Columbus, OH, Breweries

For those of in Clintonville, the best way top track Lineage Brewing's progress is via their Instagram page (which is being updated a lot more frequently than their website): http://instagram.com/lineagebrew

Between this place, Harvest and Growl!, my 2+ mile commute home could end up taking a lot longer than it used to.

 

Interesting article about the new brewer at Smokehouse Brewing. Smokehouse and Barley's have been separate businesses for a while now. But now that Angelo isn't head brewer at both places, we'll see Smokehouse take on a more distinct personality.

http://www.bizjournals.com/columbus/blog/2015/01/ipas-now-your-dad-s-craft-beer-so-smokehouse.html

 

Wolf's Ridge has opened its new tap room:

http://www.columbusunderground.com/first-look-wolfs-ridge-brewing-tap-room-rw1

"20 new beers were debuted, including a 9.3% ABV DireWolf stout that came in variations of imperial, chocolate, coffee, coconut, and chili. The snack menu, with dishes like barbecue pork rinds and spicy pickled beets, are all intended to pair well with the beer."

Sounds like a great addition to the local beer scene.

 

Knotty Pine Brewing opening soon on West Third (Columbus/Grandview border):

https://www.facebook.com/knottypinebrewing/timeline?ref=page_internal
http://www.bizjournals.com/columbus/news/2015/02/05/knotty-pine-returning-to-grandview-as-a.html

A March opening seems awfully quick, considering how long these things usually take. Anyway, this brings my 'official' list of central Ohio (within the Columbus MSA) breweries (opened and under construction) to 26:


1 Columbus Brewing Company – 525 Short St, Columbus

2 Seventh Son Brewing Co. – 1101 N 4th St, Columbus

3 Zaftig Brewing Co. – 545 Schrock Rd, Columbus

4 Barley's Brewing Company – 467 N. High St., Columbus

5 Smokehouse Brewing Co. – 1130 Dublin Rd., Columbus

6 Gordon Biersch Brewery Restaurant – 401 N. Front Street, Columbus

7 The Actual Brewing Co. – 655 N James Rd, Columbus

8 Elevator Brewery & Draught Haus – 161 N High St, Columbus
Elevator Brewing Company– 165 N. 4th Street, Columbus

9 Sideswipe Brewing – 2419 Scioto Harper Dr, Columbus

10 Four String Brewing Company – 985 W 6th Ave, Columbus

11 Zauber Brewing Company – 909 W 5th Ave, Columbus

12 North High Brewing Company – 1288 N High St, Columbus

13 Wolf's Ridge Brewing – 215 N 4th St, Columbus

14 Hofbrauhaus Columbus – 800 Goodale Blvd, Columbus

15 Lineage Brewing – 2971 N High Street, Columbus (2015)

16 Pigskin Brewing Company – 81 Mill Street, Gahanna

17 Knotty Pine Brewing – 1765 West Third Avenue, Columbus (spring 2015)

18 Land-Grant Brewing Company – 424 Town St., Columbus

19 Temperance Row Brewing – 41 N State St, Westerville

20 Rockmill Brewing– 5705 Lithopolis Road NW, Lancaster

21 Staas Brewing – 31 W Winter St., Delaware

22 Restoration Brew Worx – 25 N Sandusky St., Delaware (spring 2015)

23 Homestead Beer Company – 811 Irving Wick Drive West, Heath

24 Granville Brewing Company – Granville (no tasting room)

25 Buckeye Lake Brewery– 5176 Walnut Road, Buckeye Lake

26 Hoof Hearted Brewing – Marengo (no tasting room)

 

Columbus Brewing Co is located at 535 Short St.....and has no affiliation with the restaurant that is located at 525 Short St.
We plan on being operational in our new building with a legit taproom by the end of summer.

 

Yeah, I'm aware of the separation. I was thinking of including the west side address, but thought it didn't made much sense until it was closer to being up and running. I loved what I read in this recent piece about the new facility:

http://www.ohio.com/blogs/the-beer-...us-brewing-to-rebrand-change-bottles-1.558960

Larger brewery taprooms would really add a dimension to the local beer scene that has been somewhat lacking (IMHO). I do think Eric's preference to have food (eventually) at the new place is important. I made it to the new Wolf's Ridge tap room last week, and really liked it. But the marginal (to say the least) food offerings need to be addressed, especially in a place that's a part of one of the better restaurants in town. Beyond that, Columbus is a foodie city, with so many breweries/beer bars either serving up their own food, or going the food truck route. It's expected, and noticed when it's missing.

 

Have you or anyone else here been able to get over to Wolf's Ridge yet ? I was there this past Saturday and tried many of the offerings. Thought most were pretty good but the Dire Wolf and Dire Wolf variants were fantastic.

 

Awesome. Thank you very much for compiling this! Will be passing through on my way to Upland in a few weeks and this helps me plan things out.

 

Agreed on Dire Wolf. The coffee infusion was brilliant. A friend had the coconut, which fell into the category: not as good as the coffee, but a beer that needed to be made. Everything else was solid (though the triple wasn't quite in the style I would have preferred). As I said, they need to upgrade the food offerings, but according to the person we talked to there, they have plenty of space to add a dedicated prep kitchen. I was craving Belgian frites, but that's just me. Loved the space. I'll be back.

