Little Fish Brewing Company

15 taps with a few bottles; these offer exceptional variety with both unusual styles (e.g., Biere de Garde) and unusual ingredients [Spruce tips, grapes). Excellent food from a kitchen with a farm-to-table theme. Excellent service. Highly recommended.

While traveling we stopped here for lunch and to try their beers. The place is located on a narrow county road in a semi-rural setting just outside Athens. Parking is in the front of the all-metal building. A covered patio was to one side. Inside, a short bar with just a couple stool is in the center of the taproom, and tall, regular and picnic tables fill the place. The pub is open to a view of the brewing equipment. At mid-afternoon on a Saturday they were not busy, so service was very good. I liked the vibe.

There were 15 beers and two seltzers available (one beer was a collaboration with Jackie O's), so we chose a sampler flight of 7 beers to get an overall evaluation. From the beer menu and the list of bottled beers available to go it looks like this brewery tends to specialize in farmhouse/saison/sour ales, although there was a broad selection of styles on tap, including a few lagers. Each of the beers that we ordered was brewed very well to style, and we gave an overall rating of a B+ grade to them. We weren't fond of the hops or some other flavoring ingredient in a couple of them, but they were well brewed.

There is a limited food menu, and what we had was very good. There may be a farm-to-table theme in the menu which limits the selection. Limited cocktails and wine are available. Most beers are available to go in growlers and crowlers, plus a dozen, mostly barrel-aged sour beers were available for purchase. This place is highly recommended for a visit.

Located outside of town (I think), at the end of a dead end road. Nice scenery looking over the surrounding area. Patio and indoor seating available. Online ordering and payment during pandemic, and no flights or halves. Good music. Specialize in sours.

Pulling up to the business, you'll no doubt notice the sizeable outdoor section with several picnic tables that are covered and well shaded by a pavilion. If you want, this is as far as you need go. Here in the age of COVID, the QR code has become the primary method of transaction at Little Fish. You can literally have a seat, order your food or beer right then and there, and it will be out to you damn near immediately.

However, I actually chose to step inside despite the pleasant afternoon weather, and as noted in other reviews below, it's like a warehouse with large garage doors, which today remained closed. It's not quite so large a warehouse as some of the other breweries I've been to, but the brewing equipment is visible on the right, next to a few picnic tables. Then there are 2 high tops by the garage doors in the middle, and a couple tables over on the left side of the bar, next to the kitchen window. The bar itself is quite short, and also not open for seating right now, which would be awkward anyway considering there really isn't a designated area to order, and people do wander in not knowing about the QR situation, standing right at the bar. The bar back is a very tall blackboard with a beautiful underwater chalk mural.

The draft selection is quite wide, leaning in the saison and sour direction, but also featuring some classic and modern ales and lagers. The peach-jasmine "quick" sour was flowing at the highest volume when I was there, but I found that I appreciated their grisette the most during my visit.

That is...outside of the food, which was incredible. It seems they haven't always had a kitchen, so I proposed an edit to the business type, but it's definitely up there with the highest level any brewery has to offer here in Ohio. I had the smoked beet burger with all the extras that was far more than the sum of its parts, and even better than a similar take I had in New Orleans, paired with perfectly cooked fingerlings and a delicious garlic aioli.

 

 

 

Nice Place with a large warehouse type garage with big loading doors that they had open as it was a nice day. Has a bar and a few picnic style tables inside. Place has also a large outdoor seating area with several more picnic tables outside, and a food truck. Pretty laid back place fairly busy the Sunday I was there, beer is incredibly cheap. Drank a few tasters there nothing stood out as magnificent probably the best things I had were Essential Oils DIPA, and Woodthrush. I wouldn't go specifically to Athens to go to Little Fish, but if I were down there I would stop in.

 

From the out side it looks similar to an old garage that has been transformed into a brewery taproom. The service was very friendly and attentive. The selection was massive there which surprised me since they are fairly new. Overall I was impressed with the place, It's a cool little spot and worth checking out.

 

Great spot that rivals its more famous neighbor in Athens. If you like sours and farmhouse styles, this is your place. It was packed on a Saturday and the bartenders were still fast and friendly. They pour flights faster than any brewery I've been to. Some of the freshest tasting beers I've had. The spot is great and you feel like you're miles away from everything, even though you aren't. A must visit in Ohio.

