Tag: Craft Beer

Exploration Brewery: March First

March First Brewing

I recently visited March First Brewing for the first time and the experience did not disapoint. Since I had not been to the taproom yet but was cheering them on in the Fifty West Punch Out this year, something you can read more on here, I thought I better stop by before the event. Their address is 7885 E Kemper Rd, Cincinnati, OH 45249 – look for the red “M” flags out front.

The Place

To start off March First has plenty of parking. I went on a Saturday afternoon on a beautiful day and I didn’t have any trouble finding a spot. I know that’s important to some of you. The building is a little hard to spot but they have several promotional vehichles parked out front to go along the line of little red flags waiving you to the parking lot. The building kind of looks like an old set of offices. The parking lot is off to the side of the building and once you get out the taproom is around the back of the building. They have arrows and signs pointing you in the right direction. There are two huge roll up garage doors that let you know you’re in the right place. Outside they have tables and a patio area set up. Inside the bar is right there when you walk in. They have tv’s to behind the bar. When I was there the World Cup and the Reds were on.

March First is no one trick pony. They have a kitchen with a variety of pizzas and other food options. They also have more than beer. They also do ciders and spirits. I’m talking spirits they distill themselves! Basically, they have something for everyone.

The Beer

March First has a lot going on in terms of what’s avabliable to drink in their taproom. Like I said earlier, they’re a triple threat with the beer, cider, and spirits. While I was there I had a flight plus a pint so I tried five beers in all. This was my first stop of the day so I stuck to the lighter side of things so I could keep going. I had the session IPA, Ohio pilsner, Denali IPA, the Irish Red, and their newly released Tropical Blonde.

They have plenty of swag avaliable, growlers, and bottles to go too.

It was the Tropical Blonde that I really enjoyed. At 5% ABV and 15 IBUs this one is a drinker. I picked up a lot of mango at first taste and pineapples notes on the backend.  It’s light, refreshing, and delicious.

Overall

March First is about to embark on an agressive expansion soon so you’ll probably see more of them around town. Until then, go check them out in Blue Ash. They have a cool taproom with plenty of options for you no matter what kind of drinker you are. I’ll be back to try the darker/heavier side of their beers soon and some ciders soon.

They are open daily, check out their website for the hours. They also have a large event space to rent out.

marchfirstbrewing.comTwitter: @Marchfirstbrew

Beers Across America pt 2

Beers Across America pt 2

Here is the next installment of the 10 beers that made it onto my US beer cap map! I have to say there was some extra special beers in this edition.

Beer 11 of 177.

New Holland Brewery did an excellent job making the cherry flavor stand out from the Dragon’s Mild Reserve. Bourbon barrel beers are my favorite and I give it 4.75 out of 5. Purchased at Jungle Jim’s in East Gate. Thanks to my brother for asking for it from the back.

 

Beer 12 of 177.

Purchased at Old Canal Smoke House.   After a long day of work stopped by for something to take home this was a nice end to my day and the heat from the pepper made it even better. Ryan comes through with another good beer.

Beer 13 of 177.

Shared and enjoyed with Erick a good friend from work. This beer came all the way from a Wisconsin brewery called New Glarus Brewing Company. Spotted Cow saison/farm house ale was light and fruity that got me geared up for vacation. Thanks Erik and thank you to New Glarus.

Beer 14 of 177.

Brought to you all the way from Tampa Florida’s own Copper Tail Brewery. This was a great porter that brought back the memory of actually being at the brewery in March and look forward to going back again someday. The other remarkable thing is the art work the brewery does on their labels and their brewery.

Beer 15 of 177.

Sierra Nevada’s 2018 Edition of Hoptimum triple IPA and boy is it hoppy. I enjoyed this one on my back deck after long day at work, mowing the yard, and 6 mile bike ride. Well deserved after today if I do say so myself. Brandon thanks again for beer. Cheers!

Beer 16 of 177.