 

Yeah, I agree as well about the tripel . . . left a lot to be desired but that's ok. Thought it was a really awesome place overall.

 

A pretty thorough overview of the state of the craft in central Ohio right now:

http://www.columbusceo.com/content/...-craft-beer-business-continues-to-expand.html

I can't wait for Lineage to open its doors in Clintonville later this year.

 

The reason for such minimal food offerings in the Wolf's Ridge taproom is that the kitchen is tiny and most of the time the restaurant is packed. The kitchen can't reliably offer hot plates made to order right now but hopefully some additional food can make it's way to the menu before too long. By the end of the year the kitchen is likely to expand, which could allow for more substantial food if not full meals back there.

In the mean time, house made bbq pork rinds aren't getting old anytime soon.

 

Yeah, they said they have ample space in the tap room area to blow out a wall and install some sort of kitchen that could serve that area. Once they get that nailed down (and I'm sure the quality will be excellent) it'll be a must-visit spot in town. In fact, I need to play a staff happy hour for tomorrow...hmmmm....

 

Updating my list to include RAM, BJ’s (excluded to this point) and Brew Brothers brings Columbus up to 29 breweries operating or in development. Lineage may open next week (hell, yes!), with Knotty Pine and Restoration Brew Worx in Delaware opening soon thereafter. RAM and the Scioto Downs brewery are a ways off, and we’ll also need to wait a bit to drink in Hoof Hearted’s brewpub in Italian Village. Still, setting aside RAM and Brew Brothers for the moment, we’ll be at 27 operating breweries within the Columbus MSA before very long:

COLUMBUS AREA BREWERIES – March ‘15

1 Columbus Brewing Company – 2555 Harrison Road, Columbus (summer 2015)

2 Seventh Son Brewing Co. – 1101 N 4th St, Columbus

3 Zaftig Brewing Co. – 545 Schrock Rd, Columbus

4 Barley's Brewing Company – 467 N. High St., Columbus

5 Smokehouse Brewing Co. – 1130 Dublin Rd., Columbus

6 Gordon Biersch Brewery Restaurant – 401 N. Front Street, Columbus

7 The Actual Brewing Co. – 655 N James Rd, Columbus

8 Elevator Brewery & Draught Haus – 161 N High St, Columbus
Elevator Brewing Company – 165 N. 4th Street, Columbus

9 Sideswipe Brewing – 2419 Scioto Harper Dr, Columbus

10 Four String Brewing Company – 985 W 6th Ave, Columbus

11 Zauber Brewing Company – 909 W 5th Ave, Columbus

12 North High Brewing Company – 1288 N High St, Columbus

13 Wolf's Ridge Brewing – 215 N 4th St, Columbus

14 Hofbrauhaus Columbus – 800 Goodale Blvd, Columbus

15 Lineage Brewing – 2971 N High Street, Columbus (spring 2015)

16 Pigskin Brewing Company – 81 Mill Street, Gahanna

17 Knotty Pine Brewing – 1765 West Third Avenue, Columbus (spring 2015)

18 Land-Grant Brewing Company – 424 Town St., Columbus

19 RAM Restaurant & Brewery – 920 N High St, Columbus (spring 2016)

20 BJ’s Restaurant & Brewhouse – 1414 Polaris Pkwy, Columbus

21 The Brew Brothers, Scioto Downs Racino – 6000 S High St, Columbus (late 2015)

22 Temperance Row Brewing – 41 N State St, Westerville

23 Rockmill Brewing– 5705 Lithopolis Road NW, Lancaster

24 Staas Brewing – 31 W Winter St., Delaware

25 Restoration Brew Worx – 25 N Sandusky St., Delaware (spring 2015)

26 Homestead Beer Company – 811 Irving Wick Drive West, Heath

27 Granville Brewing Company – Granville (no tasting room)

28 Buckeye Lake Brewery – 5176 Walnut Road, Buckeye Lake

29 Hoof Hearted Brewing – Marengo (Italian Village brewpub opening 2015)

 

BJs has another location currently under construction at Easton, FWIW.

 

Unless something changed, BJs does not brew anything in Columbus, it's shipped in from other locations, fwiw. Maybe the new one will be different.

 

Reason enough to delete them from the list, then, as far as I'm concerned.

 

Works for me.

Had you considered including Brothers Drake, or are they taboo? And should Jackie O's be included as an honorary Columbus-area member?

 

I'm not inclined to include Brothers Drake or, for that matter, Watershed or Middle West Spirits, cool as they may be, simply because they're not, you know, breweries. I've even seen Rambling House (which I love) included on brewery lists because they do brew their own... soda. For me Jackie O's doesn't belong because they're not in the Columbus MSA (same would go for, say, a place like Yellow Springs Brewery). For apples to apples comparisons versus other metropolitan areas, I want to keep it limited to the MSA, which is pretty much what is always referred to when people say that "Columbus" has a population of 2 million people and is projected to be the biggest metropolitan area in Ohio by 2020 (which it is, by the way).

 

How many breweries do we think C-bus MSA can support? Are we approaching the "survival of the fittest" point for microbreweries in Columbus?

Even with the growing number of breweries in the area, it still seems like the population is supporting less than mediocre beer in many instances. I hear of expansions happening for several breweries, even some that are putting out stuff that really isn't very good.