December 12, 20168 yr MadTree sets opening date for new Oakley brewery One of Cincinnati's largest craft breweries has set an opening date for its new $18 million brewery built in a former Oakley manufacturing plant. MadTree Brewing is opening in the former RockTenn facility at 3301 Madison Road on Feb. 11, 2017. The upgrade will allow MadTree to produce 50,000 barrels of beer by 2018 with room to expand to 100,000 barrels by 2020. More below: http://www.bizjournals.com/cincinnati/news/2016/12/09/madtree-sets-opening-date-for-new-oakley-brewery.html "You don't just walk into a bar and mix it up by calling a girl fat" - buildingcincinnati speaking about new forumers
December 23, 20168 yr Craft beer, wine startup signs on for Northside A Cincinnati startup focused on craft beer and wine is opening a hybrid retail bar in Northside. Higher Gravity is expected to open in 2,214 square feet at the Gantry development in spring 2017. More below: http://www.bizjournals.com/cincinnati/news/2016/12/23/craft-beer-wine-startup-signs-on-for-northside.html "You don't just walk into a bar and mix it up by calling a girl fat" - buildingcincinnati speaking about new forumers
December 27, 20168 yr Take a tour of Greater Cincinnati’s next brewery Queen City Brewery of Cincinnati will open to the public on Dec. 30, but we got an early look inside. The brewery is opening in 3,200 square feet at 11253 Williamson Road in Blue Ash. It’s owned by brothers Mike and Marquis Wofford, brewer Jason Surniak and a silent partner. More below: http://www.bizjournals.com/cincinnati/news/2016/12/27/take-a-tour-of-greater-cincinnati-s-next-brewery.html "You don't just walk into a bar and mix it up by calling a girl fat" - buildingcincinnati speaking about new forumers
December 28, 20168 yr Take a tour of Greater Cincinnati’s next brewery Queen City Brewery of Cincinnati will open to the public on Dec. 30, but we got an early look inside. The brewery is opening in 3,200 square feet at 11253 Williamson Road in Blue Ash. It’s owned by brothers Mike and Marquis Wofford, brewer Jason Surniak and a silent partner. More below: http://www.bizjournals.com/cincinnati/news/2016/12/27/take-a-tour-of-greater-cincinnati-s-next-brewery.html I'd bet good money the silent partner is JUSTEN S CHEERS
December 28, 20168 yr That can't be a real name. Like, no. "You don't just walk into a bar and mix it up by calling a girl fat" - buildingcincinnati speaking about new forumers
December 31, 20168 yr Greater Cincinnati craft distiller expanding into new facility A Greater Cincinnati craft distillery is expanding into a second facility to take advantage of new rules treating distillers more like craft brewers. Second Sight Spirits at 301 Elm St. in Ludlow is expanding into a neighboring building currently occupied by Wynners Cup Cafe. The $70,000 expansion – funded in part by a $20,000 Duke Energy grant – will allow the distillery to operate an event space, meeting space and full interactive bar. More below: http://www.bizjournals.com/cincinnati/news/2016/12/30/greater-cincinnati-craft-distiller-expanding-into.html "You don't just walk into a bar and mix it up by calling a girl fat" - buildingcincinnati speaking about new forumers
January 5, 20178 yr Rivertown sets opening date for new brewery Rivertown Brewing Co. is nearly ready to open its new brewery in Monroe, the Enquirer reports. The craft brewer will move from its current facility in Lockland to 6550 Hamilton-Lebanon Road on Jan. 20. Owner Jason Roeper said the bulk of its production will be on the move as well. More below: http://www.bizjournals.com/cincinnati/news/2017/01/05/rivertown-sets-opening-date-for-new-brewery.html "You don't just walk into a bar and mix it up by calling a girl fat" - buildingcincinnati speaking about new forumers
January 11, 20178 yr Father and son starting Over-the-Rhine distillery A father-son team is turning a passion for homebrewing and distilled spirits into a new venture in Over-the-Rhine. Mike and John Funcheon plan to open Stadt Distilling in Over-the-Rhine by fall of this year. They haven't selected a final location – three are in contention – but are firm that the neighborhood is where they want to locate their distillery. More below: http://www.bizjournals.com/cincinnati/news/2017/01/10/exclusive-father-and-son-starting-over-the-rhine.html "You don't just walk into a bar and mix it up by calling a girl fat" - buildingcincinnati speaking about new forumers
January 11, 20178 yr I haven't heard anything recently about the distillery from the Pet Wants people that is going to be opening in the Tudor style building on Central Parkway.
January 11, 20178 yr With that new distillery and Queen City Radio being along Central Parkway, I really wish Samuel Adams would open a tap room attached to their brewery right there. I think the name recognition would help draw in more 'beer tourists' to the city, and would help solidify Cincinnati as a major beer town (then when people get drawn in by them they can try Rhinegeist and others). They wouldn't need to do much, just a bare-bones version of the taproom Lagunitas placed at their Chicago location.
