I
t’s officially fall, so prepare for ciders, more pumpkin beers and hopefully some seasonals that have nothing to do with autumn from your favorite local breweries. (Thankfully, no Christmas beers yet.) And despite the weather shifting, beer festivals keep chugging away.
New Beers
• MadTree just did a bottle release of their Tequila Tiamat saison, which is named after the Mesopotamian goddess of the ocean. It’s aged in tequila barrels and has a peachy flavor. It’s only available in their taproom, so if you want some, you have a limited time to purchase bottles ($12.50/bottle; limit two bottles per person). Additionally, MadTree’s less-limited Galaxy High is back. The big 10.2-percent Imperial IPA boasts 120 IBUs and topaz and galaxy hops.
• Listermann has taken things in a new direction. They started a Fermatorium, in which their “fermentation guru” Danny Spears will be experimenting with cider, meads and wine. Yup, Listermann now has a license to make and sell wines. First up: U-Can Pear Cider. It was made from a homebrewing kit as an homage to the brewery’s roots as a homebrewing supply store.
Their Shamrock Shake is also now available in their taproom ($11.99/four-pack). This isn’t some sort of crappy McDonald’s drink — it’s a delicious dry Irish-cream stout. And their Don’t Talk Shit About Norwood pale ale (maybe the best name for a local beer ever?) got a bottle release last week.• Rhinegeist has been busy brewing several new beers, including two ciders. Cleverly named Cidergeist, their hard ciders come in semi-dry and dry-hopped. They’ll be available in cans Oct. 5 and on draft Oct. 12. Rhinegeist will have the ciders and others on-hand at Fogarty’s Irish Pub in Hamilton Oct. 9-10. On Oct. 11, they’re hosting a Cider Brunch at The Comet in Northside from 11 a.m.-2 p.m. Besides ciders, Rhinegeist just released Chester Cherry Saison, Peach Dodo Gose, Hugh Hefeweizen (another pun) and Welcoming Plow, a new 22-oz. bomber the brewery describes as having “subtle notes of berry and lemon.”
• If you want to drink and eat before the Bengals game, head to Taft’s Ale House, where you can stuff your face with breakfast burritos, quiche, tri-tip beef and eggs before loading onto their Jungle Shuttle. A part of Cincy Brew Bus, they’ll drop you off at O’Malley’s in the Alley for more drinking. Note: Taft’s Brewhouse Brunch happens whether or not it’s a home game.
• Chris Siegman is Mt. Carmel’s lead brewer, but he’s also a home brewer. His award-winning beer, an English mild called Milds Davis, is available at Blank Slate (Siegman won their homebrewing competition last year).• Mt. Carmel has been busy cranking out new suds with an emphasis on fruits and spices. They have a Pumpkin Pie Vanilla Bean Stout, Peanut Butter and Jam Brown Ale, Mango Habanero IPA, Neapolitan Cream Stout, Toasted Cherry Almond Amber Ale and Chili Pepper Mango IPA.
• ShRED IPA is Fifty West’s latest beer, a ruby-red IPA blended with simcoe and citra hops. Try one at their weekly Penny Flips Tuesday. If the waitstaff flips a penny and you call it right, your beer’s only a penny! That could be dangerous.
• The Wilmington-based Old Firehouse Brewery collaborated with Fifty West on 50 Dalmatians, a beer made with the rare Ohio pawpaw fruit. Firehouse is also pouring Maltese Cross, a blood-orange blonde ale.
• Yes, Ei8ht Ball Brewing has a beer called Cat Lady, which is a 5.5-percent American Brown Ale. And the season wouldn’t be complete without a pumpkin ale, and this one is named Sell Out
Pumpkin Ale.
Beer Events
• Cincinnati Craft Brewer’s fourth-annual Craft Beer Oktoberfest takes place on Oct. 9 and 10 at Listermann. Only one Oktoberfest beer will be on tap (Listermann is brewing it), and all the other beers are non-Oktoberfest local brews, including Blank Slate, Bad Tom and Rivertown. listermannbrewing.com.
• More than 15 local breweries — including Louisville’s Goodwood and Evansville, Ind.’s Carson’s Brewery — will be serving up their beers aboard the Belle of Cincinnati during B&B Riverboat Cruise Craft Beerfest on Oct. 24. Each ticket gets you 20 beer samples, and VIP tickets get you private deck space, apps and admission to the USS Nightmare. bbriverboats.com/craft-beer-fest.html.
CONTACT GARIN PIRNIA: [email protected].
