Beer Stores in Cincinnati

I'll be in Cincinnati this weekend at the NHC and was wondering if there were any good liquor/beer stores in town that were worth visiting to bring back hard to find "goodies". Our selection here in Knoxville, TN is something akin to finding fine china at Big Lots. Always like to comb the local pickings when I travel out of town. Any suggestions?

Prosit!

Party Source Newport, KY http://www.thepartysource.com/

about 17 miles from the Convention but only 1/2 mile from the Hofbrauhaus.

I'm going to make a pilgrimage to Jungle Jim's to peruse their beers. They have the best beer selection I have ever seen. They are only 7 miles from the conference.

• More than 800 International Beers and Microbrews
• More than 400 U.S. Microbrews from 66 Producers
• All the Popular Nnational Brands
• Seasonal Microbrews & Collector Beers
• Rare Monastery Brews

http://www.junglejims.com/department...er_library.asp

Thanks guys, that's a great start. I also read somewhere else that Hyde Park was pretty good. See you at the conference.

Prosit!

I should have looked online at the conference. I am only 2 hours away, but did not know it was there. I will be about an hour away for the next few days. Have fun! Try Montgomery Inn for some Cincinnati style BBQ.

I firmly believe that Party Source has a better selection and more (they claim over 2500 beers) than Jungle Jims but Jungle Jims is an experience in itself. When you go to Jungle Jims make sure to examine the beer for age as they do not have as fast a turn over as The Party Source.

Dennis:
If you are attending the NHC, stop by and intorduce yourself at Club Night. Several of us will be there.

I'll do that. I'll have an Innovative Homebrew Solutions logo shirt on. See you there!

Prosit!

tnlandsailor said:

I'll do that. I'll have an Innovative Homebrew Solutions logo shirt on. See you there!

Prosit!

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Cool. If you see a big guy at the conference with this on his back, that'll be me.



It will have something different on the front.

+1 for the Party Source in Newport, KY. I would also have to agree that their beer (and wine and liquor) selection far surpasses Jungle Jim's. EdWort if you're impressed with Jungle Jim's selection (which is indeed formidable), you've gotta try the Party Source.

P.S. Party Source also has a fair selection of gourmet cheeses and meats.

Ooooh, actually, I've had expiration date issues at Party Source. Look at the dates regardless of where you are.

And Jungle Jim's is a great experience - you gotta use the Porta-potties by the beer selection - trust me MrFebtober used to mow lawns for "Jungle Jim" and he is a very eccentric and funny man, and his store is very cool.

Both the Party Source and Hofbrauhaus are right off I-471, I believe the very first exit after crossing the bridge into Kentucky. Make a left and then another before you get to the Newport parking garage, and the Hof is right there at the top of a hill and they have a big parking lot. For the Party Source you'd make a right off that exit and it will be on your right side at a traffic light.

I'd say Jungle Jim's and the Party Source are close selection-wise...but shopping at Jungle Jims is an experience to say the least. The Hoffbrahaus in Newport (right by the P.S.) is great-and be sure to try some Barrelhouse, Moerlein, Skyline Chili, and Graeters ice cream while you're here.

Unfortunately-I'll be out of town for a (stupid) wedding-and I'm pretty sure I have my 1st infected batch in 10 months (boo!)...still, I hope you guys all enjoy our fair city-Cincinnati is far from perfect-but we sure love our beer.

A big thanks to all the Cinci folks who have chimed in!

We should be getting Barrelhouse and Morlein at Pro-Brewer's night...do you have any favorites we should seek out from them?

I'll stand corrected on the selection disparity issue between Party Source and Jungle Jim's........it's entirely possible I missed a part of the beer section at Jungle Jim's, 'cause SWMBO has got me running all over the store looking for exotic ingredients for dinner.

On the topic of Christian Moerlein beer, I highly suggest Moerlein O.T.R. (Over-the-Rhine) Ale. It's a pale ale with a distinct roasted barley taste. I think it's fantastic, and it's my current session brew of choice. You can't go wrong with the original lager either, which btw was the first american-produced lager to CERTIFIABLY pass the Reinheitsgebot (German beer purity law).

Incidentally, if anyone coming to Cincy is looking for a good small bar to enjoy some peace and quiet while drinking a brew or 10, my favorite is the B-List in Bellevue, KY. Owned partially by an Irish-American, it's the only place I've found outside of some Irish specialty pubs that serves Guinness the right way at the right temperature.

I haven't been too impressed with Barrelhouse yet, but anything from Moerlein is good! They have a Helles (caramelly but light), Over-The-Rhine Pale Ale (NICE hop flavor!), Barbarossa (a dark lager - my favorite), and Emancipator (a doppelbock). And they make the infamous (from the old Hudepohl Brewery) Hudy Light now as well.

adrock - there are still sixers of the original lager out, but they are replacing that with their Munich Helles. Mr and I served Moerlein beer at a brewfest where they tapped the Helles for the first time, as a replacement. I don't know why - they are quite different beers.