From all the way Nantucket, MA from the wife’s trip to Salem, MA. Grey lady was a nice fruity, hoppy beer. 3.75 out of 5. Enjoyable and worthy of the beer cap map.

Beer 17 of 177.

Another beer wife purchased on a tour of Salem, Ma. Monks’ Reserve Ale is a 10.2% abv that comes Spencer’s Brewery the Belgian Quad packs a punch and is fitting for the last beer of the evening.

Beer 18 of 177.

Enjoyed on front porch of buddy’s house after work. 2XLP from Warpedwing brewery in Dayton, Ohio was a double IPA that hit the spot but the companionship of couple friends was even better than the 10.5 abv. Cheers Brandon and Erik.

Beer 19 of 177

Vanilla Oak Aged Yeti from Great Divide Brewing Company. This imperial stout was packed full of coffee and full of good 9.5% abv.  Was enjoyed with few buddies Nate and Hanas while playing pool on a Friday evening.

Beer 20 of 177

Jackieo’s Bourbon Barrel Oil of Aphrodite a stout that packed a 12.1% abv was the final beer that I enjoyed from Ryan at Old Canal.  He had made the place a home away from home.  Cheers to Jackieo’s and cheers to Ryan.

Hosting a Bottle Share

I love bottle shares! What’s a bottle share? Great question. Let me explain. The concept is pretty easy. Gather a small group of people who like beer, have them bring a couple of bottles of random beer they haven’t tried yet and if everyone else follows suit and does the same thing you’ll have the opportunity to try a heck of a lot of different beer at once. Easy right?

The hardest part of having a bottle share is finding a host and picking a date, people are busy. Once we had someone volunteer their house as tribute and picked a date far out enough that everyone could plan accordingly we were ready to go! We used Facebook events to organize and communicate with those invited. It let us post what we’re bringing so we didn’t have a lot of duplicates, obviously because we want to try a lot of different beer from different breweries and places we don’t always have access to regularly. We definitely accomplished this.

Overall we only had about 10 people attend and over 60 beers to try this past fine Saturday. We had one guy buy a boatload of beer while he was in Florida a couple of weeks ago. He brought back a lot of beer for us, most notably beer from a brewery in Tampa this blog has mentioned before in Beer of the American . Cigar City Brewing is world famous and now I know why, the beer was amazing.

Of course, local bottle shops like Cappy’s and Jungle Jims are a great place to pick out a couple of bottles you’ve never seen before. They always have something new every time you go in to one of those places.

We had beer from everywhere though. Pennsylvania, Florida, Ohio, Illinois, California and others were all represented.

We threw in a wrinkle to this share though. We wanted to do something a little different so we came up with the idea to award one beer a “Best in Show” for the day. We narrowed it down to 3 beers then voted on our favorite from the day.

We had too much beer for the small amount of people that showed up. Several of us had beer leftover to take home to enjoy at a later day. Here is our complete list:

We had a good time catching up with people we hadn’t seen for a while all while drinking some top notch beer.

Candidates for the “Best in Show”:

– The Awakening from Angry Chair Brewing a coffee milk stout with vanilla beans and cocoa nibs.

– 110K + OT Batch 6 from Cigar City Brewing. Cigar City is in Tampa, FL. This beer is no longer in production so I’m sure there’s only a finite amount left if the world. It’s an Imperial Russian stout with raspberries and aged in port barrels. It was outstanding and at 11% ABV you get a plenty from the barrel and the raspberry finish.

– Cape Good Hope IPA from Yards Brewing. Yards is located in Philadelphia, PA. It was the 2017 version of the Double IPA. IStrong enough to know you’re drinking but very smooth to keep you going. It checks in with an ABV of 9.7 and 76 in IBUs.

The Award went to

The Awakening from Angry Chair, a beer I gave a 5 on Untappd. Angry Chair Brewing is in Tampa, FL. The beer itself we had from a crowler. The brewery says its a coffee milk stout with vanilla beans and cocoa nibs and it is brewed with Buddy Brew Coffee. The roasted coffee beans really come through along with vanilla to make it an easy drinker. At 7.4% ABV you’ll know you’re drinking it sooner than later.

