Cincy Brewcast

My goodness. Technical difficulties? Again?! I get it slightly under control as the episode progresses, and it WOULD be frustrating if I didn’t have so much fun with this show every year. It’s Oktoberfest season, and this is the finale of a massive bracket I do every year to determine the winner, and the brewer of Cincinnati’s BEST packaged Oktoberfest! I was joined by Marco and Julia from Truth Beer Podsequences – because you know… I can’t make this final decision by myself… and as expected, it was tough. If you want to know the final four, and you want to know who takes the ‘Golden Gnome’ trophy – you’ll have to listen to this episode! Huge thank you to this year’s host, MadTree, to Truth Beer and Podsequences for helping with the judging, and of course to every brewery that made a KILLER Oktoberfest this year!

I’m a huge Oktoberfest nut. I’m sure that if you’ve been around here for any amount of time, you’ve put that together. With a TON of great festivals happening here in Cincinnati, it’s hard to figure out exactly which ones you want to go to every year – but this one? This has become essential for me. I was joined by Justin Neff from Sonder and Brenden Douglass from Northern Row to talk about Sonder and Friends Oktoberfest – and to explore what’s going on in the industry right now. If you’re a fan of this show, or of ANY of the stuff that I do – you can always show your support by going to http://www.TheGnarlyGnome.com/support

It’s a painful process to watch, the closing of a brewery. I can only imagine what it’s like from the perspective of an owner and founder of a brewery… but we get a little peek at what it’s like in this week’s episode with DogBerry’s founder, Tony Meyer. He talks about how he has rediscovered a love for craft beer, after it had almost disappeared at the end of DogBerry’s run… It’s a wonderful episode with someone that I’m happy to call a friend. If you like this show, or any of the stuff that I make, don’t forget that you can go to http://www.TheGnarlyGnome.com/Support to become a Gnomie and help make things happen! Guests This Episode: Tony Meyer – Former Owner, DogBerry Brewing Company From The Beer Fridge HighGrain – Innit, English Mild HighGrain – Lusen, Czech Pilsner

Norwood, Ohio, gets a big win with the opening of Braxton’s new taproom at Factory 52. In what COULD have been a huge loss, HiWire recently announced the closure of their Cincinnati taproom to focus on their efforts back home in North Carolina, and with it, a partnership of sorts where Braxton will always be keeping some HiWire beer on tap there. I sat down with Jake and Evan Rouse, two of Braxton’s founders and owners, to talk about what this means for the brewery’s future growth, for the future of craft beer, and for the future of what taprooms might look like. It’s a great conversation, and one that I know a lot of beer drinkers here in Cincinnati are going to be excited to hear! If you’re curious to know more about Braxton or their new taproom space, make sure that you hit them up on the Braxton Factory 52 Facebook page. Guests This Episode Jake Rouse – Braxton Brewing Company Evan Rouse – Braxton Brewing Company Watch The Episode Here https://youtu.be/vj7MFgH8RPw

I love a good beerfest, and as we gear up for this year’s newly rebranded ‘Bacchus Beerfest’ (you might remember it as The Oakley Beerfest, previously) I wanted to sit down with some of the folks that are helping to make it happen. I sat down with Bill, Mandy and Jack to talk about what draws people to beerfests these days, how you keep upping the game and why folks should be buying their tickets asap! Of course, with the Garden Bar at Element Eatery opening up after some big rebranding and overhauling, we had to dive into what makes that space so great, too! It’s a great show, over a few great beers! Guests This Episode Bill Marx – Bacchus Entertainment Mandy Taylor – Element Eatery Jack Hughes – Element Eatery From The Beer Fridge Darkness Brewing – Awaken The Schwartz Branch And Bond – Gorlami Sun King – Pachanga Episode Links Element Eatery – Facebook Page Bacchus Beerfest – Get Your Tickets! The Beer List As always – thank you to all of you who listen to, subscribe and most importantly, who share this show with your friends! Your support means everything to me! If you like what I do, you can always support this show (or ALL my content) by heading to www.TheGnarlyGnome.com/Support and supporting that way!

