Cincinnati Microbreweries (Findlay, Milford: best time, cheap, market)

[natininja]

Hudy Amber is not a great beer. But it is a great beer for the price. It should be going head-to-head with Yuengling in every market that has Yuengling, because I think it's simply a better brew. They're both competing at a similar price point, with a similar style, so it's apples-to-apples.

If you compare it to more expensive beers, it generally loses. But that's not a fair comparison.

[Arctic_6]

Good point. I agree that it's better than anything else I've had for its price. Then again, Hudy 14K was better than anything I'd had for its price, too. That's why I was excited to hear that Hudepohl might be in other markets; they may make cheap beer but they usually make it better than other brewers.

[t45209]

Originally Posted by Arctic_6

On a related note, my friend used to live in Knoxville, TN and he thought he remembered that some bars there had Hudepohl on draft seasonally. Does anyone know if Hudepohl distributes that far outside the Cincinnati area?

The only Moerlein brand that I am aware of that they have really tried to tried to push super-regional is Little Kings. Last I heard, Little Kings was available in 38 states. The Moerlein labels can sometimes be found in the Chicago area, and I have had people tell me they have found Hudy in Greenville, South Carolina, but I'm not sure how much of that is Moerlein really trying sell outside the region, and how much of it is just happenstance.

[GoBucks0477]

The girlfriend liked Moerlein OTR when she had it at the Reds game a month or so ago.

[Ohioan58]

I picked up a 12 pack of Hudy Amber (the red cans?) recently and I was kind of amazed. It has a craft beer like strong flavor. It's a winner for the price. A really good beer.

Yuengling is a bland macrobrew. The comment above that half the fun of drinking it was schlepping it in from PA is correct. Now that it's here it tastes like just another mass market beer.

LOL to Kjbrill's comment about some microbrews tasting like tree bark. I honestly think the concept of some microbrews is just to taste weird.

[Joeytraveler]

I remember about 7 years ago finding little kings in Jackson Wy.

[Zen_master]

I am college friends with a restaurateur in the Cincinnati micro brew industry. He has told me that the Moerlein management is essentially out to crush any and all competition. My friend and several other local brewers a few years back approached Moerlein's management about creating a collaborative culture, almost a brewery district, in Cincinnati and according to his claims they were rebuffed by the Moerlein people.

[Ohioan58]

A college buddy used to call the brand "Christian Moron."

[t45209]

Originally Posted by Zen_master

I am college friends with a restaurateur in the Cincinnati micro brew industry. He has told me that the Moerlein management is essentially out to crush any and all competition. My friend and several other local brewers a few years back approached Moerlein's management about creating a collaborative culture, almost a brewery district, in Cincinnati and according to his claims they were rebuffed by the Moerlein people.

I've not seen evidence of this myself, except where it is directed at the big national brands. It's pretty evident that they would like to run Bud and Miller out of town on a rail. They viewed being the premier beer sponsor of Taste of Cincinnati as quite a coup, and frankly, I was pretty glad to see that too. I thought it was a nice touch to have such a high profile local event sponsored by local companies.

That said, I was shocked when I saw Greg Hardman chatting up some guy at the Lager House who was holding a Coors Light. I'm not sure if I was more surprised that Greg wasn't having him thrown out, or that the guy had the stones to buy a beer like that in that particular place!

Outside of that, talking to the people at the Moerlein Lager House and at Beer Fest, I'd say they were pretty collegial about brewing culture in Cincinnati.

The one thing I don't know is how they feel about their competition a few blocks away at Samuel Adams. Personally, I think it's a good thing that Jim Koch chose Cincinnati for one of his biggest brewing operations, which is good for the local economy, but it galls me a bit that they hide the fact that it is brewed here. Apparently, it would be bad for their image, and maybe Moerlein is capitalizing on their squeamishness about being a hometown brewer.

[kjbrill]

Jim Koch is a smart businessman. He started the Boston Beer Company in guess what, Boston, with their brand Sam Adams. Nothing Cincinnati about that. But Koch is from Cincinnati and from a family of Cincinnati brewers. It took quite awhile to establish Sam Adams in the northeast. When you want to branch out into a more national brand, you need regional breweries. The weight/volume ratio of beer makes it expensive to transport. And beer does not improve with age, it is best fresh. I was glad to see them acquire the old Hudepohl/Schoenling brewery which they are still modernizing and actually expanding.

But I take issue they are hiding the fact they brew in Cincinnati. As they have grown they have other cities they also brew in. The reality is they brew little in Boston these days, it never was large. But to endanger a national brand with a Boston connection by emphasizing it is brewed in Cincinnati, that would be lunacy. If they would like to bring out a seasonal Cincinnati Octoberfest and tie it to the Cincinnti connection, that I could take.