Get Your Local Beer Here!
Can you keep up with the Nano/Micro/Craft Brewing Frenzy? For those interested in novelty, where will your next locally made beer come from? Beyond locally produced beverages, where can you get a beer brewed with local ingredients?
To address these questions, we consulted the Ohio Craft Brewing Association, which has helped “promote, preserve, and unify” this industry since 2008. Using their listings for the Cincinnati–Dayton region, we catalogued 63 breweries; 61 of which are in operation, with 4 companies (Christian Moerlein, Braxton, Taft’s, and Lock 27) that have expanded to multiple locations. We emailed and called all breweries and asked if they use local ingredients such as hops, malts/grains, sugars, fruits, vegetables, yeast, etc. (all use regional water, which is the #1 ingredient). Twenty one breweries (~1/3 of the sample) responded. We define local ingredients as grown in Ohio, Kentucky, and Indiana for this research.
Noteworthy details:
Lucky Star Brewing, Urban Artifact, Fibonacci Brewing Co., Carillon Brewing Co., and Crooked Handle top the list with the most local ingredients.
Twelve breweries used local hops, 8 used grains/malts, and 5 used honey.
Woodburn Brewery used blood oranges grown in Krohn Conservatory.
Rivertown, Lucky Star Brewing, Fibonacci Brewing Co., and Carillon Brewing Co. used local veggies.
In looking at our beautiful beer bar chart, 2012 & 2013 were big years as 21 new breweries opened. This explosion of new beer business is due to changes in the law. For those interested in seeing the impacts of food policy, this is prime example of why laws matter for the production and consumption of local food and beverages.
2011, House Bill 243
Allows breweries to sell beer by the glass on their premises without purchasing an additional permit – paving the way for taprooms.
2013, Senate Bill 48
Reduces start-up costs and permit fees for breweries making less than 31 million gallons per year. SB 48 also allows brewers to sell to retailers and own a distribution business (more sales opportunity).
2016, House Bill 37
Removes the 12% Alcohol By Volume limit – thanks in part to lobbying by BrewDog USA as they opened a hub in Columbus.
House Bill 509 (currently under review)
Entices breweries to use more Ohio grown ingredients (not counting water) and permits craft beer sales at Farmers Markets. ☺. HB 509 strengthens the existing Ohio Proud Program (promoting Ohio Agriculture Products).
Local Taproom Map
There is a renaissance and revival of our local beer industry – once the largest per capita of any city in the U.S. The taprooms below are listed in chronological order of when they opened.
33 | 2015 Brink Brewing Company
34 | 2015 Crooked Handle
35 | 2015 Lock 27 Brewery (2nd Location)
36 | 2015 Taft’s Ale House (1st Location)
37 | 2015 The Dayton Beer Company
38 | 2015 Wooden Cask Brewery
39 | 2016 16 Lots Brewing Company
40 | 2016 Fretboard Brewery
41 | 2016 Heavier Than Air Brewing Company
42 | 2016 March First Brewing Company
43 | 2016 Nine Giant
44 | 2016 Taft’s Brewpourium (2nd Location)
45 | 2016 Westside Brewing
46 | 2017 13 Below
47 | 2017 Devil Wind Brewing
48 | 2017 Grainworks Brewing Company
49 | 2017 Little Miami Brewing Company
50 | 2017 Narrow Path Brewing Company
51 | 2017 Swine City Brewing
- 2017 Tap and Screw Brewery (2nd Location) (out of business)
52 | 2017 The Queen City Brewery
53 | 2017 Wandering Griffin Brewing and Pub
54 | 2018 Bircus Brewing Company
55 | 2018 Christian Moerlein CVG Taproom (3rd Location)
56 | 2018 Sam Adams Tap Room
57 | 2018 Sonder Brewing
58 | 2018 The Common Beer Company
59 | 2018 Three Points Urban Brewery
60 | 2018 Wiedemann’s Fine Beer, Brewery & Pub
61 | 2019 Humble Monk Brewing
- 2019 Deadlow Brewing - not yet open
- 2019 Northern Row - not yet open
1 | 2003 Hofbrauhaus
2 | 2005 The Mt. Carmel Brewing Company
3 | 2008 Great Crescent Brewery
4 | 2008 Listermann Brewing Company & Triple Digit (started 2012)
5 | 2009 Rivertown Brewing Company
6 | 2009 Star City Brewing Company
7 | 2012 50 West Brewery
- 2012 Blank Slate (went out of business)
8 | 2012 Cellar Dweller
9 | 2012 Christian Moerlein Lager House (1st Location)
10 | 2012 DogBerry Brewing
11 | 2012 Fifth Street Brewpub
12 | 2012 Lucky Star Brewing
13 | 2012 MadTree Brewing
14 | 2013 Bad Tom Smith Brewing
15 | 2013 Braxton Brewing Company (1st Location)
16 | 2013 Braxton Labs (Party Source) (2nd Location)
17 | 2013 Carillon Brewing Company
18 | 2013 Christian Moerlein Tap Room (2nd Location)
19 | 2013 Eudora Brewing Company
20 | 2013 Fibonacci Brewing Company
21 | 2013 Fig Leaf Brewing Company
22 | 2013 Hairless Hare Brewery
23 | 2013 Lock 27 Brewery (1st Location)
24 | 2013 Rhinegeist Brewery
25 | 2013 Toxic Brew Company
26 | 2013 Urban Artifact
27 | 2013 Yellow Springs Brewery
28 | 2014 Darkness Brewing
29 | 2014 Municipal Brew Works
30 | 2014 Pinups & Pints
31 | 2014 Streetside Brewery
- 2014 Tap and Screw Brewery (1)
32 | 2014 Woodburn Brewery
If you are a brewer and/or brewery owner, reading this article, and noticed that you were not included and/or would like to set the record straight regarding your ingredients, please contact Alan Wight – wightra@ucmail.uc.edu. An updated version of this map will be published again in A Cincinnati Foodshed Atlas and we would love to know more about your local ingredients. Please forgive any errors.
Sincerely,
Alan Wight and Julia Glenn
Map: Julia P. Glenn & R. Alan Wight
GIS Map & Icons: Julia P. Glenn
Data Generated: R. Alan Wight
Funding Provided: Green Umbrella
Interested in Food Mapping?
Contact: R. Alan Wight: wightra@ucmail.uc.edu
Taproom List Sponsors:
