Brewery points out, it’s not enough to do that and also to have a great food program, either. His new project is designed from the ground up with that one more needed thing; for him, it’s duckpin bowling. If you don’t know Jason Brewer, do yourself a favor and start searching through this website to learn a little more about his history here in Cincinnati, because I promise it will get you even more excited about this project!

We sat down in the space that this year will become the new brewery to talk about it and hopefully get you a little more excited about seeing it come to life.

I hope that you get the same warm fuzzy feelings from this as I do. Fifty West is celebrating its tenth year in business by returning to its roots. The brewpub is reopening its doors, and that’s about the best reason I can think of to show up and sit down for an episode with them.

I sat down with Bobby and Max to talk about it all… the brewery’s journey to get here, how they fit into craft beer today, the return of the brewpub (and how that fits in with who they are, too). It’s an extensive conversation that could have really stretched out even longer if we had the time.

I love what this does for them, for Cincy beer, and if I’m being honest – for me as a craft beer drinker, too!

DogBerry is a fascinating example of what a Cincinnati brewery can be, they aren’t the biggest or the smallest in town. They do things differently than many newer places seem to do – and that’s one of the biggest things that I love about them.

But as craft beer (and craft beer drinkers) keep evolving, so does DogBerry. They are prepping to add a food partner into an expanded space and a menu that will include canned cocktails and wine for those folks who want the taproom experience but aren’t beer drinkers. I’m fascinated by a place like this that has to not only know who they are but know how to use their personality to drive growth like this.

I sat down with owner Tony Meyer to drink a couple of beers, and talk about it all. I’m excited to see what the next stage in the evolution of DogBerry looks like!

For full disclosure, I want to let you know that at the time of recording this, I have a working relationship with DogBerry Brewing Company through my business – Gnome Creative. That doesn’t change any of my thoughts or opinions that I express during the show, but you should still know about it!

As soon as I heard the news I was pretty freaking excited to share it with you… Cincinnati’s OG beer blog is coming back! Hoperatives will look a little bit different (with a much bigger scope than before) – and I can’t even tell you how pumped I am to see what they have up their sleeves!

I sat down with Tom and Carla to talk about what they’re planning and why it’s relevant today, too. We explored a little bit about what we love about the current industry, and what we’re excited about… and even drank a couple of beers (of course).

Huge thanks to Wooden Cask for hosting us this week (although they didn’t know we were coming, I always like surprising folks like that). Go there… drink the beer.

A brewery like Brink gets a lot of its identity from its taproom, which makes growth a little trickier than it might be for other breweries. As they move into the next phase of their life, they have to figure out exactly what that means – which is much of what we discussed in this episode.

Who are they?

Do they hang their hat in their neighborhood, alone? Do medals mean anything? What role does packaging play in their story? It’s all pretty complicated, but I’m excited to watch how they learn how to adjust to growing up!