CINCINNATI BEER WEEK

It's that time again! The most wonderful week of the year - Cincinnati Beer Week - kicked off over the weekend and continues through Valentine's Day as the Queen City gears up for Beerfest, taking place at the convention center February 14 and 15. Over the course of eight days, venues across the tri-state will hold special events including beer tastings, dinners, keg tappings and more. 

Photo by Chris Nascimento, Cincinnati Beer Week

The highlight of Beer Week is the Collaboration Beer, concocted by a variety of local brewers. This year's pint is Hostivit, an Imperial Pilsner, that was brewed at the Christian Moerlein facilities. With over 90 venues participating across seven counties, 2014 Beer Week will be the biggest celebration to date. To find out where you can try Hostivit, or any other beertastic activity near you, check out the event calendar.

With beertastic events happening from morning through midnight at over 70 participating venues, there are plenty of opportunities to drink the best brews of the city. - See more at: http://www.cincywhimsy.com/2013/02/cincinnati-beer-week.html#sthash.HYKeKH8B.dpuf

With beertastic events happening from morning through midnight at over 70 participating venues, there are plenty of opportunities to drink the best brews of the city. - See more at: http://www.cincywhimsy.com/2013/02/cincinnati-beer-week.html#sthash.HYKeKH8B.dpuf

With beertastic events happening from morning through midnight at over 70 participating venues, there are plenty of opportunities to drink the best brews of the city. - See more at: http://www.cincywhimsy.com/2013/02/cincinnati-beer-week.html#sthash.HYKeKH8B.dpuf

With beertastic events happening from morning through midnight at over 70 participating venues, there are plenty of opportunities to drink the best brews of the city. - See more at: http://www.cincywhimsy.com/2013/02/cincinnati-beer-week.html#sthash.HYKeKH8B.dpuf

CINCY WINTER BEERFEST

With over 350 craft beers from 110 breweries, Cincy Beerfest made for a weekend of indulgence at the Duke Energy Convention Center. Armed with my VIP pass, 8 oz. souvenir mug, and 25 beer tickets, my friends and I set out to sample Friday night.

Kristen, Bob, myself and Paul do a cheers to beer.
Photo by 5chw4r7z

Lindsay, Missy, and Tiffany share a sample of Bell's Sparkling Ale.

Dan, Bob, Jesse, and Tony enjoying their first pour of the night.

After a little math, it would be hard pressed for someone to use all the tickets and drink 200 ounces of beer in a four hour period. That's the equivalent of about six Big Gulps. Instead, one should use the tickets for trying a variety by getting some half-pours, rather than taking on a full 8 ounce glass of each. Our group used an average of 11 - 14 tickets per person for the night.
 

MY TOP 3 BEERS OF  BEERFEST

Derailed Ale by Erie Brewing Company
Erie, Pennsylvania
Amber beer with subtle hints of black cherry and vanilla.

Yes, one of the best beers of the night was dispensed from a box truck.

La Trappe Quadrupel by Bierbrouwerij de Koningshoeven
Berkel-Enschot, Netherlands
Amber beer with subtle hints of fig and clove. A perfect combination of fruity and earthy.

Bumble Berry by Fat Head's Brewery
Cleveland, Ohio
Golden beer with strong notes of fresh blueberries with a touch of honey.

Donut cheeseburger.

Coffee and Milk Stout Floats

The Silent Disco started out like this...

...and looked like this by night's end.

RIVERTOWN BREWING COMPANY

As the celebration of Cincinnati Beer Week continues, check out our visit to Rivertown Brewing Company located in Lockland.

These handcrafted ales and lagers are cranked out in sets of 1,500 bottles per hour. With seven regular brews, six seasonal varieties, and six limited releases, Rivertown is quenching the thirst of all Cincinnati beer lovers.

Tour Rivertown's tap room for $5.00, plus get a free pint glass filled with beer. And yes, you get to keep the glass! Their tap room is open Thursday and Friday evenings, and from noon to 10:00PM on Saturdays.

Be sure to check out Rivertown Brewing at Cincy Beer Fest this weekend at the Duke Energy Convention Center.

CINCINNATI BEER WEEK

It's Thursday! You know what that means? It's the start of Cincinnati Beer Week, the second-annual, week-long celebration of craft beer leading up to the ultimate hoppening time, Cincy Beer Fest on February 15 & 16.

With beertastic events happening from morning through midnight at over 70 participating venues, there are plenty of opportunities to drink the best brews of the city. Events kick off today at noon with a tapping of a keg of the Collaboration Beer: Embree’s Northern Baltic Porter.

Photo by Chris Nascimento, Cincinnati Beer Week

For a full list of activities, check out the Beer Week Calendar, or follow their Twitter and Facebook page for minute-by-minute updates. 

TAP ROOM TROLLEY

Kicking off the prequel to Beerfest, organizers of Cincinnati Beer Week hosted the Tap Room Trolley, in which guests spent Saturday afternoon sampling some of the best craft beers in town. Participants were divided into groups and shuttled around to six local breweries in charter buses. Each brewery had six to twelve of their beers on tap, offered tastes or pints, and some served us food upon arrival. Several of the breweries also gave tours of their facilities.

Patrick of Mt. Carmel Brewing Company leads a tour of the facility.

Our group was Bus #1, led by Chris Nascimento of Brew Monkeys, a homebrew supply store in Bridgetown. Patient and fun, Chris did a fabulous job of wrangling the group and making sure we hit each brewery on time (which probably grew to be a challenge as they day went on.)

Chris chatting with those of us who boarded early.

En route to brewery #3!
Photo by Chris Nascimento

The tour began at Moerlein Lager House, where guests checked in and had time to grab a quick bite before boarding the Tap Room Trolley. Then for the next six hours, our bus transported us around to the following breweries: 50 West, Mt. Carmel, Listermann, Rivertown, and Rock Bottom.

50 West

Mt. Carmel

Listermann

Rivertown

In addition to being toted around on the buses, our admission snagged us a stylish Tap Room Trolley tee shirt and sampling glass. Later on, we picked up a Rivertown Brewery Pumpkin Ale glass filled with the beer of our choice, plus an exclusive tour of the Rivertown brewing room, all courtesy of Hoperatives.

With over 250 people in attendance, Tap Room Trolley definitely built the excitement for all of the Cincinnati beer festivities taking place in February.