Cleveland, OH

Cleveland gets a bad rap because well…it’s Cleveland. They have a ton of breweries and an overall fun vibe, check it out!

Forest City Tips: 

• Fun fact, Cleveland’s nickname is The Forest City! There is a bunch of nature surrounding the city, so be sure to venture out into it!

• Per all of my Midwest USA tips—I would recommend visiting May-October for the most joyful experience because winter is real and not fun when you’re walking around a new city!

• You can see Cleveland in a weekend, you don’t need to plan for much longer of a trip.

• Snag a Cleveland Brewery Passport and mail it in for prizes!

Adventures & Ales Top Cleveland Recommendations: ​

• Masthead Brewing Co: The best beer I had in Cleveland! The atmosphere is fun, they’ve got a pizza kitchen, long tables to share, friendly staff, and fantastic brews!

• Butcher and the Brewer: Located on the super cute 4th Street that is full of bars and restaurants, this brewery and restaurant combo has a fire Albino Stout that is worth a try and a fun outdoor patio to hang out on.

• Town Hall: A craft beer bar and restaurant combo with fantastic brunch and cheap Happy Hour specials. Located in the heart of the Ohio City neighborhood. Check out their back patio if the weather is nice!

• Bookhouse Brewing: Actually like a house full of books! This place is super cute and has fantastic beers. They’ve got a small snack food list, frequent food trucks, and lots of board games if you’d rather play something than read a book!

• Terrestrial Brewing: Located across the highway from Edgewater Park with a view of Lake Erie. Delicious beers and the most dogs I’ve ever seen at a brewery (insert heart eyes emoji here!)

• Noble Beast Brewing Co: Their taproom is combined with the brewing space which I love! Really good beers and fun vibes

• Collision Bend Brewing: Located right on the river, this brewery has a full food menu, a killer Happy Hour, and lots of outdoor seating

Butcher and the Brewer

Cleveland Tourist Spots Actually Worth Visiting: ​

• Brewnuts: This ever-popular donut and beer bar combo is worth the hype. Delicious donuts? Check. Fantastic tap list? Check. Do it up!

• West Side Market: Cleveland’s large city market with food stalls in a historic building

  • Market Square Park is directly across the street and home to open air markets and frequent events

• Great Lakes Brewing: Also right across from the West Side Market, this big name brewery lets you choose between outdoor seating, indoor-upstairs restaurant-style seating, or the indoor-downstairs pub-style atmosphere. Check out the mural on the back wall for a solid photo opp!

• Edgewater Park: A great place to hang out on the lake or catch a sunset!

• Rocky River Reservation: A nature park with trails and picnic areas. Heads up I’ve read some sketchy things about this park so be cautious.

• Fat Head’s Brewing: The local’s favorite! Fat Head’s has won a plethora of awards for their beers. They have two locations in Cleveland that each have different beers on tap. The newer location in Middlebury Heights is conveniently located near the airport if you’re flying in/out of the city and has fun beer garden vibes inside, along with a full food menu.

• Cuyahoga Valley National Park: This National Park is located 30 minutes south of Cleveland.

  • Brandywine Falls: This is the main attraction of the park. There is a short .3 mile/10 minute long boardwalk trail to see the falls or a 1.4 mile/35 minute loop trail along the creek. Parking is limited, but since it is so quick you can normally get a spot.

  • Ledges Trail: This is an easy 2.3 mile long trail with 203ft of elevation gain that takes about an hour to complete. There are some neat rock formations and slot canyons, but otherwise it is a bit boring.

Market Garden Brewery

Other Cleveland Things To Do:​​

• Saucy Brew Works: Restaurant style brewery with delicious pizzas and skee ball!

• Market Garden Brewery: Located directly next to West End Market, this brewery has a full food menu and cute outdoor patio with a fire pit.

• Forest City Brewing: A vintage-style brewery with a large outdoor space, games, and a snack menu.

• Wander the Flats East Bank area: A very walkable area on the river with lots of bars and restaurants, though a bit touristy

  • Thirsty Dog Brewing is here. They have indoor and outdoor seating and cute dog bone flights, though the beers weren’t super impressive

• Moe’s Tavern Brewing: A very interesting little space with tasty bar food and pub vibes

• Platform Beer Co.: They sold out to Anheuser-Busch which was quite disappointing, but when I visited their were still independently owned and had solid beers

On an Ohio kick? Check out my Columbus recs here!

Dayton, OH

Dayton is your classic Small Midwestern City with a few good spots to explore!

Dayton Tips: 

• Dayton is pretty small so I would recommend just a day or two to explore.

• I would recommend trying to stay closer to the university area or downtown! The outskirts of Dayton are not always super safe, so the closer to downtown the better.

• On a road trip through Ohio? Check out my guides to Cincinnati, Columbus, Cleveland, and Hocking Hills!

Adventures & Ales Top Dayton Recommendations:

• The Barrel House: A fantastic beer bar with a killer tap list and phenomenal selection of cans and bottles for on-site consumption or to-go. If you can only go to one place in Dayton this is the number one spot! Highly recommend.

• Branch and Bone Artisanal Ales: A nice little spot with tasty beers and friendly staff members. They have a small dog-friendly patio as well.

• Nowhere in Particular Cabinet of Curiosities: A very funky brewery with some delicious beers and some average beers. Overall I would recommend checking it out. They are dog-friendly inside and out!

The Barrel House

Other things to do in Dayton:

• Warped Wing Brewing Company: A solid brewery in a converted warehouse with a massive tap list. They have a kitchen as well with tasty food! There is no outdoor seating option here so dogs are not welcome.

• Toxic Brew Company: A solid brewery right downtown with a wide range of brews.

• Ghostlight Coffee: A great coffee shop with two locations in town.

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!