Hoppin Frog vs Thirsty Dog

I like both for different reasons. Hoppin' Frog has pretty good food. Thirsty Dog has no food. Hoppin' Frog has very good stouts and at least one very good IPA (Gangster Frog). Thirsty Dog has Wulver, barrel-aged Siberian Night and usually some really good sour beer that can be hard to find outside of the brewery available on tap. Hoppin' Frog is more of a brewpub experience. Thirsty Dog is more of a brewery experience.

 

Personally I like Hoppin' Frog beers better but they are more expensive and only come in bombers. When I was there in June I was able to get some BA BORIS #200 and it's the best BA offering I've had from them.

 

I'd just hit up both... they're literally like 5-10 minutes away from each other. To me, you'd be doing yourself a disservice by skipping out on one. Thirsty Dog isn't as "clean" (for lack of a better term..), though I'm sure they practice extremely safe sanitation. It was a better overall experience than at HF. If you're going for IPAs, the only one from either brewery really worth seeking out is HF Gangster Frog. Thirsty Dog doesn't do a great IPA IMO, but they had a wider variety of beer styles to choose from. For stouts, either place is great. Another factor could be prices. Do you want to pay $2.89 for a sample or $1... Pick Thirsty Dog if you're interested in the latter. And for bottles to go, be prepared to spend some money at HF (I'm sure you've heard the stories, people on here can't publicize their bad prices enough, especially the vintage bottles... they're ridiculous). Then again, if you want some BA Wulver or BA Siberian from Thirsty Dog, that's going to run about $25 a 4 pack (still better than HF BA offering prices... ~$15+ per bomber).

One more piece of advice, bring cash if you choose to go to Thirsty Dog... they have only accepted cash both times I've been there.

 

I'd go to Lizardville. Then you can try both of their beers.

 

Go to Hopping Frog..

 

If you like spending money go to Hoppin Frog. I'm surprised they don't charge a cover and an extra buck to sit down.

 

I went to both this summer while passing through Ohio and would recommend Hopping Frog, but both are worth the visit if you can manage.