Cincinnati Brewing History-The Micro Brewery Years 1987-

 
 
1987

September-The craft brewing industry arrives in Cincinnati when the Oldenberg Brewing Company opens in Fort Mitchell, Kentucky at I-75 and Buttermilk Pike. The complex contains a microbrewery, entertainment center, restaurant and brewpub. Beer is available on draft at the brewery and other outlets and in bottles.
 


 
1989

July-Wallaby Bob's opens in the Forest Fair Mall. The Australian theme brewpub is housed in the food court of Forest Fair Mall making Wallaby Bob's the first brewpub anywhere to operate within a suburban shopping mall. Due to inconsistent brewing and/or off flavors with the beer, Wallaby Bob's closes March 12, 1990.

 

1991


May-The first shipments of beer from the Miller Brewing Company plant at Trenton Ohio take place.

 

1991

Oldenberg Brewing is granted permission from the Kentucky state legislature to increase production from 12,500 bbl to 25,000 bbl annually. Signs on I-75 are approved proclaiming Oldenberg to be the home of the American Museum of Brewing History and Arts.
 
 
1994

December-Main Street Brewery located at 1203 Main Street in the Over-the-Rhine district of Cincinnati opens in December. The brewpub is housed in the old Tower Furniture Store and utilizes a 14-bbl Specific Mechanical brewhouse to produce the beers. The operation is successful until increased competition arrives in the district.


 

1995

June-The BarrelHouse Brewing Company microbrewery and tap room located at Jackson and 12th in the Over-the-Rhine district just two blocks from the Main Street Brewery opens on June 29. The beers are brewed on a 15-bbl Century brew house and are often named after the history and culture of the city. The company name comes from the early taverns or barrel houses that were extremely popular in the area during the pre-prohibition days.


 


 

1996

March-The Bavarian Brewing Company in Covington is placed on the National Register of Historic Places.
 


 
 
1996

 July-The Queen City Brewing Co. opens its second brewpub, Watson Brothers Brewhouse, in Blue Ash on July 1. The brewpub is located at 4785 Lake Forest Drive just east of the intersection of Reed Hartman Highway and Pfeiffer Road and across the street from the Blue Ash airport. The brewpub is named after Hugh and Parks Watson who were early Cincinnati aviators. In 1999, Queen City Brewing Company changes its name to the Queen City Restaurant Group and the name of Watson Brothers Brewhouse changes to Watson Brothers Bistro & Brewery.

 

 

1996

August-The Rock Bottom Brewery, a national chain of brewpubs, opens on August 5 at 10 Fountain Square in downtown. The brewpub uses a 12-bbl JVNW brew house to brew its beers and is the first entry in the city from a national chain.

 
1996

Oldenberg opens the Holy Grail Brewery and Grill  in Coryville adjacent to the campus of the University of Cincinnati. It is located at 13 W. Charlton Street and is housed in a 100 year old building. Oldenberg purchases a 5-bbl brew house from the closed Lazy Hound Restaurant and Brewery in Pittsburg, Kansas and installs it in the brewpub. This brewpub closes in 1998. In 2004 the Holy Grail reopens but no brewing activity takes place here.

 

1996

November- Ken Lewis, the owner of the Party Source chain of stores in Kentucky, attempts to restore the glory of the old Bavarian Brewing Company complex by renovating the buildings into the Brew Works at the Party Source. The concept includes along with a new Party Source store, a 15-bbl Century brew house, a 1/2-bbl Custom BOP system and a restaurant. The complex opens in November and operates for a few months when the brewery and restaurant portions of the operation are leased to Wynkoop Brewing Company of Denver, Colorado. The name is changed to Brew Works and Wynkoop manages the operation until 1998 when the facility is closed and all brewing activity stopped.

 
1996

The Queen City Brewing Company gains its third brewpub when Teller's of Hyde Park opens at 2710 Erie Ave. The brewpub is housed in an old bank building and retains a banking theme throughout the interior. Brewing at this location is very limited with most of the beer coming from either the production brewery or Watson Brothers Brewery. This location is still in operation but there is no brewing on the premises.

1996

Oldenberg BREWING COMPANY  sells 800,000 shares of stock to raise capital. The sale raises $2,000,000. These funds are used to expand the sales force, introduce new brands and update and expand the brewery.

1997

The Boston Beer Company exercise an option in their contract with Hudepohl/Schoenling and purchase the brewery.
 
