Settled in 1798 and located in the southwest corner of Ohio, Cincinnati is best known for its chili. In fact, Cincinnati has more chili restaurants per capita than any other city in the world!
But Cincinnati is also becoming known for its many great breweries as well.
We’ve taken the guesswork out of finding the best breweries in Cincinnati and put together our picks so you can plan out the perfect pub crawl.
The 25 Best Breweries in Cincinnati
Nine Giant
The Nine Giant is one of the best breweries in Cincinnati. The owners wanted to create the best taproom experience possible, so they used trial and error to find just the right combination of food and beer. It serves hand-crafted beers, and all of the food that it sells is made from the best-sourced ingredients. Each item on the menu is made from scratch once it is ordered, so customers get the freshest and best food.
Rhinegeist Brewery
The Rhinegeist Brewery is another one of the best breweries in Cincinnati. This brewery makes all of their beers and ciders have plenty of flavors even with them constantly coming out with new ones. Every Wednesday, this brewery has a special where for every pint purchased, a dollar is donated to a different charity for the community. This brewery can be found in many other places other than just the city of Cincinnati.
Listermann Brewing Company
This brewing company was started by a man and his wife, and it was started from their very own home. In four years, they managed to make enough to afford a small store. The eventually had to buy a bigger location, which allowed them to make many more flavors. Once they could make more flavors, the company took several of them to contests and won some different awards for them.
MadTree Brewing
This brewery makes and offers many flavors of beer and cider that they make themselves, including some gluten-free options. It also serves pizza that has been cooked over a wood-fire as well as small little finger type foods. The brewery takes part in making donations for many different charities within the city of Cincinnati that help the city as well as a few that are not solely apart of the city.
Urban Artifact
This brewery has a taproom, music venue, and a full bar. It is located in part of an old church. In fact, the brewery itself is in the church’s old gymnasium building, and the courtyard makes the best place to sit outside and enjoy some beer. The taproom is in the lower level of the church’s cathedral. All of this allows people to enjoy some great beer in a comfortable and friendly setting.
Bad Tom Smith Brewing
Bad Tom Smith Brewing is undergoing some changes from when it was first opened. After many issues that have come up, the brewery ended up changing hands, and under these new hands, there are many changes that have been made to the brewery, which has improved it greatly. After some renovations, the brewery has been improved and people are enjoying the new and improved place.
Streetside Brewery
Streetside brewery was created by locals of Cincinnati that strived to create a place that would serve things that are unique and diverse as the people that could be found in the area. They not only have their very own brews that they have made on tap but they also occasionally spotlight other local and non-local brews. This brewery started off a family-run establishment, and it has slowly brought in other local talents.
Brink Brewing Company
This is a brewing company that was created by a family that grew up listening to the tales a family member used to tell them about his travels and the beer he would bring home from each travel. This led to the family making sure their taproom at the brewery is very friendly and encourages the guests to share their own stories while enjoying the great beer offered on tap.
Fibonacci Brewing Company
Fibonacci Brewing Company is a nano-brewery, which means they brew less than 7 brews at one time or a brewery that is a small family-owned establishment, not taken over by a big name company. The brewery got its name because the owner not only has a love of math but also because the main ingredient in all their beers is the hop plant, which is a perfect example of Fibonacci occurring in nature.
West Side Brewing
West Side Brewing not only offers many great brews that they make themselves, but they also have a wide selection of foods that people can enjoy with the beer. It has food trucks that set up on-site to offer great food, and the brewery allows people to rent the space to host private events and charity events. The food trucks will also be available for events as long as they do not have a prior engagement.
Northern Row Brewery & Distillery
Nothern Row Brewery and Distillery can be found in the heart of the historic brewery area of Cincinnati. The brewery designed their establishment to pay homage to the historic lager houses that used to be found not only in the area but in other parts of the United States. While the brewery keeps the tradition of the older recipes running strong, they are always integrating newer recipes.
Rock Bottom Restaurant & Brewery
This brewery is one of a kind because it offers its guests the chance to have their own personal brewer. The brewers take the art of brewing seriously and make sure they brew the best flavor possible. This brewery has the belief that their beer will not sit in kegs or bottles for too long. They want their guests to enjoy the freshest of brews, which is why they do not let their brews sit for too long and are always brewing more.
Braxton Brewing Company
This company started off with a sixteen-year-old in the family’s garage and quickly grew to one of best breweries in Cincinnati. While other kids his age were more interested in cars, games, and girls, he was more interested in the art of brewing beer. He had a passion for brewing and wanted to create the best-tasting beer possible. His family soon joined in, end the company got started. They still hold high standards for all of their brews.