And we still have OTR on draft here at the house Might pour me one in a few... I probably live like, 3 blocks from you or something and we don't even know it

BrewWench, you're tempting me to go knocking door-to-door until i find your place. If you have OTR on tap, it'd be well worth it.

I heard they were discontinuing the original Moerlein Lager, but I didn't realize it was already happening. That's disappointing to me; every brand needs a flagship product, and few beer brands have the histor of Christian Moerlein Lager.

Seriously though me, you, and Mr Febtober should get together and drink a beer or two sometime. At the B-List perhaps?

I'd say my favorite Barrelhouse brews are the Red Leg (American Red)-very malty and flavorful...and the Dortmunder is awesome as well...the Boss Cox IIPA is pretty intense.

Moerlein just came out with the Lager House Helles which is close to the original that they turned out in the later part of the 1800's (the 1st American beer to follow the RHGB). The OTR is a fantastic Pale as well. Was not that impressed with the Barbarossa (Dunkel)-but have only tried it once.

If you're romping around, I'd suggest Nicholson's on Walnut (Scottish bar-tons of great brews)...Arnold's on 8th has great beer and is the oldest bar in the city...and the Northside Tavern is just one of my personal faves.

Anyone care to hit this Columbus thread?
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/showthread.php?t=68650

adrock said:

BrewWench, you're tempting me to go knocking door-to-door until i find your place. If you have OTR on tap, it'd be well worth it.

I heard they were discontinuing the original Moerlein Lager, but I didn't realize it was already happening. That's disappointing to me; every brand needs a flagship product, and few beer brands have the histor of Christian Moerlein Lager.

Seriously though me, you, and Mr Febtober should get together and drink a beer or two sometime. At the B-List perhaps?

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LOL. "Are you BrewWench? Do you have beer?" We live just a block from St. Thomas church. We'd love to get together! Mr is in New York all week, but I'd like to get together with some local people tonight or something, maybe. Yooper is at a hotel in Cincy now too. I've never been to that bar in Bellevue - do they have good food?

I didn't realize the history of the Original Lager. That's pretty kickass!

Just to throw this out there: if any of you are looking for great pizza WITH a great little draft selection, then stop into one of the several Dewey's restaurants in the area.

Oh, and I mentioned this once before but it's worth repeating: AVOID THE BEER SELLAR. Sounds like a great place on paper, but it's redneck central and so all their good beer sits there, never ordered and always skunked.

(and yeah, i'm stuck in NY for a couple more days)

http://www.dillydeli.com/index.html

This place has a huge selection of beers too...and it's about a 5 minute walk from my new place in Cincinnati.

iamjonsharp said:

http://www.dillydeli.com/index.html

This place has a huge selection of beers too...and it's about a 5 minute walk from my new place in Cincinnati.

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A local place that ranked as one of the top 50 beer bars in the country and I've never heard of it before? Dang I gotta head out to Mariemont more often.

thanks for the tip.

+1 on Dewey's.....they have a pretty decent microbrew selection.

Don't worry Mr. Febtober, I've never heard of this deli either. Sounds like it warrants a trip to me!

Since NHBC is winding down now, and everyone is leaving (or has already left) the Cincinnati area, I just wanted to get an update to see if anyone followed up on our beer recommendations, and what they thought of them. Did anybody hit the Party Source in KY? Is their selection as impressive as I always thought it was? Anybody try the Moerlein OTR? And, if you're so inclined, what did you think of our fair city?

Our crew from Knoxville hit Jungle Jim's on Friday and were duly impressed with everything in this bizarre store - especially the door to the restrooms (you had to be there). The beer selection at JJ's was fabulous and we picked up some things that weren't at the KY stores - Founders, Victory, and Alesmith were the most notable. We also picked up some Well's Bombardier which is probably one of the best (next to Fullers London Pride) British Best's I've ever had. When we hit Party Source on the way out of town, the selection mimicked the selection at Liquor Barn in Lexington, KY - quite extensive, but one we have raided many times.

So all-in-all, we found the trip to JJ's the most interesting because the selection was a bit different than the selection in Kentucky. Blame the distributors - JJ's and Party Source are a stone's throw apart, only separated by a river, yet the selection was quite different. Depending on what you were looking for, they both offered a huge variety for almost any taste. It was like going to Willy Wonka's - only with beer.

Prosit!

You took all the Founder's and Alesmith!! It was all gone by the time I rolled in on Sunday. Booo.

I picked up some Moylan's Hopsickle, Saison du Pont, some more Jolly Pumpkin, some Allagash, and a Boon Oud Gueze.

Cincinnati was a great city, from what I saw. I was limited to where we we in the hotel, but I saw no qualms with it!

Where the EFF was this post when I was interning with the cincy cyclones a week ago!??

Gah!

PseudoChef said:

You took all the Founder's and Alesmith!! It was all gone by the time I rolled in on Sunday. Booo.

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I was really looking forward to the Alesmith IPA but it was gone. We did pick up some big bottles of Wee Heavy (good stuff), but I know we left plenty of Founder's Centennial.