Overall, we had a great time and drank way too much but tried so many awesome beers. I even shed blood, but that’s another story for another time. There are already talks of another bottle share coming soon!

The Ever Growing Beer Scene

Cincinnati has a great craft beer scene. That isn’t news to anyone paying attention. With 35 breweries already in the tri-state area it’s hard to choose a favorite at this point. You have great experimentation and funky combinations coming out of Braxton Labs and Listermans. Rhinegeist is keeping you hopped up with a plethora of IPA options (among others). Places like Fibonacci, Dogberry, and Nine Giant among others make it so you’ll never have to travel too far from your neighborhood for a great beer.

Opening a new brewery isnt’ easy. First you need a great product, then a ton of capital to fund the venture and opening a new place requires a lot of up front costs. Trust me, I’ve looked into it, extensively. Finally, you need to be prepared to invest all the sweat equity you physically can into making it happen.

The list of breweries in the area is growing. There are at least 6 new breweries in the works right now. Places like Northside, Mason/Fields Ertle, and the West side are all gaining new places to check out soon.

Here are the latest groups applying for a brewing license with the state:

– Happy 2 Brewing Co ( The same location of a current Mio’s Pizza) 8298 Clogh Pike, Cincinnati

– Humble Monk Brewing Co. 1641 Blue Rock Rd Cincinnati

– Off Track Brewing Co 227 Stark St. Cincinnati

– Rebel Mettle Brewing 246 W McMicken Ave. Cincinnati – www.rebelmettlebrewing.com

– Sounder Brewing 8584 Duke Blvd Mason – www.sounderbrewing.com

– The Common Beer Co 126 E Main St. Mason – www.commonbeercompany.com

The list doesn’t include already established breweries adding second locations or ones from other cities moving into town.

Beers across America pt 1

Beer Across America pt 1

by: Terry M.

Recently I finished filling in my state of Ohio beer cap map and I wanted to do something a little different with my new US map. I decided I would keep a closer eye on this one by documenting each beer I have with some information about the beer, the process, and anything else I thouht might be cool along the way. I hope you like this journey across America (in beer caps). The map has a total of 177 spots so we’re going to put up a new post everytime I drink 10 more new beers and have the caps to add to the map. Here are the first 10 to get us started!

4/5/18. Beer number one of 177 Apex Predator from Off Color Brewering out of Chicago, IL. It purchased at my favorite place to unwind after a long day at the office. Was enjoyed on back yard with wife and our chickens.  Was a dry farmhouse ale that was fruity and had refreshing bite.  Great beginning to fill up my map of the U.S. and journey to enjoy all beers.

Beer number 2 of 177. This is a really good boozy beer. Purchased again at my favorite watering hole “Old Canal Smokehouse”

After long day at work I needed a pick me up. Victory at Sea by Ballast Point has a good amount of coffee and bit if vanilla in it. With the beer at 12% it helps the mind and body.

on 4/12/18. after a meeting in Columbus and of course at my favorite place to drink Old Canal Smoke House in Chillicothe, OH.  KBS by Founders was as advertised, tons of coffee and boozy.  Thanks to Ryan for the sneak peak.

4/13/18. Was sunny day and was in Bee hives all day so after a long day friend Erik stopped by and we popped this open.  What an enjoyment! Seventh Son’s Qahwah was a winter beer full of cinnamon and tasted like Christmas beer.  Seventh son did an amazing job with not only the beer but the art work.

on 4/14/18. Purchase at Larry’s party store in Hillsboro after a birthday party and visit mom and dad’s. The smore’s stout by Short’s Brew is filled full of chocolate and coffee. Good beer.

Beer 6 of 177. Was exchanged with Brandon for some sour beers. The Waldo’s Special ale from Lagunitas, triple IPA was sweet and hoppy at 11.3% it even better. Cheers to Brandon and Lagunitas.