Fifty West Brewing Company
This brewing company is located in a building that was one a roadside speakeasy. Each of the brews that are made at this brewery is made with the utmost care and in small batches in order to allow the perfect brew. There are four virtues this company follows, and they are craftsmanship, innovation, tradition, and patience. They put these virtues into everything they brew in order to achieve the best quality possible.
Bircus Brewing Co.
This brewing company gives its guests a one of a kind experience. Not only do people get to enjoy the brews that are created by this brewery, but they also get to enjoy some entertainment. There are live performers like what you would see at a circus, which is how the brewery got its name. The performers entertain their guests while the guests enjoy the uniquely flavored brews that the brewing company comes up with.
Samuel Adams Brewery
This brewery is owned by a famous beer brand, Samuel Adams. They have always had the belief of brewing their beer with the utmost care and letting it sit for a long time before it is ever served. They always make sure their beer is never made with any corn syrup. The company that runs this brewery is such a well-known brand that they are held to rather high standards and are always coming up with new and great tasting flavors.
Wooden Cask Brewing Company
This brewery offers its guests some great food to enjoy while drinking their uniquely flavored beers. They also have a great selection of board games that the guests can choose from in order to make their time fun and entertaining. The food comes from the local Farmstand Cafe. All of these put together give the guests to have a very entertaining evening that can last for some time.
3 Points Urban Brewery
This Cincinnati brewery combines great tasting beer, fantastic art, and a unique experience to make the guests have the best and most unique time ever. All of the art that can be seen at this brewery is from very unique local artists, which helps give back to the community that can be found around the brewery. The brewery is always open to showing new artworks from other local artists.
Moerlein Lager House
Paying homage to the 19th century beer gardens, Moelein Lager House has become one of Cincinnati’s best breweries. They achieve this through the art of microbrewing. This means they make small batches of beers at a time, which allows them to be able to put for focus into the flavor being perfect in each batch. They also have great bread, hand made to order sandwiches, and smoked rotisserie meat. They offer other foods as well but are well known for their sandwiches.
Rivertown Brewery & Barrel House
Rivertown Brewery and Barrel House is a family-owned establishment. It not only has a taproom full of all the great brews they make, but it also has a BBQ eatery on-site for people to get some great food to enjoy while they are drinking their beer. They brew in many different styles and flavors, which give people many different options to choose from. The BBQ is also done in different styles, such as St. Louis, the Carolinas, and Texas.
Big Ash Brewing
Big Ash Brewing was started in the founder’s home and quickly rose to one of the best breweries in Cincinnati. It started as a group of friends that would always meet at one friend’s house because of that friend had a beer cave. Each of the friends ended up pitching in and started creating brews, which they then sold. After 8 years, they had 52 different brew partners and over 200 batches of beer, which led to them deciding to open their own brewery.
The Boston Beer Company
The Boston Beer Company is another establishment that is run and owned by Samual Adams. They have always had the belief of brewing their beer with the utmost care and letting it sit for a long time before it is ever served. They always make sure their beer is never made with any corn syrup. The company that runs this brewery is such a well-known brand that they are held to rather high standards and are always coming up with new and great tasting flavors.
Fifty West Production Works
This Cincinnati brewing company is located in a building that was one a roadside speakeasy. Each of the brews that are made at this brewery is made with the utmost care and in small batches in order to allow the perfect brew. There are four virtues this company follows, and they are craftsmanship, innovation, tradition, and patience. They put these virtues into everything they brew in order to achieve the best quality possible. They want to be able to pay homage to the original brewers by keeping their tradition of making the best brews alive in today’s world.
Wiedemann’s Fine Beer, Brewery & Pub
This brewery was originally started by a German Immigrant that began brewing shortly after coming to the United States. He slowly perfected his method and flavors through many years of hard work. The newer brewery pays homage to the original brewery by keeping to the traditions that were started when it was first opened. Not only does it pay homage with the great tasting brews, but it also has settings that will put people in mind of the older lager houses.
Dead Low Brewing
The final brewery on our list of the best breweries in Cincinnati, Dead Low Brewing, got its name because a dead low is the lowest section of water a boat can safely navigate. It can be hard to navigate the dead low, and the creator of this brewery knows it takes time a patience. They put that method into their work on creating new brews through their brewery in order to provide the best taste for their customers. Each of the brews is made with the utmost patience and care in order to make sure the brewery gets the perfect flavor.