The Best Brewery Hops in Cincinnati

Cincinnati has a rich history of beer production and consumption. They had dozens of breweries in the late 1800s, catering to a large German American population that enjoyed little more than sausage, pretzels, and pints– as do we all. Of course, the evil known as prohibition screeched that scene to a halt, but while it took nearly a century for the craft beer boom to fully hit, Cincinnati’s beer scene is back and just as terrific as ever, with plenty of craft breweries to satiate any drinker’s palate. Most of Cincinnati’s breweries aren’t within walkable “hops,” so keep that in mind when planning brewery hopping here– you’ll need a designated driver or designated Uber caller. That said, let us tell you how to drink like kings and queens in the Queen City.

HONORABLE MENTIONS: Streetside Brewery, MadTree Brewing

We wanted to start with a couple of quick shoutouts to places we thoroughly enjoyed but didn’t quite fit in as part of our top three hops. You can find Streetside Brewery in the Columbia Tusculum area on the east side of town– they boast daily food trucks, fun murals/sticker walls inside, and a tap list littered with a variety of bold flavors and choices. Our recommendations: they have a terrific coffee blonde, Return of the Mac, and several tart goses and Berliner Weisses. The Goseface Killah was a highlight, as sour plum beers can be a very mixed bag, but this one had a bright and juicy flavor while still providing a potent pucker. Those looking to hop near here can continue taking the 50 eastward toward Bad Tom Smith and, about five and a half miles away, Fifty West Brewing.

If you’re traveling with a big group in Cincinnati, and your group digs hoppy IPAs? MadTree Brewing is undoubtedly the place for you. They have a sleek, enormous outdoor space, a spacious interior, and they still manage to fill up in the evenings and weekends– a testament to how beloved they are in Cincinnati. On top of that, they play host to Catch-a-Fire Pizza, whose wood-fired pizzas are top of the line. Still, if you’re there to drink, they’ve got thirty (!!) beers on tap, covering nearly every style imaginable. Our recommendations: the best thing about MadTree is their staunch refusal to bend to the haze craze. Their IPAs embrace a deep, dank hoppiness. The Galaxy High boasts 120 IBUs and a 9+ ABV%, meaning this hoppy helping has heft. We also want to shout out Lupulin Effect, their collaboration with Fat Head’s, another old-school juicy hop bomb that assaulted our bitter tastebuds in the best way possible. Those looking to hop here could head to Nine Giant a couple miles away, or you could drive west a little over four miles and attach MadTree to our second hop detailed below.

3. OVER-THE-RHINE: Christian Moerlein —> Rhinegeist —> Taft’s Ale House

The historic Over-the-Rhine neighborhood is filled with a number of great shops and eateries, so naturally a few breweries are sprinkled into the mix as well. This is the most walkable area for brewery hoppers looking to avoid driving, so consider that when choosing your hop. If you start here, start at Rhinegeist, a popular brewery located in a massive old bottling plant– we can’t recall the last time we saw a warehouse-style tap room with such high ceilings. This would be a great place for a wedding, if you wanted to invite hundreds and hundreds of guests. No worries if the crowded, game-packed main floor isn’t your thing: they also have a more peaceful rooftop patio for a quieter experience. They have a sandwich cart for the peckish, plenty of games for the restless: nearly everything you’d want in a tap room is here. Our recommendation: Rhinegeist has an array of hoppy IPAs on tap you should sample– Knowledge, their double, is an intense, piney double. The Penguin and Press Tart are both quality blonde stouts and Berliner Weisses, respectively. Fans of these styles should take note.

From there, it’s about half a mile to Christian Moerlein Brewing Company. Christian Moerlein Brewing was founded in the original pre-prohibition days of Over-the-Rhine, and while prohibition killed it, it was resurrected in the last decade, and its Malt House in OTR conveys the brand’s deep history. The architecture on the inside is breathtaking, with swooping arches making you feel like you’ve somehow gone deep underground into the past. Our recommendation: this is a traditional German ale house, so buy something traditional. They usually have a series of lagers on tap– their Riverfront location is called the Lager House, so it’s the style they most embrace. Accordingly, order any of their lagers– we recommend the Barbarossa, a rich, malty Dunkel. Sip your lager, buy a giant pretzel with mustard, marvel at the architecture, and steep yourselves in history.