Beet 7 of 177. Whig splitter from 3 Floyd’s brewery from Indiana. Coffee stout that is smooth great finish full of coffee and espresso. Purchased at Old Canal smoke House.

Beer 8 of 177. Purchased at Larry’s party source in Hillsboro. Enjoyed with Hanas and bro after cleaning 20 trout. Was well needed and had a great sour raz taste. My favorite sour of all time.



Beer 9 of 177. Pennsylvania tuxedo from dog fish head. Given to me by Brandon, “cheers sir” Has great spruce/pine flavor to it light and at 8.5% wish I had one more.

Beer 10 of 177. Deschutes Red Chair not only a good name but a good beer overall. Pale Ale that was enjoyed on the creek for the first time in 2018.

Cincinnati Gets Untappd

If you’re a craft beer drinker odds are you’ve at least heard of Untappd. It’s an app for your mobile device that lets you keep tract of, rate, and share the beer you’re drinking as well as the place you’re drinking it. It’s great for beer drinkers everywhere. I’ve had it since 2014 you can find me there under @TheBeercat1 and I love it. For me it’s the best way to keep tract of the beer I’ve and and the beer I liked and the beer I wan to try. I mean what did we do before this, keep a spreadsheet? No thanks.

Recently Untappd decided to throw a party in 7 different cities that had the most check ins at an Untappd verified venue.

You would guess that cities like New York, LA, or Denver would dominate this type of contest and you’d be pretty pleasantly surprised by the Top 7 cities that won.

1. New York, NY

2. Chicago, IL

3. Tampa, FL

4. Anaheim, CA

5. Charlotte, NC

6. Cincinnati, OH

7. Portland, OR

You read that right. Cincinnati, the Queen City herself, made the cut with over 14,000 check ins. That’s pretty awesome when you think about how much the beer culture has grown around Cincinnati.

Some other cities that jumped out to me were Tampa coming in at #3 and Charlotte and #5. I’ve heard good things about the breweries in Tampa, and will get a better look at some up close later in April at a Bottle Share that I’m attending, and will be writing about later as well. So now I’m even more excited to check those out.

It’s been a little while since I’ve been to Charlotte but I might have to check it out soon.

The details for the Untappd event coming to Cincinnati has not been released yet, they just announced the winners today but it looks like Madtree Brewing is one of the most popular check in spots in the city so I’d guess they’re the early favorite. The only other detail that we know for sure right now is that Untappd Co-Founder Greg Avola will be at each event.

In light of recent events I can say Cincinnati doesn’t win a whole lot of things so I’ll take whatever W I can at this point.

Cheers!

Brewery Review: Rockmill Brewery

Rockmill Brewery

– TheBeercat

Every once in a while you need to take a road trip. I was surprised to find out beer exists outside of the greater Cincinnati area. Naturally I had to get out and try it. Just Southeast of Columbus sits Lancaster, OH. In Lancaster you’ll find Rockmill Brewery. I can’t recommend seeking out this hidden gem enough. With its close proximity to Hocking Hills you can bet the landscape is amazing.

(They have opened a second location in Columbus to spread their liquid happiness to others but if you have a chance to visit the original, do it.)

Rockmill sits on an a beautiful old horse farm and all of their beer is Belgian inspired Farmhouse ales. They’ve been open since 2010 so they know what they’re doing. They’re family owned and operated and are cranking out delicious beer of all kinds.

The property itself is worth a visit. They have several buildings housing their brewery operation. They have a patio and the most unique taproom I have every been to along with several barns and trails to walk on to see the property you get a one of a kind experience at Rockmill.

While the Lancaster location doesn’t serve food packing a picnic is perfectly acceptable. If you visit during warmer weather months a picnic on the property is a great way to see all of the natural works and with the wooden tables scattered about its pretty easy to find a nice spot.

The Hocking River rolls through the brewery’s property, a natural resource the brewery uses to its advantage in the brewing process.

