Cellar Rats Brewery

Brewery, Bar, Eatery, Beer-to-go

7743 Doty Rd
Madison, Ohio, 44057
United States

// CLOSED //
BEER STATS
Average:
3.41
Beers:
21
Ratings:
323
PLACE STATS
Average:
3.89
Reviews:
5
Ratings:
11
pDev:
5.4%
View: Beers | Place Reviews
Recent ratings and reviews. | Log in to view more ratings + sorting options.
 
Rated: 3.85 by Muss42 from Michigan

Jun 05, 2016
 
Rated: 3.75 by BlackhammerOhio from Tennessee

Nov 29, 2014
 
Rated: 3.5 by Juggernaut25 from Ohio

Oct 18, 2014
 
Rated: 4 by Blueribbon666 from Ohio

Jul 05, 2014
 
Rated: 4 by Adkins721 from Ohio

Dec 08, 2013
 
Rated: 3.25 by jtennyson99 from Ohio

Oct 28, 2013
Photo of Savage
Reviewed by Savage from Indiana

4.05/5  rDev +4.1%
vibe: 3.5 | quality: 3.5 | service: 5 | selection: 4
The main business here is the winery. They have a nice tasting room, deck, a little gift shop and plenty of bottled wine for sale. They have live music from time to time. The sample sizes are generous. They are about 3 oz for $ 1 ea. the staff is nice and attentive. Take your girlfriend for wine and hey look they have beer. Enjoy
Jul 11, 2013
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Reviewed by lastb33rcall from Ohio

4.18/5  rDev +7.5%
vibe: 4.5 | quality: 4 | service: 4.5 | selection: 4 | food: 4
After frequenting this vineyard/brewery several times, and reading the previous reviews I felt the need to give a review worthy of Cellar Rat. I have been on the Ohio Beer Tour for quite sometime now, and feel that Chalet Debonne Vineyard/Cellar Rat Brewery have something unique and worthwhile to offer. Despite the fact that the brewery exists on a vineyard, which for many beer enthusiasts is nothing less than blasphemy, the atmosphere and beer is better then some breweries I’ve been to!

The tap room may be small, but gives the taster the intimacy between oneself and the beer he is about to taste. After purchasing your beer of choice there are a variety of places to enjoy your beer. The inside has two seating areas with flat screen TVs and an area for a band to play.

The outside is simply amazing. There is a stage for a band to play with a variety of areas to sit and enjoy ones beer. There is a gazebo, comfy picnic tables that have umbrellas attached, and a picnic shelter adjacent to the building. In the picnic shelter they are also heaters available in case your visiting in the winter.

Aside from the amazing atmosphere that Cellar Rat has, the beer is also worth sampling. The Field Rat Wheat is an excellent wheat beer and is worth the trip alone. There is an IPA that boasts great hoppy flavor for hop-heads. I sampled an Imperial Stout that had the typical deep flavor of stouts. And I remember a red ale that tasted well.

One fond memory I have of this brewery is relaxing on a summer evening with a pint of Field Rat Wheat watching a show of remote control airplanes that lit up in different colors while a band played in the background. I would not hesitate to return to this brewery.
Apr 18, 2012
Photo of sdsurfer217
Reviewed by sdsurfer217 from Ohio

3.43/5  rDev -11.8%
vibe: 2 | quality: 3 | service: 4.5 | selection: 4 | food: 2
Tried this place on a whim when my wife and I were wine tasting in the area. Typically we would avoid Debonne like the plague, but decided to give this place a try. Finding the tap room was kind of difficult as there is no signage or directions. The guy pouring beers was knowledgeable about beers, process and was able to make good suggestions based on flavors we enjoy. We settled on the sampler, which for $8 was a great deal. The beers were mostly unremarkable with the exception of their IPA, Imp Stout, and Doppelbock. The atmosphere was great inside the tap room, except it was small and kind of stuffy with all the people in it, so we went outside to the patio which is adorned with a bunch of picnic benches. The loud, drunk housewives that the winery attracts basically ruins the atmosphere in the area outside the taproom.

