It’s been said that you can draw a dotted line from Listermann to just about every brewery or brewer in Cincinnati, and that’s the case with Wandering Monsters Brewing. Former longtime Listermann General Manger Jason Brewer has been away from the brewery scene for a few years, but he has spent that time working at Hoppin’ Vines and putting together his business plan for a brewery.
Brewer posted his journey on Facebook:
Summer of 2021 I was burnt out and thinking of stepping away from beer. I was lucky and got to spend a majority of my time with Milo. That little monster was curious about everything and everyone. He relit my flame by reminding me to go back to my roots, do what I love and be curious.
I started working at Hoppin’ Vines with the goal of opening a brewery together. They were obsessed with this duckpin bowling game. I thought ‘Why waste that much space and money on something like that?’. But I remained curious and watched as families would come just to play. And most importantly, Milo loved it. I knew going forward it had to be apart of the brewery. When it came down to it, they decided that a brewery wasn’t going to be the next chapter of their story and I moved on. The great folks at HV showed me how to work with a kitchen and how to manage a bar with liquor. I am forever grateful for the path they have helped me forge for this Wandering Monsters.
Now it has all come together, and Wandering Monsters is expected to open in the former ‘The Game’ bar in Anderson on Beechmont Ave sometime in 2023. The taproom space is 5,500 square feet, and they’ll also expand into a 6,000 square foot space next door with duckpin bowling, a private event space, barrel storage, and brewing operations.
Wandering Monsters is also expected to feature a BBQ-focused food offering. The brewery sits in one of the few areas of town that’s not overly saturated with breweries. Paradise Brewing is about a mile to the west, Happy 2 Brewing is a mile north, and Mount Carmel is about 2 miles northeast of the Wandering Monsters Brewing location in the Cherry Grove section of Anderson.