I'm going to be driving up to Mid Ohio Race track on Thursday from Raleigh, NC. Looks like my directions are taking me through east Columbus area. I should have time to stop for a late lunch and maybe try to grab bottles somewhere. Any suggestions on a good brewpub/beer bar and bottle shop would be greatly appreciated.
If you don't mind a detour, I would suggest the Clintonville area. The Crest Gastropub has decent food along with a nice lineup of Ohio beer (try Columbus Brewing Company's Bodhi). Then just north of there you have a whole string of bottle shops: Savor Growl, Palmer's Beverage Center, Weiland's Market, and Savor Market. If that's too far out of your way there's a bottle shop on the east side called Crafted Drafts. They have a pretty good selection and a very friendly owner. Let me know if you need more suggestions, cheers!
These are all pretty recent. Seventh Son is right off 71 as is Crest and should be an easy detour. http://www.beeradvocate.com/community/threads/columbus-advice.187981/ http://www.beeradvocate.com/community/threads/road-trip-through-columbus-beer-stores.187183/ http://www.beeradvocate.com/community/threads/columbus-oh-wheres-the-best-selection.178893/ http://www.beeradvocate.com/community/threads/best-places-to-drink-in-columbus.178763/
Thanks for the help. Google maps has me either taking 270 N around the east side of town or 71 through the middle of town. We are just looking for a convenient place to get bottles and maybe a Bodhi growler. Crest sounds good but not sure how much time we will have. Might stop at Jackie O's on the way up .
Weilands usually has bodhi on tap for growlers and is about a mile away from the crests and they are one of the best bottle shops in town. There are about 5 places around the crest that will have it in growlers. 71 through town will be easier.
TDavis has the right idea. Take 71 through town and stop at Weilands for bottles and a growler. The best growler fill place in Columbus IMO is: https://www.thedailygrowler.com/beers/ It's a little out of your way, but you can sample and drink pints until your hearts content.
The Daily Growler has good selection and I like that you can sample things but you have to buy one of their growlers, which is a beef of mine. I appreciate that they're trying to stress the importance of clean growlers, but I know enough to clean my growlers before I get them refilled and I already have more empty growlers than I need. My favorite place to get a growler is The Ohio Taproom. The selection isn't as good (as the name implies, they only have Ohio beers), but they'll fill any growler, you can sample anything, and best of all they counter-pressure fill. They claim their growlers will last 90 days if unopened. I've never kept anything long enough to test this, but I've had stuff sit for a week or so and the cap still pops when I open it for the first time. Because they're Ohio-centric, they often have Bodhi (they have it now, as a matter of fact). It's convenient from I-71 and the people who work there are super-nice.
Thanks for all the help. I should be arriving into Columbus around 2 tomorrow. As of now, the plan is Crest for beers and food then to Weilands for bottles/growler. If anyone is ever in the Raleigh area give me a shout.
