Local Beer (Cincinnati, Ada: motels, restaurant, pub)

[t45209]

Originally Posted by chet_kinkaid

Life is too short to compromise on beer..enjoy the best.The micro brews are really an improvement over the standard american mass produced beers..but not quite the level of german beer yet.I am curious to know if the beers like burger etc are the same recipes used when the beers were popular.It seems like the beer shelves at the stores are 90% budlight,miller lite,coors lite and bud/miller/coors lime/apple shandy crap.And the big companies have usurped the micro brews with ****e like fat tire and fake micro brews..sometimes i wish i lived in germany just for the beer.

I'm like you...I vastly prefer a fresh, German pils to any of these hoppy, fruity ales that the craft brewers are making. However, you and I are out of step with the current fad. I was talking to one of the brewmasters from Rheingeist and I asked him why they don't brew a traditional lager. He admitted to the difficulty in brewing such beers, but he also said they don't sell. Current tastes lean toward these "chewier" beers, as I sometimes call them.

Few of the beers that are produced under the names of Burger, Hudepohl, or even Moerlein are produced under the same recipe as the originals. Greg Hardman owns most of the recipes, if they are still known, but he stops short of saying that any are an exact recreation of a particular brand. If anything, I've heard him say that he has upgraded some of the ingredients in many of the beers. In some cases, he has said the beers are based on those old recipes, but honestly who is around to know for sure? They say that even the Coke of today is different from the one of 70 years ago, and not just because it's sweetened with corn syrup.

Jim Koch, founder of Sam Adams, says that the recipe for the flagship brand is based on a recipe he found among his family's papers, and may be an od pre-Prohibition brand. I've never heard Koch say (or admit) what that brand would have been.

In Burger's case, they used to advertise that it was brewed with "artesian waters", which I have heard was drawn from wells right under the brewery downtown. Frankly, you have to wonder what was in that water, and what that may have imparted on the taste of the beer.

[kjbrill]

Originally Posted by CarryOn

607 Shepherd Dr, Unit 6
Lockland, OH 45215

Rivertown is kind of like Madtree, another place you might drive by 100 times and not notice. I like their taproom, though. It has the feeling of sitting in somebody's garage, door raised up, and enjoying a good beer. The tables are old cable spools and the bar is made from corrugated metal.

Sounds like a high class operation. Just kidding, if they want to keep their decor let's say rustic, fine with me. I sometimes wonder though about the level of sanitation involved. And here I am talking only about the brewing equipment. Just what facilities do they have to clean out the brewing equipment between batches? That's of more significance to me than the decor.

[CarryOn]

^^^ Well, I know from brewing myself, if you're not clean, your beer won't just be a little off, it'll be way off. Rivertown (and the other brewers in town) turn out consistently high-quality products, and sanitation is beyond meticulous in successful brewing operations. Until I crack open a beer and get that unmistakable bacteria wang of a dirty beer, I'm going to know their cleaning habits are up-to-snuff.

In other words, the proof of the beer's in the drinking. 8-)

[kjbrill]

Originally Posted by CarryOn

^^^ Well, I know from brewing myself, if you're not clean, your beer won't just be a little off, it'll be way off. Rivertown (and the other brewers in town) turn out consistently high-quality products, and sanitation is beyond meticulous in successful brewing operations. Until I crack open a beer and get that unmistakable bacteria wang of a dirty beer, I'm going to know their cleaning habits are up-to-snuff.

In other words, the proof of the beer's in the drinking. 8-)

So you are saying if the environment is not right you will get skunk beer.

From those who have participated in this thread I would say the brewpubs and small batch breweries in Cincinnati are doing quite well. That is good for the City as a whole. Many options to select from.

[CarryOn]

^^^ If every last thing that comes in contact with the beer (well, the wort at that stage) isn't sterilized, it'll be more than skunked. That bacteria growth can taste positively awful.

Of course, you could just swap out labels and call it a farmhouse sour and pretend you did it on purpose.

[ohioaninsc]

Originally Posted by RustBeltOptimist

Did anybody else read this?

These are the top 10 Cincinnati-brewed beers: SLIDESHOW - Cincinnati Business Courier

Rivertown, MadTree and Rhinegeist all with multiple beers on the list, not a single Moerlein.