January 11, 20178 yr Slightly off topic, but I'm not sure if any of you saw this Sam Adams commercial from a few weeks ago. The whole thing was filmed at the "Cincinnati Brewery". All the workers are wearing the "Cincinnati Brewery" gear and the very last shot has a couple workers standing on the roof with a blurry Cincinnati in the background. https://www.ispot.tv/ad/AF2i/samuel-adams-pursuit-song-by-x-ambassadors-jamie-n-commons
January 11, 20178 yr Sam Adams was one of the first craft breweries in America but they were competing with Budweiser and Coors for their first few decades of existence. Now they have finally realized that they need to compete with the smaller craft breweries. They have changed their graphic design to reflect this and they've introduced more beers that are a little more experimental. I think this new direction bodes well for them potentially opening a tap room at their Cincinnati brewery in the next few years.
January 11, 20178 yr With that new distillery and Queen City Radio being along Central Parkway, I really wish Samuel Adams would open a tap room attached to their brewery right there. I think the name recognition would help draw in more 'beer tourists' to the city, and would help solidify Cincinnati as a major beer town (then when people get drawn in by them they can try Rhinegeist and others). They wouldn't need to do much, just a bare-bones version of the taproom Lagunitas placed at their Chicago location. It's actively being discussed. Right now they do not have any space for it so it would have to be built out.
January 11, 20178 yr mcmicken[/member] Could it be part of the ground floor retail space for the Liberty & Elm development?
January 11, 20178 yr Having a "tap room" at a site that isn't where the beer is brewed seems kind of like a waste, even if it's just a block away. I'd much rather see the tap room built out at the brewing facility.
January 11, 20178 yr BrewRiver partners with East Side brewery to offer food BrewRiver GastroPub is partnering with an Oakley brewery to offer food in its taproom. BrewRiver will move its catering operations to and serve breakfast, lunch and dinner at Tap and Screw's Oakley location at 3026 Madison Road. The GastroPub at 2062 Riverside Drive will remain open. More below: http://www.bizjournals.com/cincinnati/news/2017/01/11/brewriver-partners-with-east-side-brewery-to-offer.html "You don't just walk into a bar and mix it up by calling a girl fat" - buildingcincinnati speaking about new forumers
January 11, 20178 yr ^That continues to surprise me. Of all the breweries in the city, Tap & Screw would be my second-last guess as to the first to open a second location. They're glorified homebrew, mostly.
January 12, 20178 yr Recently visited the west side location and it was flat out awful. Only 5 of their 12 beers were available... until they blew a keg and then there were 4. Tried their pretzels w/beer cheese, both microwaved and delivered within 5 minutes of ordering them. "It's just fate, as usual, keeping its bargain and screwing us in the fine print..." - John Crichton
January 14, 20178 yr mcmicken[/member] Could it be part of the ground floor retail space for the Liberty & Elm development? Discussion was at early stages but seemed focused on brewery site.
January 19, 20178 yr Ei8ht Ball Brewery to close Ei8ht Ball Brewing in Newport is closing. It will serve its last pints in mid- to late February. The brewery, a division of New Riff Distilling, LLC, opened in late 2013 inside the Party Source. Its closure will allow New Riff to focus exclusively on whiskey and spirits, according to representatives from the company. “Ei8ht Ball was incredibly successful as a small niche brewery, and we were selling all the beer we could make at our current facility,” New Riff Distilling president and owner Ken Lewis said in a new release, which noted that the brewery has 28 beers on tap and has doubled production each year it has been in business. "But the craft beer industry is tightening, and we made the decision to focus on distilling as we prepare for our first batch of bourbon in 2018. We have a unique position in the Kentucky bourbon market, but we’re less unique in the craft beer world. We’re going to narrow our focus and let others do craft beer.” Cont "It's just fate, as usual, keeping its bargain and screwing us in the fine print..." - John Crichton
January 19, 20178 yr Very interesting. I wonder what will happen to the brewing & bar space inside the Party Source, which I assume is currently leased to New Riff/Eight Ball. Party Source could easily operate the bar themselves. Perhaps they could lease out the brewery space to some other brewery startup.
January 19, 20178 yr We're going to reach Peak Brewery soon if we aren't there already. A bar with 100 taps can't serve all of the local beers that have appeared since 2013.
January 19, 20178 yr I disagree. There is plenty of opportunity for small breweries to take over market share from the big guys. And people like to hang out at breweries...Rhinegeist has proven that you can charge bar prices in your tap room and make huge profits. There are still more wineries than breweries in the U.S. and no one is claiming that we have reached Peak Winery. The breweries that are going to close are the ones that aren't very good. I personally think that there are about 3 local breweries that make awesome beer, several that make pretty good beer, and a handful that are really disappointing. The ones that make good product will survive.