Walk into the taproom and you won’t find a bar-like atmosphere or something that reflects a brewery atmosphere either. You’ll find a small bar in the main room and a lodge. I’ll call it a beer lodge. It resembles a cabin in the mountains more than anything really. Multiple rooms with tables, leather couches, ottomans, fire places, and some high top tables with chairs. Upstairs you can take in the exposed beams of the ceiling as well as several private cozy rooms. In the main room upstairs a look out of the window lets you see the patio and an awesome view of the entire property.

Beer? Oh they have that too. At the bar they have six taps and offer more beer by the glass poured from their bottles they bottle and sell right out of the taproom themselves. They offer anything you fancy, all with their Belgian twist.

Pilsners, IPAs, Stouts, Saisons, dubbels, tripels, you name it. They also have some outstanding barrel aged beer to choose from. The Cask Aged Tripel was easily my favorite beer I tried. It’s a tripel aged in whiskey barrels from a local micro-distillery Middle West Spirits. It’s smooth at 10.5% ABV.

A close second was the Sour Cherry Saison. At a cool 5% ABV it has a cherry start with a tart finish that isn’t too overbearing and won’t make you pucker it’s light and crushable.

I did bring home a Le Cheval bottle, at 5% ABV with a very attenuative yeast strain from Northern France it leaves a dry, crisp session saison.

(I’m very anxious to try it but I’m trying saving it for a bottle share.)

What’s really cool about this place too? They host private parties and weddings too!

You can find Rockmill Brewery at:

5705 Lithopolis Rd NW, Lancaster, OH 43130

www.rockmillbrewery.com

They’re also on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.

 

Beer of the American Athletic Conference

Must Try Breweries of the AAC

People say a lot of things about the American Athletic Conference. Some say, like those within the conference, that it’s a Power 6. Others insist it’s a Group of 5. “The football is sub par, the basketball isn’t competitive.” What’s the Big 12 doing? Does the Big 12 know what it’s doing? No one really wanted to go to Iowa that many times anyway. While March draws closer we’ll have to wait to see how many teams get a bid to the Big Dance but UCF was the National Champions in football, went undefeated, and dominated Auburn so take that.

Regardless of all of those talking points out of the American one of the things AAC fans should be talking about is some of the cool cities we can travel to for away games. I mean New  Orleans, Memphis, Cincinnati, and Orlando all have great things to offer traveling fans.(So let’s decide to have the AAC Tournament in Hartford, CT almost every year! More on that at another time.)

So for you traveling Bearcats fans, or any fans traveling to watch your team in the American we thought you should know which places in each city to stop and grab a pint or six of local deliciousness. We researched and put together a formula and picked out one brewery in each city for you to make sure you visit on your next road trip to watch your team. The formula? Beer Advocate rating + Untappd Rating + a bonus for close proximity to campus (for easy navigation) = making it on this list + a double bonus if we’ve already had beer from or have been to one of these breweries.

Here we go:

Annapolis, MD – Navy

Chesapeake Brewing Co. If you’re in town good luck against the triple option. I’d check this place out before you get ran all over. It’s one of the few places in the area that brews their own beer and has a good selection of food. Their owner is a graduate of the Naval Academy. If I’m there I’m definitely trying the Oyster Stout and of course the BEAT  ARMY Golden Lager. They host a handful of events through out the year. Patrons had good things to say about this one too.

“Great brewery with good selection of brews, owner and family are super nice people. A must if you are visiting Annapolis.”

Cincinnati, OH – University of Cincinnati

Rhinegeist. It was hard picking one brewery from the hometown but if one brewery captures the city best I think it’s this one. Located in Over-The-Rhine it’s a short drive to campus. The building and architecture is a must see and the beer is top notch. They host all kinds of crazy events to days featuring animals from the Cincinnati Zoo and a wild German Costume contest you’d have to see to believe. I’d also venture to say Rhinegeist is one of the best in state of Ohio. I suggest you have a Truth.

