Columbus & Cincy

Columbus:

Bottle Shop - Crafted Drafts

Pretentious Barrel House

Lineage Brewing

Land Grant Brewing

Seventh Son Brewing




Cinicy:

Cappys's Wine and Spirits - Bottle Shop

Streetside Brewery

Urban Artifact

Braxton Brewing - Covington, KY

 

For Cincinnati I say check out Party Source over the river in Newport, KY. Braxton Labs has a set up in the back right of the store and they put out some killer IPAs. Their selection will also beat anything else in Cinci. If you can't make it there, check out Dutch's and Hyde Park Wine & Spirits (the latter being in a strip mall and kind of a disaster)

As far as breweries I'd check out MadTree and Rhinegeist for sure (get bbq from Elis in Findlay Market and bring it with you). If you have more time, Listermann and Urban Artifact are churning out some good stuff.

 

Oh, and Jungle Jim's for sure if you've never been.

 

I think so. Maybe add 50 West as well. Not super knowledgeable on the Cincy scene.

I also 2nd the Jungle Jims and Party Source Recommendations as well.

 

Columbus: The Daily Growler (three locations) is solid and has real-time tap listings on their website, Weiland's has a great selection of bottles/cans/growler station, Grandview Giant Eagle isn't bad either. If you are going to Hoof Hearted, Seventh Son Brewing is a few blocks north, & Bodega (bar) is pretty close.

 

Note that the Daily Growler taps DO differ by location even if a large number of them are the same. I missed this the first time I went through them while in columbus, and although others may pay more attention than I do, I thought it was worth mentioning.

 

In Cincy I recommend Brink Brewing Co, Streetside Brewery, Urban Artifact and Taft's Ale House.

Could visit Rhinegeist if you have time after hitting Taft's...they are pretty close to each other.

MadTree is worth checking out too... their new brewery is a cool place.

Edit:
If you choose to visit Taft's, be sure to hit the Ale House, not the Brewpourium...two totally different places. The Brewpourium is OK, but the Ale House is much more worthy of a visit.

 

I would also recommend Listermann Brewing in Cinci if you have the time. They have a lot of good stuff on tap right now.

Rhinegeist is a cool space, but the beer is meh.

 

Higher Gravity is a bottle shop worthy of a stop. It's right down the street from Urban Artifact. They have 14 taps for growler/crowler fills or grabbing a pint. They also have a really nice selection of packaged beer for purchase to go, or they will open a can or bottle off the shelf for you if you want to drink it there.

 

Hoof is a divisive brewery in OH. Some people love them, some think their beers are inconsistent and overrated (overhyped). Luckily, you'll be able to decide for yourself!

Personally, I think Columbus Brewing and Wolf's Ridge blow them out of the water. CBC doesn't have a taproom but you can find bottles/draft around and Wolf's Ridge has an awesome restaurant/taproom with exceptional food.

Have fun!

 

If you want to know who is doing the most interesting beer in Cinci right now, def skip Rhinegeist.

Check out Listermann, Streetside, MadTree, Urban Artifact

 

listerman is making the best beer in Cinci right now Imo. Madtree 2.0 another top spot.. they may have citra high still on tap which is an amazing beer

 

-Urban Artifact for sours/wilds
-Braxton for variety and they nail just about everything
-As previously mentioned, Braxton Labs (separate spot from the brewery/taproom) is a great spot and is incorporated into Party Source which is the largest liquor store in the country.
-Rhinegeist is a cool place and the beer is good, but you're not far off with your assumptions about its place in the Cincy beer scene.