Third Eye Brewing Company is the newest brewery in Cincinnati, and is Sharonville’s first craft brewery. The location is just across the street from the Sharonville Convention Center, so it’s a safe bet that in the future they’ll benefit from a steady stream of new customers discovering them when visiting.
The brewery has quickly made a name for itself, in part by bringing in Kelly Montgomery from Brink Brewing Co. – the brewery that has won back-to-back Very Small Brewery of the Year awards at the Great American Beer Festival. Montgomery was paired with Chloe Schaefer, a microbiologist who studied brewing at UC Davis’ Master Brewing Program extension. The brewing team mixes science and art, as all good brewers do.
Upon visiting the brewery, it feels very modern and slightly suburban. You get the feeling of driving up to a polished restaurant rather than a grungy brewery. That’s likely by design, as the brick, wood and steel building was built from the ground up.
Along with a large indoor space including a large bar, there is also a covered outdoor patio as well as a rooftop deck. The whole space has an artsy undertone, including an awesome colorful mural behind the bar that acts as a centerpiece to the whole space. There are also beautiful handcrafted wooden tables, and a trio of signs on the wall that read “Live Life. Do Good. Drink Beer.” To increase space during their grand opening weeks, they also added tent space on their front lawn to safely fit more socially distanced patrons.
Third Eye’s original tap offerings are surprisingly varied and unique, including Jelly Brain milkshake IPA, Enlightenment raspberry American wheat, Untapped Potential kolsch, and Beyond Sight natural brown ale with hazelnut, among others. The beer is impressive for such a young brewery, with something for everyone from the hop head to light beer drinker.
Third Eye also offers food, including appetizers like pickle dip and edamame hummus, a burger, a chicken sandwich, and even a low country shrimp boil. We tried the spent grain soft pretzel sticks, which came with beer cheese andouille sauce and pimento cheese. The beer cheese was good enough on its own and I could have done without the andouille, and would prefer a nice mustard instead of the pimento cheese. Still, the food goes perfect with their beer. We also tried the cajun wings, which were served with creamy jalapeno ranch and buffalo sauce on the side.
Third Eye is a modern brewery that’s a nice fit in the Cincinnati scene. They remind me a lot of Mason’s Sonder Brewing, and I wouldn’t be surprised to see them experience the same kind of exponential growth over the next few years.