January 19, 20178 yr Per the Business Courier, EXCLUSIVE: Local craft brewery closing its doors: "Ei8ht Ball's assets are being purchased by a new brewery, which will brew and operate out of the same space but not use the Ei8ht Ball brand. Lewis was not able to disclose who would be taking over the space. Most of Ei8ht Ball's employees – four full-time and 10 part-time – will be hired on by the new brewery. Only the sales manager and head brewer will not remain. Head brewer Mitch Dougherty is leaving to pursue his own brewery." "It's just fate, as usual, keeping its bargain and screwing us in the fine print..." - John Crichton
January 19, 20178 yr I think they're going to be wishing quite soon that there had been a limit to the number of brewing and tap room licenses the state had made available, not unlike city liquor licenses. The spaces and marketing (plus debt and other financial/ownership issues that aren't so obvious) will dictate who survives, not the beer. The huge crowd that shows up every Friday and Saturday to Rhinegeist doesn't go there for that specific beer -- they go there because there is a crowd.
January 19, 20178 yr With a '90s club the place could look like crap with the lights on and you didn't have to buy all that brewing equipment. So you open yourself up to way more debt getting the place open, but then maybe can sell the equipment to someone else afterward.
January 19, 20178 yr I think they're going to be wishing quite soon that there had been a limit to the number of brewing and tap room licenses the state had made available, not unlike city liquor licenses. The spaces and marketing (plus debt and other financial/ownership issues that aren't so obvious) will dictate who survives, not the beer. The huge crowd that shows up every Friday and Saturday to Rhinegeist doesn't go there for that specific beer -- they go there because there is a crowd. Should we also be limiting how many nail salons are the in the city? Or restaurants? Also, it's amazing how you're so in touch with people you spend no time with. Glad you chime in all the time to tell me what people think
January 20, 20178 yr It's good beer, but I can get it in Lancaster and Groveport too. And Athens. Jackie O's is one of the few surviving breweries nationwide from the 90s microbrewery boom that saw pretty much everyone go out of business in the 2000s. It was originally called O'Hooley's and had about 10 beers on tap until it changed its name to Jackie O's around 2008. It was basically just another Athens bar (they had live music every night and a patio out back) but the one that brewed its own beer. Nobody really cared that they brewed their own beer or that they grew their own hops on a farm outside town or that they survived the collapse of the short-lived 90s microbrewery boom. Now suddenly Jackie O's is kind of a big deal even though they're doing the same thing they've always done. The food truck trend came an went but the Burrito Buggy is still parked on the same corner in Athens where it has been stationed since 1988 or thereabouts. In ten years we might see the tap room go the way of the food truck, with just a few survivors.
January 20, 20178 yr Should we also be limiting how many nail salons are the in the city? Or restaurants? Yes on the restaurants. I don't understand why restaurants don't organize to limit the number of them there can be in a district, just like liquor licenses. Athens has had 25 liquor licenses for decades and usually 24 of them are in use. When I was there there were 23 active bars in uptown Athens (Court St., etc.), and to that were about 5 blocks away. There were huge crowds in the bars all the time because there were only 23~ of them. If the city suddenly sold 25 more liquor licenses, the number of people going to the bars wouldn't double. The current stable situation would collapse and it would all be thrown into endless volatility. The existing bars that owned their building and had no business debt could survive much more than the ones paying rent and debt service. The quality of the bars wouldn't matter, those underpinnings dictate everything. Also, it's amazing how you're so in touch with people you spend no time with. Glad you chime in all the time to tell me what people think I set foot in Rhinegeist at least 3 times every weekend. I've climbed those steps hundreds of times. I am related to and personally know a half-dozen people between the ages of 25 and 40 who have opened breweries and restaurants in Cincinnati with the help of huge checks from a dad or uncle. Like Lou Reed sang, "some people go out dancing...and some people they've got to work".
January 20, 20178 yr Rivertown’s new brewery debuts today Rivertown Brewing Co. will open its new brewery in Monroe today. The craft brewer will move from its Lockland facility to the new brewery at 6550 Hamilton-Lebanon Road and take the bulk of its production with it. More below: http://www.bizjournals.com/cincinnati/news/2017/01/20/rivertown-s-new-brewery-debuts-today.html "You don't just walk into a bar and mix it up by calling a girl fat" - buildingcincinnati speaking about new forumers
January 20, 20178 yr I hate how Cincinnati limits liquor licenses. Just let the market dictate how many bars there should be in certain areas. If there are too many then the least popular ones will eventually close. If the demand is there for more bars then why the hell would the city want to limit that? Have the places pay for their license and tell them good luck. They had to split OTR into two zones because of that stupid rule and even that will probably not be enough licenses long term.