 
1997

Hudepohl Schoenling returns to the brewing scene when they installed a 10-bbl Century brew house next to its keg dock on Central Avenue. Here they brewed specialty beers for draft only sales. This small microbrewery is under the direction of Tim Rastetter.

1997

The second brew on premise operation in the area was recorded when BrewMasters Personal Brewery opens. This BOP was located north of the city at 9980 Kings Automall Drive in a strip mall area. In addition to the BOP operation, there Is a small taproom where their beers can be sampled. BrewMasters closes in 1999.

 

1997

Queen City Brewing Company installs a 30-bbl Specific Mechanical brew house at 218 West Micken Ave in the old bottling plant of the former Jackson Brewery. The microbrewery opens in 1997 and is planned to be the production brewery for the company; however, decreased sales and a change in management direction results in the facility closing in 1998.
 

1999

Silver Creek Brewing Company purchases the Oldenberg Brewing Co operations in September and operates the brewery until April 2001 when Ken Schierberg brews the final batch of beer at 400 Buttermilk Pike. The rights to the Oldenberg name are sold to Miami Trail Brewing Co. in Xenia, Ohio.

1999

June-The Hudepohl-Schoenling beer division is acquired by Crooked River Brewing Co. of Cleveland, OH. Both of these entities become part of the Snyder International Brewing Group later that same year. All brewing activity is moved to Frederick, MD; however, can production is contracted to City Brewing Co. in La Crosse, WI.
 

 
1999

September- Main Street brewpub closes, the interior is remodeled and the facility reopens in January 2000 as the Jump Café & Bar.

2001

August- The Queen City Restaurant Group opens Bella, a new Italian Mediterranean restaurant housed in the former Plaza 600 location at the corner of Walnut and 6th Streets next to the Arnoff Center in downtown. While Bella is not really a brewpub some brewing activity takes place to maintain their license. The QCRG beers sold at Bella come from Watson Brothers in Blue Ash.
 
 
 
2003

May- Hofbrauhaus Munich opens the first authentic Hofbrauhaus in America at 3rd and Saratoga across from The Levee in Newport, KY. The brewpub is designed to enable the guests to enjoy the traditions of beer drinking the German way. The Festhall with seating for 350 guests features true Bavarian dishes along with live music. The outdoor Beer Garden with trees and shade awnings provides a view of Newport’s waterfront with the Cincinnati skyline visible across the river. All of the beers are brewed on site using a 20-hl Beraplan brew house and are brewed in accordance with the German Purity Law of 1516 (Reinheitsgebot) or shipped directly from Germany.

 


 
2005

March-BarrelHouse Brewing Co. is forced to leave their 12th and Jackson location. The move takes place through the spring and in August 2005 the new location opens at 544 B West Liberty. Starting at this time, this is a true micro brewery with no food service. This building was formerly occupied by the Melanie Brewing Company dba:Heritage Brewing Company. Heritage was a licensed brewery and a few test batches of beer were produced, however, this brewery never reached production. Heritage Brewing Co. purchased the BarrelHouse brewing equipment and hired their brewmaster, Rick DeBar. Heritage Brewing Co. aka: BarrelHouse Brewing Co. bottles and sells both the Heritage and BarrelHouse brands of beer keeping the BarrelHouse name as a part of the Cincinnati brewing industry.

 

 

2005

June-Mt Carmel Brewing Company makes their first commercial shipment. Started in his home at 4362 Mt Carmel Tobasco Road home brewer Mike Dewey makes beer in the basement of his house. Mt Carmel Brewing Co. beers are available at selected locations both on draft and in half gallon growlers.

 

2005

December-Queen City Restaurant Group loses its license to brew beer. The last location in Cincinnati, Watson Brothers Brewery and Bistro, shuts down.

2008

The Listermann Brewing Co. at 1621 Dana Ave. becomes the first new commercial brewery to open in the Cincinnati area since Mt. Carmel opened in 2005. This new microbrewery is located across the street from Xavier Square and is managed by Dan Listermann who brews the first batch of Wild Mild Ale on June 16th. A 2-bbl system is utilized to produce the beer which are sold in 22 oz bottles. The brewery is part of Listermann Manufacturing, a homebrew supplies shop which opened for business in 1991.

 

2009

Mt Carmel Brewing installs a bottling line to make their product more available.

Photo by Eric Jones

2010

Rivertown Brewing opens at 607 Shepard Dr. Unit 6, Cincinnati, OH 45215.

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