2021 Cincinnati Beer in Review

December 31, 2021 David McKinney Cincinnati Beer, Craft Beer 1

The one thing that seems to keep us together is craft beer, and that was even more so true in 2021. The Cincinnati scene continued to grow, with some old friends getting bigger, a few new friends arriving, and all kinds of accolades being heaped up the best beer city in the country.

Here’s what happened in Cincinnati craft beer in 2021:

The Year of the Taproom

While there was only one official brewery opening in Cincinnati in 2021, we added a handful of new taprooms from existing brands. Columbus’ North High Brewing opened a location in Hyde Park, Listermann opened the Trail House just down the road from their original location in Norwood, Nine Giant opened the Fermentorium around the corner from their original location in Pleasant Ridge, and Bircus opened a location in conjunction with North South Baking Co. in Covington, Kentucky across from Braxton‘s original location.

Newport on the Levee continued its revamped look with a focus on craft beer, including a more permanent location for Wooden Cask and a Box Park location for Lexington’s West Sixth Brewing.

A host of other breweries have also announced new locations, including the MadTree Alcove in OTR, Municipal‘s Spooky Nook location, and Braxton’s location at CVG Airport. Paradise also purchased the former Old Firehouse location in Williamsburg and plans to open a second location there. Louisville’s Goodwood Brewing is planning a space in Union (and Columbus), and North High also has locations planned at Kenwood Mall and in Northern Kentucky.

Other breweries also appear to be close to opening, including Glendale’s GlendAle House Brewing, Warped Wing’s Mason location, and Lost Bridge Beverage Co. at the Carriage House Farm in North Bend. See all of Cincinnati’s planned breweries here.

Beer, spirits, wine and more – OTR StillHouse opens

With just a couple of weeks to spare, we had an official brewery opening in Cincinnati in the year 2021 as OTR StillHouse opened in December. Not just a brewery, OTR StillHouse is the home to Knox Joseph Distillery as well as a large concert venue. Former Listermann and Woodburn brewer Chris Mitchell is the head of production there, so people are expecting some pretty special things from them, including seltzers, wine, and spirits in addition to beer.

Woodburn is back

One of the big news items at the end of 2020 was March First purchasing East Walnut Hills’ Woodburn Brewing, and the taproom made its triumphant return in April. Some favorites returned, including Solo and Valravyn Chocolate Cherry Stout. They also expanded and added food, and I’m sure even more fun things are in plan for the awesome space going forward.

Urban Artifact quietly expands

It wasn’t necessarily the headline-grabbing announcement when Urban Artifact acquired a 53,000 square foot space next to their current brewery and taproom in May. But it was a huge welcome for the sour-focused brewery, as they finally had room to breathe after experiencing exponential growth since opening in an 1873 church in Northside in 2015. Urban Artifact has made some smart moves in their six years in existence, including pivoting to focus on heavily fruited sour ales and lighter fruited goses almost exclusively, and beginning home shipping early in the pandemic. They’ll use the new space for packaging, storage, and offices, which will go a long way to letting them continue to be one of the more unique breweries in Cincinnati and in the country.

Ohio, Rhinegiest move up beer production rankings

Despite a decline of 11% in 2020 due to the pandemic, Ohio moved up one spot to fifth in overall beer production this year. The state also features three of the top fifty largest craft breweries in the country, including Cincinnati’s own Rhinegeist, which also moved up one spot in the top 50 ranking to 25th overall this year. Cleveland’s Great Lakes and Columbus’ BrewDog are also in the top 50. There are currently nearly 400 breweries in Ohio, including a whopping 47 that opened in 2020.

Cincy hardware

Not only is there a lot of beer being produced in Ohio, but some of the best beer is being produced here, and specifically in Cincinnati. Queen City breweries cleaned up in the medal count at both the Great American Beer Festival and U.S. Open Beer Championships in 2021, with three GABF medals and a whopping 43 medals at the U.S. Open. Brink won their eye-popping seventh GABF medal, and Third Eye and Sonder won their first. A total of 19 different breweries won at the U.S. Open, including Fretboard winning three gold medals and #9 Best Overall Brewery.

Fun Stuff

That’s the big beer news for the year. Let me know if I missed anything! Also check out a full list of Cincinnati breweries here.

You can order beers from medal-winning breweries like Fretboard, Sonder, and Urban Artifact from RivalryBrews.com. Use code “MMAMcKinney” for 10% off your order.

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