Municipal Brew Works
20 High St, Hamilton
604 N B St, Hamilton (Spooky Nook)
Municipal Brew Works is located in Hamilton in the former City of Hamilton municipal building (hence the name). Honestly, it’s one of the cooler spaces I’ve seen for a brewery in awhile. They’ve got both indoor and outdoor space, with plenty of picnic tables available to enjoy a nice day. The brewery opened in June 2016 and they do some select distributing with cans and bottles around the Butler County area.
Municipal has focused on approachable styles, including their flagship Approachable Blonde blonde ale. They’ve also done multiple variants of this beer, including the popular Orange Agave blonde ale. Approachable Blonde has won awards at the Ohio Craft Brewer’s Cup and US Open Beer Championship.
Spooky Nook
In 2022, Municipal Brew Works added a second location in the Spooky Nook Champion Mill Two development. The 5,500 square foot taproom is twice the size of their original space, and the brewery features a 7-barrel brewing system with 15-barrel fermenters. The added capacity will give the growing brewery the opportunity to experiment with more beers and styles.
Must-try beer: True West Coffee Porter – True West is a base porter with cold brew coffee added, and it’s delicious. It’s also just 5.4% ABV, so you can even have a few if you want. It’s also won medals at both the US Open Beer Championship and Ohio Craft Brewer’s Cup.
Other great beers: Approachable Blonde, Anniversary Series, Midnight Cut
Major Awards
US Open Beer Championship
- Approachable Blonde (English Summer Ale) – Gold Medal – 2023
- Approachable Blonde (English Summer Ale) – Silver Medal – 2021
- True West (Coffee Beer) – Bronze Medal – 2021
- Approachable Blonde (English Summer Ale) – Gold Medal – 2020
- Anniversary Series DIPA (Specialty Aged Beer) – Silver Medal – 2020
- Blackberry Duelist (Belgian Style Fruit Beer) – Silver Medal – 2020
- Recover Red (Imperial Red Ale) – Silver Medal – 2020
- Anniversary Series DIPA (Honey Beer) – Silver Medal – 2019
- Recover Red (Imperial Red Ale) – Silver Medal – 2018
Ohio Craft Brewer’s Cup
- Approachable Blonde (American Light Ale) – Gold Medal – 2021
- Big Cis (European Pale) – Silver Medal – 2021
- Some-More Tim (Specialty/Hybrid Beer) – Bronze Medal – 2021
- Approachable Blonde (American Light Ale) – Gold Medal – 2020
- Midnight Cut (Brown/Dark Ale) – Silver Medal – 2019
- Approachable Blonde (American Light Ale) – Silver Medal – 2018
- True West (Coffee Beer) – Bronze Medal – 2018