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September is Bourbon Heritage Month and Cincinnati is ready to celebrate!
Bourbon is a type of whiskey, but not all whiskeys are bourbon. In order to be bourbon, it must contain at least 51% corn in its mash, it must be aged in new, charred-oak barrels, and it must be stored at no more than 125 proof and bottled at no less than 80 proof. Though bourbon can technically be made anywhere in the US, 95% of the world’s bourbon is produced in Kentucky, our neighbor just to the south.
It is for that reason that we have a lot of great bourbon bars, events, and even bourbon-inspired foods in our area. Below is a comprehensive list of all things bourbon to try during Bourbon Heritage Month and beyond.
Old Fashioned cocktail from Mid City Restaurant
Food
There are so many excellent bourbon-inspired menu items across the region. Here are a handful of suggestions of what to get at nearby local restaurants.
Note: Menus are always changing and can be viewed on the link shared for each restaurant.
Bourbon peach confit jumbo wings from HighGrain Brewing Co.
Desserts
The creativity that goes into making a bourbon-inspired dish is fascinating, and the relationship between Bourbon and dessert will always be a fun combination.
Bouquet Restaurant (Covington)
Bread Pudding Stuffed Croissant topped with bourbon glaze
Rare vintage bottle of bourbon at Revival Vintage Bottle Shop in Covington
Distilleries
We all know about the famed Kentucky Bourbon Trail, but we have some pretty great distilleries nearby, too. Here are several local options, including the type of bourbon they produce onsite.
Choose your own adventure featuring 41 distilleries, tours, tastings, activities, big-city nightlife, quaint country towns, Bourbon-themed hotels, historic bed & breakfast accommodations, and more.
Written by: Linsey Kraeling – Woman, wife, and mother about town, proud millennial, and lifelong Cincinnatian with an invested interest in community involvement and having a full plate—literally and figuratively. Follow along with and read more about eating like a sophisticated six-year-old, supporting local, and acting like a tourist in her own city at instagram.com/linsinnati and tourdecincinnati.com.
August 5 is International Beer Day, so to celebrate the occasion, we are filling you up with all the local beer knowledge you need to get out and enjoy all of the wonderful brewery and beer options our great city has to offer.
What makes a brewery great is so much more than just having good beer. Sure, that helps, but there are so many other qualities that go into a taproom to make it stand out. The overall taproom experience includes the ambiance, food options, and other events and “amenities” (like having games and being kid or even dog friendly). The good thing? Cincinnati has an abundance of great craft breweries.
Just check out the comprehensive list below!
Cincy Brewery Roundup Click Image to Read More!
Best Outdoor Seating
We can’t be the only ones who love patio beers. These places around Cincinnati allow you to take in great sights and sips on their rooftops and in their beer gardens.
Rhinegeist Rooftop
Braxton Brewing Company (Covington)
Large rooftop with live wall and bar
Fibonacci Brewing Company (Mt. Healthy)
Biergarten with urban farm, animals, stage for live music, and occasional food trucks
Mt. Carmel Brewing Company (Mt. Carmel)
Expansive patio seating options with pond view
OTR StillHouse (OTR)
Biergarten with StillHouse access; order drinks via QR code directly to your table
Rhinegeist (OTR)
Large rooftop bar overlooking downtown and the city basin
Streetside Brewery (Columbia Tusculum)
Brand new updated patio area, complete with a bar and several picnic tables
From trivia nights and acoustic sets to free workouts and markets, these breweries always have something going on in their taproom.
WestSide Brewing Workout
Bircus Brewing Company (Ludlow, KY)
Circus-inspired microbrewery featuring circus performances and family-friendly events, as well as markets and live music
Esoteric Brewing Company (Walnut Hills)
Drag shows, karaoke, markets, live music, and community events
Fretboard Brewing Company (Blue Ash)
This Blue Ash-based brewery moonlights as a live music venue, showcasing entertainment every Friday and Saturday
Fibonacci Brewing Company (Mt. Healthy)
Live music in the biergarten, urban farm (with farm animals), and onsite Airbnb
West Side Brewing (Westwood)
Open mic night, trivia, pop-ups, markets, workouts, and community events
Best Onsite Food/Menu
A lot of local breweries have food trucks and pop-ups, but not all of them have onsite menus. From elevated bar food to unique menu items, here are some of the best.
