Carillon Brewing Co.

Vibe: I visited this place on a late Saturday evening. It was still two hours before they were set to close, but there were just a few occupied tables and some of the staff were starting to clean up. The dining area is located in a brick building with a two floor high ceiling alongside 19th century brewing equipment that includes lots of oak barrels and a large fireplace with a copper kettle above. Additional seating is provided on the second floor on a balcony overlooking the main room. All of the employees were dressed in authentic 19th century clothing.

Quality: Beers were served in pint glasses at the proper temperature.

Service: The place wasn't that busy, but they had plenty of waiters working so there was never a long wait to order food or a beer.

Selection: The place had a total of eight beers available on-tap when I visited, which were available in 4, 16, and 20 ounce sizes. Flights of four beers were also available as well as howler and growler fills.

Food: I didn't eat that much, but I thought that the sauerkraut balls were interesting. The German soft pretzel braid came with a variety of dipping sauces.

If you are a student of craft beer, this is a must. They have a 1.5 barrel, wood fired, gravity fed brewing system that authentically represents the 1850's brewing process. The recipes they use are also authentic to the period. Take the opportunity to sample beers from that period, watch them brew with the historic system, and enjoy bread or crackers made with their own spent grain. While there, visit the rest of the historic complex which even includes the national Wright Brothers Museum and their 1905 Wright Flyer.

 

 

Great, unusual, and tasty beers! Crusty, hearty artisan breads! Delicious food! There's bowling on the beautiful patio! Excellent choice of venue when you're hungry, thirsty, and want to hang out with friends! And it's educational!

 

 

 

Carillon is a unique place. It reminds me of Colonial Williamsburg. A true gem. The building itself is worth visiting even if you don't drink beer. Workers are dressed in period attire. As others have stated, the beer itself is not particularly good, but it's not bad either. And where else can you go to say you've had authentic 1850's beer? My party of four all enjoyed our food. It's a cool place, definitely worth a visit!

 

 

If you're looking for Imperial, barrel aged, massive IBU, high gravity beer, go somewhere else. Carillon Brewing was created as an authentic brewery from the 1850's. They brew historically accurate beers in a wooden vessel, gravity fed system. The water is boiled over an open fire, and transferred into the brew kettle with a large wooden scoop. The grain is hauled up to the kettle in buckets attached to ropes and pulleys. All of the beers have a sour or funky taste due to the natural contamination that comes with an "all wood" system. Tonya, the brewer, came from a background of food science and historic preservation. The entire facility was painstakingly researched for over a year prior to construction. Well worth a visit, especially for anyone interested in the history of beer and brewing.

 

The brewery is a living history museum....they use 1800s technology to brew the beer and bread on-site. It is located in a large, two story barn with a massive fire place in the middle used for cooking and brewing. There is a small bar area with 8 stools. When I went mid-week, few people at the bar but a very large dinner crowd.

The beers are interesting, but not great. Some interesting styles that I had not had previously, but nothing that I really liked.

Visited shortly after opening on a Monday, so barely anyone here.

Vibe: It's supposed to be based upon a historical brewery and you can see that with the place as you walk in with the barrels stacked up and the old-style brewing equipment and kettles/mash tuns around the place. When we came in some of the historically dressed people were making spent grain bread and pounding it out and kneading the bread prior to putting it one of the wood fired ovens. Lots of wood and brick, and fairly well with all the windows. My only gripe with the place was that it was unusually cold inside the place, like the AC was on even though it was 55 F outside.

Quality: I only had the house brewed beers, and I'm not an expert on historical beers but I'll say that I've had better beer elsewhere. However, if you ask the servers, you have plenty of good craft choices, as well as choosing from the macro lagers if that is your choice.

Service: Keeping in mind that there was hardly anyone there I would say service was good for the number of servers and people available. We didn't have to wait long, and we got everything in pretty good time.

Selection: There were four house ales available, which we tried as a tasting flight, although if there was a cask ale it wasn't mentioned. Again, there are some other local SW Ohio craft beers as well as some others along with macro beers if that's your thing.

Food: Very good German comfort food. Very good sauerkraut and schnitzel. Prices were very reasonable as well. Two people with an appetizer, 2 entrees, 1 flight of beers, a cup of coffee and a desert for $45.

Overall - an interesting place. I'll have to come back later as they get more brewing skill under their belts with this equipment and see how it gets.

 

Beers (only 2) are HORRIBLE. Something severely WRONG (contamination?) Service is crap too.
Embarrassed this place is "representing" beer...