There are a lot of different breweries in 2025, and while the industry has plenty of struggles, there is one model that stands above everything else – the neighborhood taproom. This is exactly where the upcoming Depot Brewing Company hopes to align itself. They’re planning a small brewery and taproom for the community of Morrow, Ohio, and from everything I can tell, it’s going to be great. I sat down with owner Scott Tilford and head brewer Taylor Dent at their soon-to-be neighbors, Cartridge Brewing, to have a few beers and really explore how they’re planning on making it all happen. It’s a great episode, and one that I hope will get you as excited as I am about this place opening its doors. If you want to stay up to date on Depot and their plans, make sure you follow along on their website, their Facebook Page, and their Instagram account – things are going to start moving along very quickly, now! Don’t forget that this show is brought to you by folks just like yourself. If you like what I do and want to support (and get early access to all the episodes, you can head to www.TheGnarlyGnome.com/support to become a Gnomie! Guests This Episode Scott Tilford Taylor Dent From The Beer Fridge Cartridge – Smokestack Cartridge – Tanto Cartridge – Covert

I was afraid that I wouldn’t be able to get a show up this week – and then remembered that I’d be hitting up the Ohio Craft Brewer’s Association’s ‘Pamona’s Abundance’ event at Urban Artifact. This celebration of women in beer would be absolutely perfect! I’ll be the first to admit that it’s not the best audio in the world – it’s a little echoy in the reliquary of Urban Artifact – but the panel is good enough that it won’t matter once you start listening! Huge thanks to the folks at the OCBA for putting this on and to all the women who took part in the panel: Brittany Frey – MadTree Ali Hovan – HiHo Natalie Iseli-Smith – Yellow Springs Sami Kleiner – RahrBSG Kayla McGuire – Gemüt Daria Moore – Rhinegeist Moderated by Amy Mast – Craft Leadership As always, thank you for being a fan of this show! If you like what I do, don’t forget that you can head over to TheGnarlyGnome.com/Support and become a Gnomie! If you want to learn more about the Ohio Craft Brewer’s Association – you can visit them at OhioCraftBeer.org or listen to them on the podcast previously!

I’m sure that at this point, most folks here in Cincinnati know some of the brands that CinBev has taken on. Between Christian Moerlein, Little Kings, and Hudepohl, I’ll be the first to tell you that they’ve done an amazing job understanding their personalities and how they compliment and contrast each other. It’s for this reason that I was thrilled when I heard that they were buying the Taft’s brand as it’s former ownership shifted their model into Impact Beverages. This week, I sat down with Cincinnati Beverage’s Elliot Culter to talk about what this all means for them, for the brands, for Taft’s, and how it all keeps shaping where Cincinnati beer will be in the future. It’s a great conversation, and one that I hope gets you as excited as I am about things! If you like this show or any of the stuff that I do, make sure you subscribe to become a Gnomie! If you want to know more about their brands you can visit them online: – https://www.christianmoerlein.com – https://littlekingsbeer.com – https://www.hudepohlbeer.com Guests This Week Elliot Culter – Cincinnati Beverage Company From The Beer Fridge Taft’s – Gavel Banger Taft’s – Wheat Wave

I LOVE a new brewery, especially when that new brewery is run by an older brewery that I already love. I love it even more when that team manages to create a new space that takes all the things we already love and gives it a new personality. If you’re not putting it together yet, that’s exactly what’s going on at Gilligan’s Brewery in Wyoming, Ohio. In this episode, I sit down with Chris Henry, their marketing manager, to have a beer and figure out exactly how and why the brewery plans to keep connecting even better with the community around them. It’s a wonderful episode, and if you haven’t been yet – I can’t encourage you enough to head out to visit Gilligans! You can check them out online – or hit them up on social media. This show is brought to you by listeners just like you. If you like what you hear, you can go to TheGnarlyGnome.com/Support to help it keep growing.

When Mellotone Beer Project announced that they’d be taking over a VERY familiar brewpub space here in Cincinnati, I wasn’t sure what to expect. I knew their head brewer and co-founder, Alexandra Nowell, knew what she was doing from her time in the industry, but what I have found since is a space that manages to brew traditional styles really, really well, without being afraid to put their own spin on them. It’s easy to let craft beer get a little too full of itself, and this place knows exactly when and how to shake things up to prevent that! I can’t thank the folks at Mellotone enough for helping to make this episode come to life, it was great getting to check them out and share them with you! If you want to check out Mellotone, make sure you head down to the brewpub in OTR, check out their website, and follow them on social media. As always, if you like this show (or any of the stuff that I do) you can help by sharing this show with someone that you think would appreciate it, or by heading to TheGnarlyGnome.com/Support to show your support that way!