 

February in Athens, Ohio. Drove down from up north this morning, a few days to burn in Q1. On a late start due to breakfasting (could not be helped) and will be swinging back to ‘burg later, but we’re going to get in what we can now and defy the snow suggested. Little Fish stand alone on the side on the road…

Straight bar of swirly stainless steel brushiness, black wood lip, plank wood horizontal base and piping foot rail; Sunday seating for 7 on squared red metal stools. The barback is a ping pong ball lighting lined blackboard functioning front wall of the cold room; drafts listed in alt colored chalk there (beer, description, ABV, pricing, serving size, and unless otherwise stated, growler pricing). Plus hours of operation, weekly specials, food trucks schedule, snacks E. snacks, upcoming events, glassware pricing, swag, & bottle pricing. A dirty (baker’s) dozen taps on tap logo handled rows split 8 & 5 from the cold room wall on stainless, and a single shelf on the end holding a few growlers, glasses, a sampler paddle, house bottles, & a few beer books.

3 tables off the bar forward the big window paneled bay door; its ease of opening for the warmer weather or not. And another 2 tables off to the side, currently occupied with a kid’s party. Blue painted walls lowers below some curvy corrugated uppers & ceiling, and concrete floorings. Side space wall has blackboardy lowers for the kids to scribble on, with a shelf holding board games for the play. Shirts strung above, and there’s a map of, well, it’s a lizard map of greater Athens County, light art otherwise, and a maraca playing frog that Witzel does NOT get to leave with (put it down, Dave, it’s not yours).

Drop pan lamps over the bar and spinny fans. 10 barrel brewhouse over on that side (me, pointing, look, see?); a row of barrels racked there. Fou-dre, o’er my shoul-der, makes me happppppppy… And an outside space with light tablings and a runaround playground for kids.

12 beers on tap, I got through 6 on sampler, mostly (Saison Du Poisson, 5%, Saison with spelt & barley, their flagship, earthy, funky, fruity; Barrel Aged Poisson Grand, 8%, with rye, Ohio wildflower honey, & brett, you get the honey, citrus, dry; House IPA #4, 6.6%, Equinox, love; Haus IPA #5, 6.6%, Centennial, solid; Apricot Reinheitsgewhat!? 4.3%, sour wheat with apricots, very nice; Smoked Helles, 5.7%, nicely non-phenol laden smoked Helles, yes!) and the other 6 I didn’t get to (Lil’ Harvey’s Milk Stout, 4.8%; Double Harvey’s Milk Stout, 9.2%, an impy coffee hazelnut milk stout; Balaclava, 8.8%, farmhouse, winter wheat with a bit of spices; Shagbark Pilsner, 5.5%; Bike Beer, 6%, dry hopped red ale; Woodthrush, Biere de Garde, 6%, kicked, because I wanted it), plus a house made (Rugrat) Ginger Ale and a pin on the bar (Up All Night, 9.2%, Cherry Vanilla Double Harvey’s Milk Stout).

The 6 I ran through were all very good, most notably the Barrel Aged Poisson Grand, House IPA #4, Apricot Reinheitsgewhat!?, & Smoked Helles. Honestly, I didn’t get through the rest of the list due to time (aforementioned late start due to necessary breakfasting) and space (lots of it to cover yet), but sure would have liked to. Samplers available in 4 or 12 racks, the latter for having the time I didn’t today.

4 bottles for sale, happily either cabernet & chardonnay barreled (hooray!) and not stupidface bourbon barreled. In retrospect, I should have grabbed more of these than I did. I am expecting an opportunity to remedy that next month. Sean is here and we learn that he is from, well, here. From Athens to NYC (where we first saw his excellent home brew) to Portland and back to Athens again, where he’ll undoubtedly be king of the high school reunion. Local kid makes good beer, and I mean, reeeeeeeal good beer. Allytending; she’s been playing Andrew Bird all day and it’s excellent. I’m having a good day and I’m not prone to having good days. Chill house, dog friendly, great beer.

Nice vibe. Good selection of beers, but nothing really dark. Many oak-aged beers. New place, about a year old when I visited. Friendly and helpful staff. No food. You can bring your own. Place outside for kids to play.

 

Located on the outskirts of Athens, Little Fish is a small brewery in a small building, but the vibe suggests they care. The do not serve food, but outside food is allowed, and they have food trucks nightly (They are closed on Mondays, however).

Beer quality is good, music is provided by a record player and vinyl.