I probably wouldn't seek out their beers if they distributed outside the winery/brewery but if I'm in the area I would stop in for a break from wine and to support a local brewery.
May 18, 2011
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Reviewed by neenerzig from Ohio

4.18/5  rDev +7.5%
vibe: 4.5 | quality: 4 | service: 4.5 | selection: 4 | food: 4
I finally ventured out to this brewery with my good friend Passow (iamaguitargod), who now works for Hoppin' Frog in Akron, on the afternoon of Monday 1/18/10 MLK day since I had off of work that day. The brewery is one part of a much larger operation of this facility, as there is also a winery, restaraunt, giftshop, and farm where they grow their own grapes. They may also have some livestock and or may grow other things, hops and grains perhaps, but I don't know 100% about that. Passow and I got there at about 3:00 in the afternoon and went immdiately to the bar area where the beer taps are, which is in a smaller room off of the main restaraunt. Almost immediately the son of the owner came and greeted us. He is also the brewmaster and heavily involved in the wine making as well. He told us about all six beers that he had on-tap, for year around offerings and two rotating/seasonal releases. He was kind enough to offer us samples of his new Imperial Stout and an IPA that hadn't even been put on the beer menu yet. Both my friend and I then proceeded to each purcahse a sampler tray of their beer, I think the glass sizes were about 3 or 4 oz. each. We were then lucky enough to be able to order full size pints of the new IPA and got a growler of the Imperial Stout to go. The brewmaster was a very gracious host, talking beer with us for about 45 minutes, telling us the history of the facility, what new beers are in his plans to brew, and that they are hoping to start bottling their beer later this year. My friend and I each ordered a burger since it was just about dinner time by this point, the food was certainly not the best I have ever had at a brewery, but I suppose it was about right for the price. All in all I had a great time and hope to be able to return here soon!

Eric
Jan 27, 2010
Photo of adamette
Reviewed by adamette from Ohio

3.65/5  rDev -6.2%
vibe: 4 | quality: 3 | service: 4 | selection: 4 | food: 3.5
I added this place to Beer Advocate so I feel an obligation to give the reader a fair review of it. Cellar Rats Brewery is a "division of Debonne Vineyards in Madison, Ohio." My wife enjoys going to wineries so I went with her once. While there I was delighted to find that they brew their own beer! In fact they brew 3 of their own beers there. Rat Trap Lager, Field Rat Wheat and Rat Tail Ale currently. They also have a 4th tap, a Victory Porter. The brewery is small (it is located within the main building of a winery after all!) but it is very clean and the small "pub" even features a portion of the floor which is clear. You can walk on it and look right down into the brewery. Very cool I thought. You can buy growlers of their beer or presumably the Victory option on tap as well.
The whole place is dominated by all things wine (as anyone should expect) but they clearly have put a good effort into the brewery too. I cannot say that I like any of their home brews but with some work they can become quite good indeed. They certainly have the infrastructure (the brewery) and the foot traffic (thanks to the winery) to help support good brewing. You can find my review of the beers that they have on tap elsewhere.
Here is a breakdown of how I arrived at the above scores:

Atmoshphere: good as described above.

Quality: Not impressed just yet but again a lot of potential there. Edit: Stock is rising as the brewery is about one year old now.

Service: Good, upon my arrival no one was manning the taps but they quickly realized that I was desiring them to attend to me and helped me out nicely. Everyone was very kind and accommodating during our visit.

Selection: Good in that they have their 3 home brews plus a respectable 4th option (at this time it was Victory Porter). In the recent past it was Brooklyn Lager on tap.

Food: Only 2.5 This is NOT a dinner place. They have cheese and cracker trays, chip and dip and a grill that can whip up chicken sandwiches and burgers but by no means is it exceptional. They COULD concentrate on improving their food but then again, it is NOT the point. The beer isn't either. It is the wine. Edit: I am upgrading my food rating as I was just there last night and the food is actually quite nice. We had a salmon dip (with bagel chips), bruschetta, a few burgers that were good and I still recall (and saw last night) the myriad of cheese, bread and cracker trays that are available. For being a winery the food is well above average.

Value: Very good. My wife and I each had a sandwich, a meat and cheese tray, two bottles of wine and my 3 beers for about $40.
Aug 25, 2008
Cellar Rats Brewery in Madison, OH
Brewery rating: 3.41 out of 5 with 323 ratings