Speaking of architecture, Taft’s Ale House, our last stop on the hop*, is one of the more singular church breweries in America. Unlike some others, which try to embrace a more traditional brewpub format in a less-than-traditional setting, Taft’s Ale House leans into the church aesthetic. The bar is the altar, long wooden tables are their pews, and the pipes of the organ reach up to the ceiling from behind the bar. Its namesake is Cincinnati’s own President William Taft, known for being a portly fellow, so suitably, they have delicious food available. They’re known for their tri-tip steak, so grab a sandwich: the Big Billy is an absolutely presidential delicacy. Our recommendations: the Gavel Banger, their IPA, is an old-school hoppy treat that’d pair beautifully with a steak sandwich. They also have tasty brown ales– the Culebra Cut is a smooth coconut-infused concoction, and for those lucky enough to visit in the fall, the Gourd to Death is one of the better pumpkin browns we’ve ever had.

*- while in OTR, if you choose not to eat at a brewery, The Eagle OTR is a block or so from Taft’s, and they have outstanding fried chicken sandwiches and a variety of local beers on tap. Afterward, swing next door for dessert at Holtman’s Donut Shop. Finally, brewery hoppers should note that at the end of 2018, Platform Beer Co, currently located in Cleveland and Columbus, will open up LOCOBA by Platform, a coffee shop/tap room hybrid, a few blocks from Taft’s. If it’s anything like the other Platforms, it’ll be well worth a visit.

2. The Woodburn —> Listermann Brewing Company

If you head to East Walnut Hills, you can start a potent 1-2 punch of a drivable brewery hop at The Woodburn. The Woodburn has an upscale yet industrial interior. It feels like a classy, intimate cocktail bar, and appropriately, they serve cocktails alongside their terrific house-brewed beer. There are rumors of unrest behind the scenes, and perhaps even a future sale, but assuming The Woodburn continues to operate as it currently does, it’s a great place to come enjoy a quiet drink while walking around this lovely little neighborhood. Our recommendations: The Woodburn’s reputation is built on its stouts. The Bourbon Barrel Stout is one of the best in the city, striking the perfect balance between the kick of the bourbon and the smooth creaminess of the stout. Their Chocolate Cherry Stout, perhaps their most popular beer, delivers on the delicious promise of its name, and the Han Solo is a coffee blonde that should satisfy any coffee beer lover– ourselves included.

Go north toward Xavier for a couple miles to get to Listermann Brewing Company, one of the jewels in Cincinnati’s craft beer crown. It’s a fun, local neighborhood style pub with murals on the walls, including some great graffiti art on the exterior. Attached to the more traditional bar area is a room with open seating, games, and TVs. Listermann also has the Renegade Grille located within, serving up delicious burgers and bacon cheese fries. But you’re not going there for the burgers, you’re going for the award-winning beer. Listermann has been brewing for over a decade in Cincinnati, and with experience comes wisdom, because regardless of the style you’re looking for, Listermann likely has a top-shelf rendition.

Our recommendations: their hazy IPAs are exceptional, so start there, perhaps with the juicy treat Team Fiona, the sales of which benefit the Cincinnati Zoo, or with 99 Problems But A Beer Ain’t One, a crisp, citrusy, and dangerously crushable 7.6% ABV East Coast IPA. Their porters and stouts are also terrific: the Nutcase is one of the better and richer peanut butter porters we’ve encountered in the last couple of years. Finally, the Blueberry Brut merits a shoutout as one of the best, most flavorful brut IPAs we’ve ever had. We tip our Cincinnati Reds caps to you, Listermann.

1. Brink Brewing —> Urban Artifact

Cincinnati covers a lot of ground, but fortunately for those planning a quick visit, two of the best breweries in the city are separated by under three miles. Start in College Hill with a trip to Brink Brewing. Brink was a big winner at this year’s Great American Beer Fest, where it won, among other medals, the award for Very Small Brewery of the Year. It’s also a winner of a tap room, with a big patio outside and dozens of games inside, including a large Scrabble chalkboard mounted on the wall. They also win the award for Best Brewery Bathroom in the Midwest from what we can tell, as their bathrooms are adorned with collages of hundreds of colorful beer labels. It’s the first time we’ve thought, “We need a photo op in this bathroom.”

Our recommendations: everything on tap at Brink is good. Seriously. IPA fans will love the hoppiness of the Riddled with Hops and the surprisingly spicy jolt in the Kickin Wing Mango Habanero IPA. Porter and stout lovers will salivate over their Double Chocolate Cherry Robust Porter, and the Moozie Milk Stout may well be the best milk stout in the country– an old standard elevated by the perfection of its execution. Finally, Hold the Reins is their English Mild Ale (think a sessionable version of an ESB), and while that’s not typically where we go stylistically, it’s nutty, sweet, and incredible. It took home the Gold in 2017 for its style and the Silver in 2018, so it’s established itself as a titan in the American-made English Mild Ale category.

From there, drive south to the Northside (it’ll make sense when you look at a map) and go to the first brewery we ever fell in love with in Cincinnati: Urban Artifact. They’re located in the lower level of historic St. Patrick’s Church, and they specialize in tart and wild beers. We have worshipped at the altar of sour beer for years, so we’re grateful Urban Artifact treats this magnificent style with the holy reverence it deserves. You may fear it’s too stuffy or “hip” for you, but make no mistake, it’s a relaxed and welcoming environment. You can sit outside in the yard on a sunny day, or you can descend into the taproom, find a corner, and bless your tastebuds for hours. Every bartender we’ve had there has been incredibly friendly, and every beer we’ve tried has been packed to the brim with sour fruity marvelousness.

Our recommendations: at least one flight, maybe two. Get whichever Midwest Fruit Tart beer contains your favorite fruits. Our recent obsession has been The Gadget, which the fortunate are able to take home in cans. These Fruit Tart beers tend to be more juicy than sour– think the mouthfeel and general tartness of lambics more than the acid-rich warheads you can get at Cascade or Bruery Terreux— and The Gadget’s blackberry and raspberry hybridization is so unspeakably refreshing that our mouths are watering as we write this. They’ve also recently launched a Curiosity Series, giving us taproom-only beers featuring rare and/or exotic fruits. We had the Tumi, a Fruit Tart beer made with the Yellow Mombin. It was like having a pineapple and banana sour, which made us want to fly to a tropical island and drink these on a beach with toucans perched on our shoulders. (Do toucans like sour beer? We assume they would.) We could write about these beers for paragraphs and paragraphs. It’s one of our favorite breweries in America. Grab a ton of cash, cleanse your palate, and head to this church, where they will give you this day your daily sour.

BEST PLACE FOR IPAS:
Listermann Brewing Company (Runners-up: MadTree, Brink)

BEST PLACE FOR STOUTS:
Brink Brewing (Runners-up: Listermann, Woodburn)

BEST PLACE FOR SOURS:
Urban Artifact (Runners-up: Streetside, Rhinegeist)

BEST PLACE TO PLAY GAMES:
Rhinegeist (Runners-up: Brink, Listermann)

BEST PLACE FOR A LARGE GROUP:
Rhinegeist (Runners-up: MadTree, Christian Moerlein)

BEST PLACE FOR A QUIET DRINK:
Urban Artifact (Runners-up: Brink, Woodburn)

BEST PLACE TO EAT:
Taft’s Ale House (Runners-up: MadTree, Listermann)

Which is your favorite of these brewery hops? Are there any you love that we neglected to mention? Please shout them out in the comments below! Also, please keep an eye out for our upcoming Denver and Boulder brewery hop guides. Finally, to the Ohioans reading, check out our brewery hop guide to Dayton, and please use our lists of Ohio’s top-rated breweries to craft your own brewery hops in cities like Akron, Cleveland, and Columbus! Cheers!