The Best Breweries in Ohio

Ohio has over 400 breweries, but which are the best? In ranking order, here are the best breweries in Ohio:

Planning an Ohio trip? Check out my Columbus beer and travel guide here, Cleveland guide here, Dayton guide here, Cincinnati blog here and Hocking Hills blog here.

Jackie O’s Brewing: Athens & Columbus

Jackie O’s is best known for their stupendous Barrel Aged Stouts, Barleywines and Porters. Everything they make is delicious, but their barrel aging program is really what makes them the number one brewery in Ohio. Jackie O’s has four locations in Athens—Public House Restaurant, Uptown Brewpub, Taproom and Brewery and The Bakeshop and they also have Jackie O’s on Fourth in Columbus.

CLAG Brewing Company: Sandusky

CLAG is quietly emerging as a powerhouse brewery cranking out stellar IPAs, Lagers and Stouts. Their taproom is shared with Small City Taphouse and both tap lists are full of incredible beers and guest taps. They’ve got delicious food as well. This spot is a delight to visit.

Hoof Hearted Brewing: Marengo & Columbus

Hoof Hearted is definitely a “hype brewery” but they live up to their hype. They are best known for their IPAs, but their Stouts and Sours are also great. Their original taproom is in Marengo and they have a second space in downtown Columbus.

Listermann Brewing: Cincinnati

Listermann is easily the best brewery in Cincinnati. Their Stouts and Sours are superb, but everything they make is generally great. Their taproom is right off Xavier University’s campus and has chill vibes.

Masthead Brewing Co: Cleveland

Masthead crushes the Hazy IPA game. Located in downtown Cleveland, their taproom is a fun and spacious building with a pizza kitchen as well. Their barrel aged beers are also gaining notoriety.

Little Fish Brewing Company: Athens & Dayton

Little Fish is focused on using local ingredients for both their beers and their farm-to-table restaurant menu. Their Wild Ales, Sours and Stouts are what they do best. Their original taproom is in Athens and they have a satellite space in Dayton.

Land Grant Brewing Company: Columbus

Land Grant has a large tap list with a large variety of beers available. Their Sours are the most impressive but everything is well done. They have a massive outdoor space and frequent events.

Branch and Bone Artisanal Ales: Dayton

Branch and Bone is making unique and delicious beers in Dayton. They are known for their our Wild Ales, Saisons and Mixed Fermentation Styles, but their tap list always has a large variety of beers for any palate.

What are your top breweries in Ohio? Let me know in the comments! Cheers—Alexis

24 Hours in Cincinnati

To split up our road trip from Michigan back to Charlotte we decided to spend a day in Cincinnati! Although we were just there for a quick visit we drank some delicious beers and visited some cool spots that I would definitely recommend!

Listermann Brewing: By far the best brewery we visited in Cincy. Their beer was absolutely incredible! We tried a wide variety of their brews and enjoyed each of them. Listermann has a small patio that is dog friendly and chill vibes overall.

Cappy’s Bottle Shop: We were lucky enough to pop into Cappy’s just down the street from Listermann and found some amazing beers! I would definitely recommend grabbing some to-go options while in Cincy.

Highgrain Brewing: We had a fantastic experience at Highgrain. Their beers were delicious and we had an incredible lunch as well! Their sour beers were my personal favorite and I loved my fried green tomato BLT. Highgrain has three different patio seating options and dogs are welcome outside. Their staff was incredibly nice as well, this is a must visit in Cincy!

MadTree Brewing: MadTree is absolutely massive. They have a huge indoor space and large outdoor patio in an old railroad production facility that is quite unique. They have a large tap list and Catch-a-Fire Pizza onsite as well with yummy wood-fired pizzas that we enjoyed.

Rhineghist Brewing: We had of course intended to visit Rhineghist, the biggest brewery in the city and the second largest in the state. It was one of the main reasons we picked Cincy to stop in. However, we’re personally not doing indoor seating due to COVID (it’s an airborne disease for anyone who is not clear on that) and they closed their outdoor seating on the covered rooftop due to rain. I was pretty disappointed that they weren’t offering any outdoor seating options during a pandemic, but hey maybe next time.

Northern Row Brewing: After our disappointment at Rhineghist we walked around the corner to Northern Row, a brewery and distillery. We had average Hazy IPAs but a delicious pretzel! They had a little bit of everything and overall it was a good experience.

Have you been to Cincy? What are your favorite spots? Let me know in the comments!