Craft brewer Platform Beer Co., which opened in Cleveland in 2014, has its sights set on Over-the-Rhine. The company is working with local developer Urban Sites to open its third Ohio-based taproom — a 2,500-square-foot space at 1201 Main St. (that navy and red building across from Japp’s) — by summer. Platform opened a Columbus location in 2016.
According to a statement from Platform, the Cincinnati brewery will combine beer, coffee and barrel aging. By day, they will act as a “relaxed coffee shop” with pastries and takeaway food, and a lunch menu that uses locally sourced ingredients. By night, the space will transform into a taproom and tasting room with Platform beers, wine and cocktails.
Platform is calling the space “LOCOBA” (short for Local Coffee Barrels) and, along with brewing and barrel-aging beer on site, they will also use the barrels, sourced from local and regional distilleries, to soak unroasted coffee beans. The beans will subsequently be roasted and served at the shop, creating a cycle where they hope “a customer can taste a spirit, taste beer aged in that spirit’s barrel and taste coffee from beans soaked in that same barrel.”
This article appears in Jan 31 – Feb 7, 2018.