Visiting Cincinnati

I'll be visiting Cincinnati the first two weeks in February. Does anyone have recommendations for a good pub or brewery.

Goto the Dilly Deli in Mariemont east of the city on RT 50 and of course Jungle Jims.

Non beer related; Shanghai Moma's has good noodles and it is right downtown.

Surprisingly Cincinnati doesn't have very many brewpubs. Not really sure why. Rockbottom is the only brewery around downtown that I can think of.

I'd second going to Dily Deli and Jungle Jim's. Both have great selections of beer/wine and Jungle Jim's is just awesome for everything.

Grammar's in Over-the-Rhine is a really cool, historic bar (has a rathskeller including the underground tunnels that existed during prohibition) but it is becoming more mainstream.

Thanks, I'll check them out. Also I should be free on the weekend any breweries within a 1-2 hr drive?

A Hoffbrau house is right across the river in KY. I had a great time there once.
http://www.hofbrauhausnewport.com/

Not sure where you are going to be staying but if Jungle Jims is too far you could try the party source for good beers also. I think Ohio has some weird brewpub laws or something because there aren't many around. The Lackman is a bar in Over-the-Rhine that serves good beer, as a matter of fact I think Stone is going to be there in February sometime.

bdnoona said:

A Hoffbrau house is right across the river in KY. I had a great time there once.
http://www.hofbrauhausnewport.com/

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I second the good time!

If you are willing to travel an hour or two (maybe less, depending on where you are staying) you can easily get to either the Great Crescent Brewery in Aurora, IN, or go to one of the BBC locations in Louisville, KY. Great Crescent has a retail store for beer buying and is also available at Bourbon's Bar and Grill in Lawrenceburg, IN, while BBC has a few different brewpub locations or you can grab some bottles at area stores.

http://www.gcbeer.com/
http://www.bluegrassbrew.com/

bdnoona said:

A Hoffbrau house is right across the river in KY. I had a great time there once.
http://www.hofbrauhausnewport.com/

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Across the street from the Hofbrauhaus is the Beer Sellar. It's not a brewpub, but it has about 100 beers on tap. Or at least a lot! I enjoyed myself there very much!

The Hofbrauhaus is fun, too, especially in the bierstube for the polka band.

Sounds like all great suggestions! I'll be staying in Sharonville, looks like it's just north of cincinnati, but I don't mind putting on some miles on the rental car.

bish3013 said:

Sounds like all great suggestions! I'll be staying in Sharonville, looks like it's just north of cincinnati, but I don't mind putting on some miles on the rental car.

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It's about 20 minutes to downtown from Sharonville.

Right near the I75 exit (north and a bit west from the Sheraton) is a BJs brewpub. It's a chain, but it has really good food and beer, if you're in that area and don't want to drive far.

You're not too far from Jungle Jim's- with a rental car, it's closer than downtown. Look on a map, it's an easy all-freeway/highway drive. There's a Skyline Chili east of I75 at the same exit, too. Get a five way!

Thanks Yooper! I think BJ's and rock bottom give an AHA discount too.

I have also heard that Ohio law makes it very expensive to get licensed to operate a brewpub.
I would also recommend the Hofbrauhaus and Dilly Deli. Arnold's downtown is the oldest bar in the city, and not too far from Sharonville is Glendale, where you will find a Cock and Bull. They have an excellent selection. Jungle Jim's is great, too, if you want to visit a grocery store.

I also recommend Hofbrauhaus - very fun place. I recommend going there in the evening when it's lively. It's a Bavarian themed place with a big beer hall, accordion music, and mug swinging, table dancing regulars. Get the pretzels and cheese dip. I'm from Portland where there's plenty of brewpubs, but not many european brew pubs which I thought was interesting when I visited Cinci. Apparently the franchise has a place in history as well.

Yooper, were you from Cincinnati? just curious as you seem to know all the ins and outs around here. I totally forgot to mention the beer sellar.

You can check out mt. Carmel; it's a small brewery in cinci. I really enjoy their beers, and it was neat to stop by their place. It's run from their home property and the gentleman started as a homebrewer. http://www.mtcarmelbrewingcompany.com/
Rivertown brewing company was recently started as well. I don't know if they offer tours or not. I haven't had a chance to try any of their brews.

nspaldi0 said:

You can check out mt. Carmel; it's a small brewery in cinci. I really enjoy their beers, and it was neat to stop by their place. It's run from their home property and the gentleman started as a homebrewer. http://www.mtcarmelbrewingcompany.com/
Rivertown brewing company was recently started as well. I don't know if they offer tours or not. I haven't had a chance to try any of their brews.

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Thanks, I did see Rivertown on Beer Advocate, but I have't heard of Mt Carmel. Thanks for the link.

Yooper said:

There's a Skyline Chili east of I75 at the same exit, too. Get a five way!

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Thanks for the recommendation Yooper, good stuff!!

How's the trip going?

Another good place to check out is The Cock and Bull Pub in Covington, ky. They have amazing hot wings an generally a good selection.

Trip is going pretty good. Went to Jungle Jims yesterday, excellent selection! Probably head downtown tonight. We plan on going to Haufbrau this weekend. Now if we can get some decent weather!

Since you say you're willing to put some miles in you could head to columbus where there are a few including elevator, barley's ale house, and columbus brewing company. weasel boy is in zainsville which is way to far but they are on tap at michael o'toole's. All of these are downtown within a couple miles of each other.

Your about 1.5 hours from louisville which has brownings, cumberland, and bluegrass brewing company...all are excellent brew pubs (listed in order of my preference).

Not sure if you will be here through next weekend but the winter beer festival is going on at the convention center downtown on Friday and Saturday night... tickets are still available and the beer list looks pretty good.

http://www.cincybeerfest.com/

Website is kind of crappy but the event was very fun last year and its much bigger this year. Looks like they will be pouring about 170+ beers from 46 breweries.