Dallas, TX – Southern Methodist University

Peticolas Brewing Co. In its first year of operations, Peticolas Brewing Company won a gold medal at the Great American Beer Festival (GABF) for its Royal Scandal, an English pale ale, a second one a year later for its Great Scot! A Scottish Ale, and a silver medal for It’s Always Something, a Belgian Strong Ale in their third year. So what does that mean? It means they have some awesome beer available for you to try the next time you’re in Dallas!

Greenville, NC – East Carolina University

Trolling Wood Taproom & Brewery. This microbrewery has a pretty cool history. They’re housed in a completely remodeled building that dates back to 1924. The brewer is a graduate of ECU and they operate on a 3 Bbl system, which is basically the smallest system you can have for a commercial operation. What does that mean? Small batch beer that comes out just the way you want it every time. They have a solid patio and live music regularly. It looks like locals love this place which is always a good sign.

“Awesome brewery. I had a great experience here. Owner/brewer is super friendly and knows his beer. The beer was great and the atmosphere was really chill. If you are a beer geek and you don’t hit this brewery up when you are in Greenville, you are missing out.”

Houston, TX – University of Houston

Spindletap Brewery. When you think of Texas what do you think of? … I think of high school football, the beard of James Hardin, and Oil. The last of which is where this brewery finds its heritage and start. Just read the story on their website. They have all all star line up of beers that they can and serve up fresh in the tap room. Special events and food trucks are there all the time. It isn’t Texas Tea, it’s better, it’ Texas craft beer done right.

Memphis, TN – University of Memphis

Ghost River Brewing Co. Memphis, TN is a cool place to visit. It gets called a more tame New Orleans and while I don’t know about all that it is serving up some great beer. Memphis beer is also very interesting because every brewery there uses water from the The Memphis Sand Aquifer because it is purified naturally through 850 feet of fine sand and natural quartz. How cool is that? Ghost River cans or bottles some of its beers too so if it’s football season load up before heading out to tailgate.

New Orleans, LA – Tulane University

Parleaux Beer Lab. With everything there is to do in New Orleans make sure to add this to your itinerary before you forget you made one and can’t remember where Bourbon St is anymore. (Hint: you’re already on Bourbon St.)  This micro-brewery is located in the Bywater community in New Orleans. They have an ever changing beer line up on the taps because this place really is a beer laboratory. They love to experiment!

“This is a really great craft brewery. Great beer selection, chill atmosphere, and a fantastic patio. I’m from Atlanta but if I was local I have a feeling this would be a regular stop.”

Orlando, FL – University of Central Florida

Ellipsis Brewing. Now if you’re a basketball fan this is an important one because the 2018 AAC basketball tournament is hosted by UCF. When you’re there stop by this place. It’s probably the most recently opened brewery on the list but that shouldn’t discourage you. It’s a two story building that houses a 10 Bbl system.  They’re already very popular and have added a stronghold of beer in a newly found beer scene in Orlando. They’re a quick drive from the airport and offer a wide variety of beer.

“Came from out of town expecting an average brewery with average beer and I was blown away. Great brews, great staff and felt right at home. A definite must visit!!!”

Philadelphia, PA – Temple University

Crime and Punishment Brewing Co. This place is cool and it’s located in Philly’s Brewerytown neighborhood. Seems fitting doesn’t it? The beers are unique and the food is Russian inspired. This place aims to mix the once great local brewing tradition with the new age of craft beer techniques and  international influences. They’ve brewed a little known style of beer they call The Grod Inquisitor. Grodziskie, they say “the beer  originates from 14th century Poland and is brewed with 100% oak smoked wheat, and is often soured. They utilize a technique called kettle souring to achieve this desired subtle tartness. Smells of smoked ham and alfalfa bring way to a taste of cloud like sausage lemonade, which finishes with a crisp, dry airiness similar to a brisk wind blowing through your arm hair.”

Stoors, CT – University of Connecticut

Willimantic Brewing Co. I wasn’t sure what I’d find in looking for a brewery in the area but with a short drive from Stoors down to Willimantic you’ll find this brewery housed in an old US Post Office from 1909 to 1967 it sat empty for 30 years until they showed up and started brewing. They brew on a 7 Bbl system and produce a lot of good beer. You’ll feel at home in a cozy atmosphere add some food and you’ll never want to leave. They serve up some award winning chili.