Higher Gravity On Continued Evolution And How They Stay Great. This week’s episode of Cincy Brewcast takes us back to Higher Gravity. Higher Gravity has two locations: the OG spot in Northside and a space in Blue Ash at Summit Park. Their Summit Park has a full coffee program, and both locations have great cocktail menus. They sell amazing, well-curated beer, a variety of wines, seltzer, and THC beverages. It’s incredible how they’ve continued evolving while still staying who they are. I wanted to understand this evolution and see how they managed to be so great along the journey. Owners Jason and Nick were kind enough to sit down with me over a few beers and help me unwrap everything! Make sure that if you like Higher Gravity, and what they’re up to you visit them on their website. If you like what I do here… or anywhere I’m out making stuff – you can support me (and get exclusive access to extra content and cool swag) by supporting and becoming a “Gnomie.” Every little bit helps. Even a quick share on social media makes a massive difference in how this all keeps growing! Guests This Episode Nick Belleman – Higher Gravity Jason Parnes – Higher Gravity From The Beer Fridge Treehouse Brewing – Haze BC’s Brewing – Bottle Shop Series: Jerry

It should feel a little familiar if you’ve been a fan of this show for a while, now – Big Cis brings together old friends to celebrate a beer that is in itself a celebration of craft beer itself. This year’s tapping of Big Cis coincided with Cincy Beer Week, which only made it that much more special – and I hope that resonates with everyone else the way that it does with me! To everyone that keeps all of this still going, and makes it feel as great as it does… thank you!

The long quest to find the mysterious “Party Tree” comes to an exciting conclusion for me with a short hike through the woods with the one and only Matt DeMaris. I really wanted to get him on the podcast to talk about this year’s Honor Bus, his Vets & Brews charity work… and of course to have him lead me to this legendary, mysterious spot in the woods. If you want to learn more about Matt and Vets & Brews… you can find them online right here. More importantly, if you want to support the honor bus this year – you can do that right here! Guests This Episode Matt DeMaris – Founder, Vets and Brews From The Beer Fridge Happy 2 Brewing – Midnight Rickshaw Rebel Mettle – Volume Streetside – Apple Brandy Almond Macaroon Demogorgon There might have also been a couple more beers consumed that afternoon… the Party Tree demanded it.

In this episode of Cincy Brewcast, I sit down with Garrett Hickey from Streetside Brewery to dive into the latest happenings in the world of craft beer. We kick things off by discussing the recent gold medal win for Streetside’s Black Cats English Brown Ale at the Great American Beer Festival (GABF). Garrett shares insights into the brewing process, the significance of the award, and the unique characteristics that set Black Cats apart from other brown ales. We also touch on the broader implications of winning such a prestigious award and how it impacts the brewery and its patrons. As we sip on some of Streetside’s latest beers, including a delicious Pumpkin Pie Cheesecake Demogorgon and an Oreo Peanut Butter variant, we explore the challenges and triumphs of running a brewery in today’s market. Garrett opens up about the evolving craft beer landscape, the pressures of maintaining quality and innovation, and the importance of staying connected with the local community. We also delve into the logistics of barrel aging, the excitement of experimenting with unique barrels, and the meticulous planning that goes into creating standout beers. Finally, we look ahead to the much-anticipated Demogorgon Day at Streetside Brewery, discussing the lineup of variants, the logistics of the event, and what fans can expect. Whether you’re a seasoned craft beer enthusiast or new to the scene, this episode offers a behind-the-scenes look at the passion and dedication that drive one of Cincinnati’s beloved breweries. Tune in for an engaging conversation filled with beer insights, industry reflections, and a celebration of craft brewing excellence. Guests This Episode Garrett Hickey From The Beer Fridge Streetside – Pumpkin Pie Cheesecake Demogorgon Streetside – Peanut Butter Oreo Cheesecake Demogorgon Show Links Streetside Brewery – Website – Facebook – Instagram Demogorgon Day – Facebook Event

There are several things that make an Oktoberfest great – and Sonder has it absolutely dialed in. Every year, we take a few minutes during their festival to make a podcast (probably an excuse to hang out over a few beers as much as it is anything else) – and this year, we explored a little bit about those things that make it so great. We drink a few beers and share a few laughs… it’s a good one! If you like this show, if you like any of the stuff that I do, you can always support by going to http://www.TheGnarlyGnome.com/support Guests This Episode Justin Neff Danny Herold Chad Blount From The Beer Fridge Sonder – Oktoberfest Sonder – Marzen