January 20, 20178 yr ^It's a state law, not a local one. Cincinnati has been very open to creating these entertainment districts that open up more liquor licenses. I believe the city has to ask the state for these entertainment district designations.
January 20, 20178 yr The value of liquor licenses on the secondary market can vary wildly, to say the least.
January 20, 20178 yr ^ State law limits liquor license availability by population. As places grow they get more licenses, as they shrink they do not lose licenses but they cannot get anymore. So after Cincinnati's population began declining in 1950, licenses became an expensive commodity. If you TRAX a license, which is to purchase one from somewhere else it is a significant cost and detriment to opening a new establishment. If you wanted to open a new bar prior to the Entertainment District legislation, you had to wait for an existing bar to close. Now a city can designate an area of town as an ED and based on its size that area can have X amount of liquor licenses that stay in the district. “All truly great thoughts are conceived while walking.” -Friedrich Nietzsche
January 20, 20178 yr Portsmouth has a ton of liquor licenses per capita from losing half its population since 1940. Since it is surrounded by dry townships and counties for miles around and there's not much to do around town the liquor licenses are ridiculously expensive.
January 20, 20178 yr Portsmouth has a ton of liquor licenses per capita from losing half its population since 1940. Since it is surrounded by dry townships and counties for miles around and there's not much to do around town the liquor licenses are ridiculously expensive. What's pretty weird is that in fragmented metro areas with many small cities some of the hipster relocation is motivated by cheap liquor licenses in an "island" blue collar city. This is how Inman Square in Sommerville, MA became hipsterized but not Cambridge. This almost happened in Elmwood Place back in the mid-2000s. There was a brief period of time when it looked like Dirty Jack's might motivate imitators on the Vine St. strip. Then it reverted completely back to what it was.
January 20, 20178 yr Portsmouth has a ton of liquor licenses per capita from losing half its population since 1940. Since it is surrounded by dry townships and counties for miles around and there's not much to do around town the liquor licenses are ridiculously expensive. What's pretty weird is that in fragmented metro areas with many small cities some of the hipster relocation is motivated by cheap liquor licenses in an "island" blue collar city. This is how Inman Square in Sommerville, MA became hipsterized but not Cambridge. This almost happened in Elmwood Place back in the mid-2000s. There was a brief period of time when it looked like Dirty Jack's might motivate imitators on the Vine St. strip. Then it reverted completely back to what it was. My only experience with Elmwood Place was when my band played at Dirty Jacks around 2007. It was a charmingly peculiar backwater and apparently still is. “All truly great thoughts are conceived while walking.” -Friedrich Nietzsche
January 25, 20178 yr Photos of the soon-to-open new MadTree: http://www.cincinnati.com/story/entertainment/2017/01/25/sneak-peek-madtree-brewing-20/96454572/
January 26, 20178 yr Here's when College Hill's first brewery will open College Hill's first brewery is set to open during a very romantic time of the year. Brink Brewing Co. at 5905 Hamilton Ave. is set to cut the ribbon on the brand new brewery on Feb. 14, opening to the public five days later on Feb. 19. More below: http://www.bizjournals.com/cincinnati/news/2017/01/25/heres-when-college-hills-first-brewery-will-open.html "You don't just walk into a bar and mix it up by calling a girl fat" - buildingcincinnati speaking about new forumers
January 30, 20178 yr Local brewery partners with Cincinnati icon Graeter's Cincinnati ice cream icon Graeter's is partnering with a local brewery for a beer inspired by one of its most popular flavors. Covington's Braxton Brewing Co. is working with Graeter's Ice Cream on a Black Raspberry Chocolate Chip Milk Stout. More below: http://www.bizjournals.com/cincinnati/news/2017/01/30/local-brewery-partners-with-cincinnati-icon.html "You don't just walk into a bar and mix it up by calling a girl fat" - buildingcincinnati speaking about new forumers
January 31, 20178 yr Local brewery partners with Cincinnati icon Graeter's Cincinnati ice cream icon Graeter's is partnering with a local brewery for a beer inspired by one of its most popular flavors. Covington's Braxton Brewing Co. is working with Graeter's Ice Cream on a Black Raspberry Chocolate Chip Milk Stout. More below: http://www.bizjournals.com/cincinnati/news/2017/01/30/local-brewery-partners-with-cincinnati-icon.html Ugh. I just vomited a bit at the thought. Really? Black Raspberry Chocolate Chip Milk Stout? "Someone is sitting in the shade today because someone planted a tree a long time ago." - Warren Buffett
January 31, 20178 yr Maybe they can team up with Skyline next and make a beer brewed with chocolate, cinnamon, cloves, and allspice.
January 31, 20178 yr Sounds good to me, the black raspberry that is, not the Skyline beer... It shouldn't be too different from MadTree's Rubus Cacao and I think that is delicious.
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