Breweries to visit in Columbus, OH

You might want to post your question in the Great Lakes forum if you haven't already. Meanwhile, check out BA's Beer Guide for Columbus.

Good luck, and enjoy your trip!

 

Lineage is a cool place and Wolf's Ridge is a must ! Land Grant I've heard good things about ... Haven't been there myself though.
North High is worth checking out.
Seventh Son is a must as well. Enjoy !

 

Where in Columbus are you staying?

I’d hit Hoof Hearted, Wolfs Ridge, and maybe Pretentious as general recommendations. Columbus Brewing would get a nod but they don’t have a taproom yet (try some drafts/bottles while your here).

 

I’d skip Hoof. They’re easily the most overrated brewery in Ohio and their brewpub is just weird. Wolfs Ridge is a far, far better option. Fantastic food and a diverse lineup of solid beers.

 

If you find out the location post it and that would help with recommendations so you won't be driving all over town. There are lots of breweries worth checking out here, just depends on what you're into. My favorites are Wolf's Ridge, Combustion, Zaftig and Pretentious (if you're into sours), but if you find out where you're staying a lot of us can give you more local spots to go to.

 

Hoof may have some interesting NE ipas. I liked the space at Seventh Son and the beers I’ve tried have been solid. Wolfs ridge typically has a nice variety of styles and may have some bottles to go. I really like their back bar area with the communal tables. Great atmosphere back there.

 

If you focused an afternoon in the downtown/German Village/North 4th area you could hit basically all our best with no more than maybe $20 in Uber all day.

Seventh Son's new sister sour brewery, Antiques On High is open in German Village, and its got arguably cooler atmosphere than Seventh Son. Its right next door to The Daily Growler. Land Grant is pretty darn close and across the street from one of the many BrewDog chains, ~$6 base fare Uber ride. Wolfs Ridge is even closer. You could do all 3. Once you're at Wolf's Ridge you're walkable to Platform (I do NOT recommend Platform but they are better than Hoof and BrewDog), and on the same street a mile south of Seventh Son and Hoof Hearted.

Skip Hoof Hearted, avoid BrewDog and Platform. These places are all quite terrible.
Wolf's Ridge is the best with the widest variety; Them and Seventh Son (for that area) are one of the few left with their hearts in the right place.

 

Go to Hoof Hearted.

 

They specialize in NE IPA which some people take issue with. In addition they have had problems with inconsistent recipes, beers that have fallen off too fast, and many that taste similar. Their general vibe rubs some people the wrong way (their Instagram posts do make me cringe). All that said they do put out some really good IPAs, IMO, and I would still check them out.

 

CannedWaggoneer has a massive hate boner for Hoof. Don't take him too seriously.

Skip Platform at all costs. Wolf's Ridge is the best for sure.

 

In addition, they've had some major QC issues, including but not limited to exploding cans and oxidized beer being canned and sold. Mostly, though, people are turned off by their inconsistency (which is being very nice about it, frankly) and their juvenile image. If you like haze, you might luck into a good batch of something. I wouldn't waste my time and money, but YMMV.

 

The exploding cans were brewed by Evil Twin afaik. Hoof was in on the beer as the collaborator, and certainly bares some responsibility, but that was an Evil Twin beer brewed in new york. Didn't even see distro in Ohio to my knowledge. I fully agree that the unstable fruit additions are unacceptable in beer.

And they've had some issues with oxidation from their canning line, yes.

If you enjoy NEIPAs you'll try several at the brew pub that you'll think are more than up to par. I think the brew pub is actually pretty refreshing as it's about the only brewery that hasn't built out an industrial-chic style brewpub in the last decade.

 

And a brewer who has, at least once, publicly conflated trade demand for quality, argued with a customer who didn't like one of their beers, bragged about being traded for certain other NEIPAs. They also seem determined to wedge themselves into comparisons with other, more major and respected NEIPA breweries while thumbing their noses at the local Ohio scene. Bizarre service at the 4th St bar. Questionable business decisions involving contract brewing and out of state distribution and more.

But yeah, hate boner. Please ignore.