I have not found a beer from Rhinegeist that I haven't enjoyed...bravo to those guys...

50West Brewing also has some really good brews.

Rivertown's Roebling Porter is amazing as well

Mt Carmel is the only one I've not really liked much from so far.

[kjbrill]

I encountered some good brewpubs in Minneapolis while traveling on business there. One was quite large and located on a suburban square surrounded by motels catering to businessmen. They definitely got the motel crowd's business, and had very good food in addition to the beer. I ate there every night during my stay in the area. They rotated their food specialties and served up good beer, why go anyplace else?

Do any of the brewpubs in Cincy offer up anything enticing in the eats area?

[CarryOn]

^^^ Rhinegeist is steps from Findlay, so that counts in my book. Plus, they have a couple of restaurant numbers up on the board and you can call, order, and they'll deliver your food.

Another thing I like about Rhinegeist; I've been in there when there's been potluck-style food out. I don't know who sets it up or why, but it lent a real community feel to the place.

Moerlein's taproom features a "frankfurtery" - I don't know the hours or how well that's working out.

When I've been to Rivertown and Madtree, there's always been a food truck of some sort outside, but I don't know how dependable that is.

Personally, I prefer the focus to remain on the beer. I'd hate to see these places turn into glorified restaurants. If I want that, I can just go to that behemoth Lagerhouse.

[Chemistry_Guy]

Originally Posted by kjbrill

I encountered some good brewpubs in Minneapolis while traveling on business there. One was quite large and located on a suburban square surrounded by motels catering to businessmen. They definitely got the motel crowd's business, and had very good food in addition to the beer. I ate there every night during my stay in the area. They rotated their food specialties and served up good beer, why go anyplace else?

Do any of the brewpubs in Cincy offer up anything enticing in the eats area?

Some of the local breweries serve food at the site of the brewery. In addition, just about every bar and grill in the city has a good selection of local beers on tap. This is very different than 10 years ago when most restaurants just had Bud, Miller, and/or Coors products.

Some people love the food at 50 West, but it is not really my bag. It is tapas style, so it can be a nice snack but I would not want to eat a full meal there.

Madtree isn't really a brewpub, because they only serve beer. However, they have food trucks (mexican, mediterranean, etc) show up most nights (not sure about weeknights) and some of the food is really great.

Moerlein lager house has pretty good food, although it can get pricey. I hosted a bachelor party dinner for a friend there and dropped around $180 for just myself and the groom, although over half was drinks.

I think the Hoffbrauhaus in Newport provided the template for what a brewpub in Cincinnati can look like to some extent. I remember when they first opened, and the local beer scene has come such a long way since then. Their June beer of the month is a Marzen, which is one of my favorite styles. I make sure I get to have a few every summer.

There are quite a few beer festivals throughout the year, with highlights being Beerfest, Bockfest, and Brew Ha ha, and the food selection is usually fantastic. It is almost a good thing that all my favorite beers and my favorite foods are not under one roof, or else I would be broke and 300 lbs.

[t45209]

Originally Posted by Chemistry_Guy

Moerlein lager house has pretty good food, although it can get pricey. I hosted a bachelor party dinner for a friend there and dropped around $180 for just myself and the groom, although over half was drinks.

.

I really like the food at the Moerlein Lager House too. My favorite thing is the OTR Chicken with spatzle and mushrooms on the side. Their crab cakes are really good, too. Then again, I haven't had anything there that I didn't think was pretty decent. Their sausages are made by Avril's on Court Street, so it's nice to have locally sourced items, too. The one thing though, that I have never figured out with the Lager House is what the theme of the menu is supposed to be? There are so many items of so many different styles and cuisines. I really don't know what they are trying to be. I thought it was supposed to be Cincinnati-inspired recipes, with a slightly German flair. But with everything from baby back ribs, to tofu, to Hawaiian flat bread, to fish tacos, to Cuban sandwich, back to pork belly, I just don't get it.

The only other brew pub that you didn't mention that is supposed to have food as a central focus is the Taft's Ale House:

https://www.facebook.com/taftsalehouse