2022 Cincinnati Beer in Review

The year 2022 was definitely an interesting year in Cincinnati Beer. As we continue to move further and further away from the pandemic and back to “normalcy”, we will continue to see the craft beer scene in our city mature. Many of our biggest breweries like Rhinegeist and Madtree are coming up on their ten-year anniversaries, and we’re still seeing other breweries open and even some out of town breweries enter the city. Here are some of the biggest stories from Cincinnati craft beer in 2022:

Welcome to the Queen City

Cincinnati clearly has become a target for regional breweries that are looking to expand, and we saw that strategy come to fruition in 2022 with the entrance of Maria Stein’s Moeller Brew Barn, Cleveland’s Saucy Brew Works, and Dayton’s Warped Wing into the Queen City.

Moeller Brew Barn took over the shuttered Rivertown location in Monroe, marking their fourth location and second to open in 2022. Their rapid expansion continues as they also have a planned location in Plain City just outside of Columbus in addition to their original location in Maria Stein, a location in Troy, and one in downtown Dayton.

Saucy Brew Works entered the fray by purchasing Cartridge Brewing outright in December. The Maineville location has been open just over two years, and while the name will stay, the original owners will not. Saucy, which is a pizzeria and brewery concept, also has locations in Cleveland, east of Cleveland in Pinecrest, Columbus, Detroit, and Sandusky.

Warped Wing opened a brewery in Mason in the building that was formerly Basil’s on Market and was slated to become Off the Rails brewery before the pandemic hit. The location offers a full dining service and features a pilot brewing system. Warped Wing also announced a new location for Huber Heights in the Dayton area and has their original downtown Dayton location and one in Springboro.

In addition to Moeller, Saucy, and Warped Wing, we also saw Columbus’ North High Brewing open a second Cincinnati taproom at Kenwood Mall in conjunction with coHatch in July. They have at least one more Cincinnati location planned at Findlay Market in Over-the-Rhine, with a rumored location somewhere in Northern Kentucky also in the works.

The out of town entries won’t stop in 2023 and beyond, as Asheville’s Hi-Wire Brewing is set to open at Factory 52 in Norwood, and Louisville’s Goodwood has a location planned for Union.

Two is better than one

We saw multiple Cincinnati breweries branch out in 2022 to open second locations, including MadTree, Paradise Brewing, and Municipal Brew Works.

MadTree opened MadTree Alcove in Over-the-Rhine, a completely different experience from their Oakley taproom in a “nook of nature.” They of course feature MadTree beers, as well as craft and canned cocktails from their new Sway line, and upscale farm-to-table food.

Anderson’s Paradise Brewing had a big year, as they opened a new location in the former Old Firehouse Brewery in about 32 miles east of Cincinnati in Williamsburg, dubbing it “Paradise East.” They also made the decision to close their homebrew supply store in their original location, leaving Listermann as the only major homebrew store in Cincinnati.

Up in Hamilton, Municipal Brew Works opened their second location in the Spooky Nook complex, which will give them added capacity with a new 7-barrel brew system.

New, new

We also had some totally new breweries open in Cincinnati in 2022, as Lebanon and Barleycorn’s opened their doors. In addition, Lost Bridge Beverage Co. opened, and while they’re only producing cider for the time being, they also plan to brew beer. Cincinnati also got its first dedicated cidery when Northwood Cider Co. opened in November.

The Lebanon Brewing Company became the first brewery in Lebanon when it opened in September. Located in a former firehouse, they feature mostly traditional styles as well as seltzer. They also have a food operation named Ladder 41 on site.

Barleycorn’s Brewhouse is an interesting concept. They became Wilder, Kentucky’s first craft brewery when they opened in August, as Northern Kentucky is finally starting to see more breweries open. The owners are also planning to open a brewery in Independence, but that was taking longer than they hoped with a completely new development, so they decided to instead open Barleycorn’s as an offshoot to the sports bar chain to help produce beer and become a test kitchen for their chefs.

Check out an updated list of Cincinnati breweries in planning here.

Closings

We unfortunately had some closings in 2022, as Middletown’s Rolling Mill and downtown’s Rebel Mettle both closed their doors for good. We also saw Listermann close their short-lived Trail House location and Braxton close their Labs location.

Rolling Mill was Ohio’s only gluten-free craft brewery, and they made headlines when they refused to sell to the massive Hollywoodland development in 2021. The owners really believed in Middletown and were lifelong residents, but unfortunately they just couldn’t make the brewery work.

Rebel Mettle opened downtown during the height of the pandemic so it was always going to be an uphill battle for them. They focused on lagers and produced great beer, even getting distribution up and running quickly around the city. Unfortunately there just wasn’t enough traffic to their taproom to sustain the business.

Listermann Trail House surprised a lot of people when it opened, because Listermann has long been known for slow and steady growth and the second location was just blocks from their original location in Norwood. The new location definitely had a different concept and feel with brick oven pizza and more of a focus on featuring their traditional beer styles, but they decided to close the experiment just over a year after it opened.

Braxton Labs was one of the best parts of Braxton, their experimental wing tucked the back of The Party Source. The taproom always had a unique feel and was something special both when it was Labs and previously when it was Ei8ht Ball. Braxton decided to close the taproom but keep the Labs concept, just at their other locations. Party Source is planning to turn the taproom into a bourbon bar.

The aforementioned Rivertown also closed in 2022 after years of rumors about their demise.

New food, who dis?

If you like eating when you visit a brewery, then 2022 was a good year for you. A multitude of breweries added or expanded food programs in the last year, and it wasn’t just pizza.

Grainworks partnered with the Mama Bear’s Mac food truck to open a location inside their taproom.

Esoteric added a Decibel Korean fried chicken walkup window to their Walnut Hills taproom. Also in Walnut Hills, Woodburn Brewing added a full kitchen with a Korean-inspired menu to their taproom.

If you like burgers, then head to Listermann, where Northside’s Tickle Pickle opened their second location in their small taproom kitchen.

Speaking of Northside, Urban Artifact now features tacos from Taco Roja. Wooden Cask in Newport also added Beards & Bellies BBQ.

Heading into 2023, Braxton Brewing Co. is expected to add a partnership with Dewey’s Pizza, which is opening a restaurant next to their original Covington location. An ordering window will be available directly from the Braxton taproom. Braxton is also opening a full-scale location in Union in conjunction with Dewey’s and their longtime partner Graeter’s.

On the rebound

Ohio craft breweries rebounded in 2021 after a tough 2020, with 7 of the top 10 in the state showing growth in 2021 vs. 2019 numbers. The Cincinnati area is home to half of the state’s top ten breweries (Rhinegeist, MadTree, Christian Moerlein, Urban Artifact, and March First), and third-biggest brewer BrewDog also has a taproom here. Of note: expect Moerlein to drop down the list in 2022 numbers, as they’re going through a transition with parent company CinBev being sold. Growth of around 4-5% is expected when 2022 numbers are released.