Columbus Visit

2) Hoof Hearted brewpub

 

North Market (http://www.northmarket.com/) would be a good place to spend a few hours for shopping, food, and beer. The Barrel & Bottle (https://www.beermenus.com/places/12041-barrel-and-bottle) is bottle/shop growler station there. You can actually grab a pint and shop around the other stores if you like. And if you visit during lunch hours Wednesday or Thursday, Hot Chicken Takeover will be open (Pro-tip: call ahead for pickup and avoid the long line).

The best fine dining/beer experience would be Wolf's Ridge Brewing (http://www.wolfsridgebrewing.com/). Open for lunch and dinner, but closed on Mondays. They take reservations at Open Table.

The Grand Opening of the Hoof Hearted brewpub is tomorrow, so things may die down a bit after opening weekend, but it will still likely be very busy.

Yellow Brick Pizza (http://yellowbrickpizza.com/) with the addition of Arcade Super Awesome would also be a good food/beer/family-friendly option.

 

For bottle shops Grain + Grape is located in Bexley area - https://www.facebook.com/Grain-grape-459394794175994/
or www.grain-grape.net/.

 

2) Hoof Hearted is going to get a lot of publicity on here and I think their beer is pretty decent. I assume it's similar to Tree House from the way people talk about it. It appears to be pretty nice, but will probably be pretty crowded. I really like the Ohio Tap Room and Short North Tap House.

There is also a World of Beer in the Easton Mall, which would be somewhere I think your kids and wife would love to spend some time.

3) A lot of breweries in Ohio don't have a good selection of carryout beers ready to go. I've noticed this in Cincinnati and Columbus, not sure about Cleveland/ Jackie O's but when they release bottles/cans they go fast around me.

 

Check out website, http://jackieos.com/brews/taproom-bottles-drafts/ it shows all togo beers and what is on draft at our Taproom location at 25 Campbell St. Currently the togo list is exceptional!

 

I made a similar topic before I made the trip for my first home Buckeyes game. Received a ton of great suggestions from @MajorBuckeye and others. You most definitely will not be led astray.

I started the trip with a stop at the North Market for Hot Chicken Takeover and a pour of Bodhi; personally I don't think the introduction to Columbus could possibly be better than this. I'm hoping to go to The Game this season (not the actual game, but I want to be in downtown Columbus on the day of) and I will be starting my Saturday in the exact same way.
I also really enjoyed House Beer, but your family with have nothing to distract themselves with so I'm not sure that's a fit; perhaps for a quick stop to grab a bottle of White Rajah? Also, Wolf's Ridge for brunch would be a great stop with your family.

Enjoy your visit, I know I did!

 

Bottle shops:
Crafted Drafts
Weilands
Cornerstone

Taprooms/Breweries
Seventh Son
Hoof Hearted
Wolfs Ridge

Bottles are readily available of Seventh Son, Actual, Sideswipe, Wolf's Ridge and Zaftig.

 

Bottle shops: Weiland's, Kenny Road Market (get some Bodhi on draft/growler fill at Weiland's!)

Taprooms: Hoof Hearted (by far, this should be #1), Wolf's Ridge

 

Pretty sure they are only open Thursday - Sunday, so depending when OP is leaving on Thursday this may not be an option.

 

Curious why a place that hasn't opened yet should, by far, be #1? It will probably be great, but no one knows yet. Meanwhile, Wolf Ridge is known for excellent food and in my opinion, makes great beer.

 

Well, based on their opening tap list, I feel pretty comfortable saying it's easily going to have the best "any random day" selection of any brewpub in Columbus. Although this particular location is new, most of the beers on the opening menu are not. Wolf's Ridge food is great but it also gets five dollar signs in my hypothetical Yelp review, so... that's my friendly suggestion. No disrespect to Wolf's Ridge- that's why I had them listed at #2. I think these two brewpubs are going to be leaps and bounds ahead of anywhere else in the city.

 

Daily growler (2 locations is a must) . Usually has bodhi. Andersens in dublin, hills mkt Worthington hills is nice, gotta love Seventh son, wolfs ridge, hoof hearted north high, and Elevator 13th floor taproom, barleys, brorhers drake all within a 20 minute walk from beginning to end.

 

Zaftig in Worthington has some good stuff too.

 

I'll echo most of the sentiments above.

Grain and Grape is the closest store to you, as they are in Bexley (corner of E. Main Street and S. Gould Road). Have a pretty good selection too, and most things stick around a little longer there as the traffic to the store isn't as high as say Weiland's. The next best thing to where you'll be is the Anderson's at Brice (Alshire Rd, off of Scarborough Boulevard). They used to be a joke compared to the other Anderson's, but have significantly upgraded their selection, and they often have things hanging around long after others (Bell's 30th Anniversary was there well into December).

Best bottle shops (IMO) are Weiland's (Indianola between N. Broadway and Cooke Rd.), Crafted Drafts (Gahanna near Easton on Hamilton Road off of Morse Road), and the Anderson's at Sawmill (Bent Tree Boulevard, just off Sawmill Road).

As far as breweries, take your pick. Wolf's Ridge would be my first stop (N. 4th Street and Hickory Street), as Chris has been knocking stuff out of the park. Second would probably be Seventh Son (Corner of N. 4th Street and E. 4th Ave). They aren't far from each other. The Hoof Hearted Brewpub and Kitchen is in between the two breweries (N. 4th Street and E. 1st Avenue).

Other awesome places are The Ohio Taproom (EVERYTHING is Ohio made, counterpressure filler for growlers, beers from breweries that have zero distro that John will personally go pick up) (Corner of W. 3rd Avenue and Hope Avenue just off Northwest Boulevard), both of the Daily Growlers are awesome, but you'll be closest to the Upper Arlington location (strip mall at the corner of Riverside Drive and Fishinger Road), and Pies and Pints has fantastic food and good beer (N. High Street between E. 2nd Avenue and E. 3rd Avenue). Bodega is also located there at that location (at the end of the block, Mikey's Late Nite Slice is in between the two and has good pizza too).

Edit: If you go to Weiland's, The Crest Gastropub is on Indianola Avenue as well, at the corner of Crestview Road. Forgot about it.

That's just my .02. YMMV.

Cheers!
Kef

 

Oh, and OP, if you want to know what you can get here that you can't there, use SeekABrew. There are going to be some that aren't listed on there though, like Weasel Boy, Homestead, Buckeye Lake, JAFB, Zauber, Zaftig, Actual, among others.

 

Another vote for Wolf's Ridge here. Big fan of their tap room. A lot of taps with a wide range of styles of really good beer and awesome staff. It's my normal 1st go-to option.

 

This is my obligatory "Columbus Brewing Company Restaurant" is not affiliated with the brewery post. The brewery itself does not have a taproom and is entirely separately owned and operated. Anything the restaurant has on draft from the brewery is purchased through the distributor, like any other bar in town.