Tampla, FL – University of South Florida

Cigar City Brewing. The first of two of the best breweries in the world on our list. Yeah you can visit 2 of the top 100 breweries in the world by traveling with your team in the American. This place promotes its self as inventive and it certainly is. With beers like Berliner-style Weisse with Cherries and Lime, a Brown Ale with Lactose and Jameson Barrel-rested Coffee, and Double Barrel-aged Imperial Pumpkin Ale. This place knows what it’s doing and is a must stop the next time you’re in Tampa.

Tulsa, OK – University of Tulsa

Prairie Artisan Ales. This was another one I wasn’t sure what we’d find until I remembered this awesome brewery. They can and distribute so odds are you don’t have to travel to far to find one. I just had Bomb! on Saturday (It was top notch) but if you’re in Tulsa look no further than this place. It’s the second of two places on this list that made the Rate Beer list of Best Breweries in the World list for 2015! That alone makes this place a must visit. Be on the look out for their cans and bottles the artwork on them are second to none.

Wichita, KS – Wichita State  University

Central Standard Brewing. You have to seek this place out. It has a chill atmosphere, board games if you want to play with friends or kick back and relax on some retro furniture or on the open patio good for all sorts of things. They use an oak fermentation vessel which is pretty unique. I don’t know if I’ve seen another place do that but I could be and probably am wrong. You can get anything from a crisp pilsner or a truly unique Saison Brett aged on blackberries and French oak.

 

As always we put together a Wish List of one beer from each of these breweries on our Untappd profile (TheBeercat1) for easy findings.

Have you already visited some of these breweries? Let us know how they were with a comment or a reply on twitter.

Former Bearcat Hoppin Things Up

Kevin Youkilis is the Greek God of Hops

You almost definitely remember Kevin Youkilis the baseball player. You might remember him playing in a Bearcats uniform from 1998-2001. While at Cincinnati Youkilis was a two-time Second-Team AP All-American and First-Team All-Conference USA his junior year. He also set the UC career records for home runs (56), walks (206), slugging percentage(.627), and on-base percentage(.499). Mr. Youkilis manged to get inducted into the University of Cincinnati Athletic Hall of Fame in 2007 as well.

You probably remember Youkilis the Boston Red Sox player that won two World Series. He had a very successful career in the MLB by any measure. He was a 3 time all star, Gold Glover winner, and Great Bambino curse breaker. He also once held the record for most games without an error and won the Hank Aaron Award in 2008. So yeah, the guy could play the game of baseball pretty damn well.

Somewhere along the way he took on the nickname the Greek God of Walks. Well now he’s tweaked that just a little bit.

Since he hung up his cleats in 2014 Youkilis has been working on his post baseball career. One that we at GoBeercats were super excited to hear about once we read it.

Youkilis is now the owner of Loma Brewing in Los Gatos, California. Which is in the Bay Area close to San Clara and San Jose. This could be the coolest thing we’ve ever heard of. A former Bearcats and Baseball all star to brewery owner? That’s right up our alley. From the looks of their social media accounts the place looks legit too.

In an interview with Draftmagazine.com Youkilis said he discovered craft beer after college and while playing professional baseball.

“The beer you’re drinking changes once you can afford better beer,” he says. “I realized there was really good beer out there created by smaller-producing individuals. What I loved the most was I realized I didn’t have to drink 10 beers to enjoy a night out. A couple well-made beers was more my style.”

So he partnered with his brother Scott and opened up Loma Brewing Co. As mentioned above, Kevin is used to winning awards and whatnot so would it surprise you if we said Loma Brewing won the 2017 California Commercial Beer Brewery of the Year. Well it shouldn’t because they did just that. Now, I didn’t know how prestigious that award is or whatever because it took place at the California State Fair but I do know that California as a whole has an awesome reputation for good beer so winning anything out there isn’t an easy task. After doing some research on the “competition” it turns out it’s legit and super competitive. With more than 1,488 beer entries from more than 400 breweries, the fair has become one of the largest beer competitions in the country. Only the Great American Beer Festival and the World Beer Cup are larger!