Apps, soup and salad, wings, pizza, handhelds, burgers
Esoteric Brewing Company (Walnut Hills)
Decibel Korean Fried Chicken operates out of a window at Esoteric, serving brunch on Sundays from 10 to 2
Fifty West Burger Bar (Columbia Twp)
Burger bar, hot dogs, shakes, fries, shareables
HighGrain Brewing Co (Silverton)
Elevated bar food menu updated seasonally, including apps, salads, entrees, and brunch on Saturday and Sunday
Nine Giant (Pleasant Ridge)
Scratch-made bar food changing regularly
Sonder Brewing (Mason)
BrewRiver scratch kitchen serving brunch, snacks, burgers and sandwiches, and desserts
Third Eye Brewing Company (Sharonville)
Taco menu offered every Tuesday, and apps, shareables, and sandwiches Wednesday through Sunday
Best Taproom Pizza
Pizza served at a brewery isn’t all that hard to come by and, while they’re all pretty good, here are some that come highly recommended.
Cartridge Brewing Pizza
16 Lots Brewing Company (Mason)
In-house pizza kitchen serving artisan pizzas, salads, and breadsticks
Little Miami Brewing Company (Milford)
Brick oven scratch pizza kitchen (GF cauliflower crust is available); brunch pizza available on the weekends
MadTree Brewing (Oakley)
Catch-A-Fire wood-fired pizza, including brunch pizza available on Saturdays and Sundays
Taft’s Brewpourium (Spring Grove Village)
Serving up New Haven-style Apizza, a thin-crust, coal-fired Neapolitan-style pizza popular around New Haven, CT
Best Satellite Taprooms
These breweries may have started in another city, state, or even country, but we still treat them as our own here in the Queen City.
Sam Adams Cincinnati Taproom
BrewDog (Pendleton)
Scotland-based carbon neutral brewery opened its second-largest US brewpub in Pendleton in 2019
Hofbrauhaus (Newport)
Who needs to be in Germany when you’ve got authentic German food, beer, and events right across the river in Newport?
North High Brewing (Hyde Park)
Columbus, based North High brought its brewpub to Hyde Park in 2021
Sam Adams Cincinnati (OTR)
We all know that “Boston-based” Samuel Adams brews a lot of its beer in Cincinnati and we are more than happy to claim it as our own
Best Friends to the Environment
These breweries are committed to sustainability, conservation, and advocating for the environment.
High GrainEnvironment
Fibonacci Brewing Company (Mt. Healthy)
The country’s only urban farm brewery features beers brewed with many ingredients procured on the premises. They also offer classes on food waste prevention and native bees and pollinators.
HighGrain Brewing Co (Silverton)
HighGrain is on a journey towards independently achieved carbon neutrality and decreasing their footprint. They are powered by 100% renewable electric, have a native plant garden, use geothermal HVAC, and locally source goods.
MadTree Brewing (Oakley)
MadTree is committed to reducing their environmental impact. They are members of 1% FOR THE PLANET, which donates 1% of their annual sales to nonprofits focused on environmental sustainability.
Most Beautiful Taprooms
The brewing industry is an historic one here in Cincinnati, so it’s no surprise that many taprooms are beautiful and historic, too.
Cartridge TaproomTaft’s Ale House Interior
Cartridge Brewing (Kings Mills)
Taproom of windows flooded with natural light in the Peters Cartridge Factory
MadTree Brewing (Oakley)
MadTree’s 50,000-square-foot, $18 million expansion brewing facility was built in 2017, complete with event spaces, beer garden, Catch-A-Fire pizza kitchen.
Taft’s Ale House (OTR)
Three-level brewpub located in the former St. Paul’s German Evangelical Church—an $8 million renovation completed in 2015
Most Kid Friendly
This topic may be controversial in some craft beer circles, but a lot of people don’t want to quit going out and enjoying beer just because they have little ones in their lives. These places aren’t just kid friendly, they are even welcoming to children. (During the day, anyway—probably don’t have the youngins out at the bar past bedtime.)
Fifty West – Kid FriendlyFibonacci – Kid Friendly
BrewDog (Pendleton)
A mezzanine chock full of games plus a free photo booth
Fibonacci Brewing Company (Mt. Healthy)
Urban farm with animals and plenty of green space to play
Fifty West Brewing Company (Columbia Twp)
Kid-friendly food from the Burger Bar plus an enormous sandbox (volleyball courts on league nights)
Cincinnati has a rich and robust brewing heritage, so be sure to get out and check out our many great breweries and the excellent beers being brewed by them on International Beer Day and always.
Linsey Kraeling is a woman, wife, and mother about town, proud millennial, and lifelong Cincinnatian with an invested interest in community involvement and having a full plate—literally and figuratively. Follow along with and read more about eating like a sophisticated six-year-old, supporting local, and acting like a tourist in her own city at instagram.com/linsinnati and tourdecincinnati.com.
Cincinnati, Ohio, Thursday, June 30th — Ignite Entertainment is thrilled to announce the opening of the former, longstanding In Between Tavern. In Between Tavern is an iconic Cincinnati bar and restaurant located directly across from Great American Ballpark. This fifteenth concept to launch under the Ignite Entertainment Community makes the company one of the largest locally owned and operated hospitality groups in Cincinnati.
