I will be passing through Columbus (and also central Ohio north into Michigan) in the summer. So, although I enjoy a good IPA, NEIPA and such, I really favor the Bavarian beers but not necessarily the "Bavarian/German style-interpretations" that many places produce. From BA and other sources I have identified the following spots as promising. Wolf's Ridge Brewing. Highly recommended. In January the tap list included rauchbier, dopplebock, Schwarzbier and the normal (IPAs, pils). Located downtown. Schmidt’s Sausage Haus. Several German beers on tap, the sausage house has also partnered with Columbus-based Elevator Brewery to create rotating seasonal beers and two house beers, a Dortmunder and a Dunkelweizen. Gemüt Biergarten. All German biers and cuisine. Hofbräuhaus Columbus. Elevator Brewing Co. Taproom. Likely some German-style beers. Wurst und Bier. Imports and Craft beer with 27 on tap, German food including obatzda. Indications are that it has has declined, e.g., the obatzda is no longer true obatzda.
I can't add any other Columbus suggestions to you, but I will say that Schmidt's is a great German restaurant. It is located in an area known as German Village, so allow some time to look around the neighborhood. My mother's side of the family is originally from Germany, and used to live in German Village. I visit family a couple times per year away from Columbus and visit some of the beer-centric places as we pass through, but I had not been aware of some of the places on your list, so thanks for your research. I'll check them out on a future trip. Since you say that you've also coming to Michigan, if your trip theme here is also going to be German, let me recommend three breweries that make good German beers and food. Territorial Brewing is my home brewery here in Battle Creek. It's small but I think they do a great job. Cedar Springs Brewing is in Cedar Springs, and is a bit larger than Territorial. Neither place distributes (other than maybe a few kegs), so you have to go there to enjoy each place. I recently read that Cedar Springs is going to open a place in Grand Rapids, so watch for that if GR is more convenient for you. You've probably heard of Frankenmuth Brewing, and they do a good job too. They are a bit of a tourist trap and their beer and food has a wider variety away from German, but the place is worth a visit if you are going to travel to the Frankenmuth area. They bottle some of their beers which can be found in stores around Michigan. Enjoy your trip.
Wolf's Ridge makes the best German styles out of anyone in town, easily. They aren't consistently on tap there though. However Feuer Und Wasser smoked helles (their best IMO), Sustinator Doppel and Hot Brass Schwartz were all on tap when I was there this past weekend, the 18th. If you wanna just guarantee you have a selection of German styles then Gemüt is the safest bet. Theirs are good, not great.
It's a trek from Columbus, but Wooly Pig is probably my favorite for German beers in central Ohio. Columbus Brewing is more of a general essential beer stop than one necessarily worth going to just for their German beers, as those are even more sporadically available than they are at Wolf's Ridge. They've consistently had a side-pull pils or helles available since they've opened though and will often have 1-2 other German offerings.
Many thanks for your Columbus-area comments and chipping in on Michigan. Cedar Springs looks like a winner in many ways so plan to detour through there on the way north. The Frankenmuth area seems to have potential but appears to be a lot more touristy and the brewery seems to have abandoned its Bavarian roots. Thanks to everyone for their comments on the Columbus area and also the mention of the Wooly Pig as my travels bring me to Ohio periodically.