Loma Brewing Co. offers a wide range of beer styles and is well cemented into the community at this point. Appeasement IPA  is the beer that won the gold medal at the California state fair. There’s also a Kölsch, called Warren Peace, and (No Oranges Allowed) an American wheat ale that won silver in the same competition.

It looks like Loma Brewing does can some of its beers and I will be asking any establishment willing to order beers outside of the normal realm to bring anything it can to the area for GoBeercats to try. I’m looking at you Jungle Jim’s. Hopefully the pictures aren’t just of to go crowlers.

For you Untappd users there is a Wish List on our profile for an easy finding of the brewery and its beers. (@GoBeercats)

For those Bearcats fans planning on making the trip to UCLA for the Bearcats football game in September you should definitely check his place out. According to Google Maps its a mere 5+ hour drive. I’m sure it would be totally worth it.

Now, Kevin Youkilis is known as The Greek God of Hops.

Brewery Review: Little Miami Brewing Co.

This past weekend I visited Little Miami Brewing Company for the first time. They are located at 208 Mill St. in Milford, OH. LMBC (I don’t know if they’re using that acronym) has been open for just over one month and is already a very popular spot on the weekends.

The Place

To start they have plenty of parking behind the building, which is a plus considering the crowd you can expect inside the taproom. I was there on a Friday night and the lot was almost full, still there was parking. The building is hard to miss and really sticks out in the part of town locals call “Old Milford.” Just to the left of it is a huge grain silo. You can’t miss it. You walk in and the setting is that of many breweries today. This one separates itself though with it’s extras. Each window in the front is like a mini roll up cargo door which is something I had not seen before. Tanks and fermenters are placed behind a half wall behind the taps and a large patio is on the far side. With it being January they have the patio door open and a large tent covering it for overflow seating. According to their twitter you can reserve this space for private events. They also have a small open kitchen that serves pizza (which I heard was delicious), pretzels, and an assortment of other things. Above the taps behind the bar they have a giant canoe and other decorations. The canoe and wall is littered with arrows, which I thought was a really cool touch.

The Beer

When I visited, LMBC had 8 of their own beers on tap. The styles ranged from a blackberry witbier to a red IPA. The beer was certainly fresh and the service was great. Of the 8 beers they had on tap of their own I had 6. They also had 4 beers on tap from other local breweries. In addition to that they offer, wine, and spirits as well. The highlight of their beer list were Bike Path a pilsner and Ruby in the Dust a red IPA. I was really impressed with Bike Path. I didn’t expect much since it was a pilsner, they’re not my favorite, but this one was very well done. At 4.8 % ABV and 20 IBUs it’s very crushable. A close second for me was the Ruby in the Dust Red IPA. There is some balance with this one with the hops and malts but I picked up a lot more of the malt. At 7.9% ABV and 50 IBUs it’s a solid red IPA. That night the Ruby was popular, the keg was blown pretty early.

The one criticism I have of the beer line up was that the darkest beer they had on tap that night was a brown ale. If you’re a craft beer drinker looking for dark beer you know a brown ale isn’t really what you’re looking for. According to Untappd they do have a porter they call Smoke on the Water, I’m guessing that just wasn’t available that night.

Overall

LMBC has a lot of potential and with the crowd I saw this past Friday night it looks like they’re going to do very well. I really have no reason to visit Old Milford so if bringing new people into the area was one of their goals they’re certainly accomplishing it. I’ll definitely be back soon, I’m anxious to see what other beers they have lined up in the near future.

They are opened daily and you can find out more about Little Miami Brewing Company on their website and their social media accounts. ( www.littlemiamibrewing.com or @littlemiamibrew on twitter )