Welcoming The In Between Tavern
The original In Between Tavern began serving the home team and visitors an unmatched game day experience in 1969. The bar was closed in 2016, and the building was sold to the most recent owners who opened Corner Bistro, operating through early 2021. In Between Tavern became a staple for game days from the beginning, and in the new era, owner Juan Imeroni has revived, yet carefully preserved this Cincinnati destination while putting the “Ignite touch” on the venue. The bar features roughly 4500 sq ft of indoor and outdoor space, a freshly updated, expansive outdoor space, opportunities for private events in an indoor area off the main bar, and a fun and unique Cincinnati-themed lunch and pre-game menu.
In Between Tavern Indoor and Outdoor Space
What’s New
In Between’s menu has been curated to showcase Cincinnati’s love for sports and affinity for pork and sausages. Offerings come from local butchers, including Avril Bleh, Wassler’s, and Redden’s, available as “Cincinnati-Style Dogs” and BallparkStyle Dogs,” aptly named for the city’s eclectic neighborhoods and favorite sports rivalries. The menu additionally offers Smash-Burgers, available as a single 4oz patty, or as a double, triple, or home run (four patties), available with any of the four styles of burgers. The menu is rounded out with additional sandwiches, a selection of salads, wraps, and appetizers, including Authentic Argentine Empanadas from sister business, Ché in Over-the-Rhine.
“Bringing back to life an iconic destination like In Between is a dream” said owner, Juan Imeroni. “It’s everything I love about this city, in an amazing location, and we’ll serve the home team and visitors alike, just like they did here previously, for over fifty years. We’ve made some upgrades, and done some fine-tuning, but otherwise, we wanted to preserve all the Cincinnati sports history that was here before, add to to it, and make it a place for people to enjoy what’s on the walls and tables around them just as much as they enjoy the food and drinks.”
In addition to the revamped outdoor space, Imeroni is adding a retractable garage door opening in the main bar, bringing both the indoor and outdoor space together, with plans to extend the retractable door opening later this year. A dedicated private event space has been carved out in the annexed room that will be able to entertain groups of up to fifty guests, and comfortable lounge seating has been brought in to enjoy the games on the nearly twenty flat screen TVs.
Opening Date
In Between Tavern hosted a soft opening event on Saturday, June 25th, with Bengal Jim’s “Jungle to the Hall” event, rallying for select Bengals players to be enshrined in the Football Hall of Fame, in Canton, Ohio. The event was attended by over 200 Bengal’s fans, and featured past Bengal’s greats, with a themed scavenger hunt, door prizes, and music. Tickets for the event were sold out, and benefitted three local charities: the Ken Anderson Alliance, the Ken Riley Foundation, and the Cincinnati Music Accelerator.
In Between Tavern opens to the public on Monday, July 11th and will be open seven days a week for lunch and dinner. For more information, follow In Between Tavern on social media. (@InBetweenCincy on Facebook)
About Ignite Entertainment
Over the past ten years, Ignite Entertainment’s Juan Imeroni has redeveloped, renovated, and designed fifteen restaurant, bar, and coffee shop destinations in the Cincinnati-metro area. Each of Imeroni’s venues in the Ignite Entertainment Community are unique in concept, atmosphere, and offerings. Imeroni’s Ignite Community venues include: O’Malley’s in the Alley, Gypsy’s Mainstrasse, The Blind Pig, Lola’s Coffee + Bar, Ché OTR, Butcher and Barrel, The Birdcage LGBTQ+ Bar and Lounge, The View at Shires’ Garden, Kon-Tiki on the Levee, Ché on Wheels Catering and Food Truck, Pampas Argentine Gastropub, The Dog Haus Bar, Ché Empanadas y Más, Shires’ Cafe, and In Between Tavern. More information on the Ignite Community destinations is available online at IgniteCincy.com.
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Does your business offer Savings/Deals? Run Promotions/Discounts? Email us today at info@everythingcincy.com to learn how we can help promote your offerings!
Brunch has become one of the most beloved weekend activities around. We are making it easy for you to find the best establishments to enjoy brunch by providing a list all in one place! From Everything Cincy Clients to coffee shops, restaurants, and hotels all around Cincy/Northern Kentucky, you will have endless brunch options.
Hotel CovingtonGalla Park GastroPampasOverlook Kitchen + BarThe View at Shires’ Garden
Does your business offer Savings/Deals? Run Promotions/Discounts? Email us today at info@everythingcincy.com to learn how we can help promote your offerings!
Does your business offer Savings/Deals? Run Promotions/Discounts? Email us today at info@everythingcincy.com to learn how we can help promote your offerings!
