Downtown Columbus, Ohio: Four Craft Breweries

On our recent visit to Origins Game Fair in downtown Columbus, I had the opportunity to visit 4 independent small breweries.  Here is a brief report on each, and a list of the beer I sampled.

Elevator Brewing Company  

 Entrance to Elevator Brewing Company, High Street.

The brewery began in a grain elevator in a small Ohio city.  There is no

elevator at the Columbus facility.

This is one of the prettiest brewpubs I have had the pleasure of visiting.  I visited on a Friday just after 5 pm, and it wasn't that busy.  The building dates from 1898, and was built as a gentleman's club and billiards room.  It has been lovingly restored and the interior is breath-taking.  It is worth the trip downtown just to see this marvellous place.  Unfortunately, I brought Deb back on Saturday to show it to her, but it did not open until 5 pm.  Not good for a downtown business.  Unacceptable, in fact.  That remains my only complaint about this pub.

Interior of the bar.  There is a lot of large stained glass, and beautiful mahogany 

is everywhere.  Internet photo.

 View from dining area towards the bar and front entrance.  Billiard tables are behind me, at the very rear.  The atmosphere here is exceptional!

Type:  Brewpub.

Number of craft taps:  10+

Cask Ale: No.

Draft Cider: No.

Bottle selection: No.  Some for takeout only. 

Samples and Flights:  Yes. 

Vegan Food Options:  Yes.

Interior:  To die for.

Overall Rating:  ** 1/2 stars.

I tried four of their ales, rating them 1* to 3*s.

Heifer Weizen:  **s.  5.5%.  Served very cold.

Dirty Dick's Nut Brown Ale:  ***s.  6%.  Full-bodied, rich flavour.

Mocha Plum Stout:  ** stars 6%.  Served at a proper temperature!  Very dark and rich.  Flavour is more subtle than expected.

Gordon Biersch Brewing Company 

 Pub entrance, near the hockey arena in downtown Columbus.  

This is part of an Ohio chain.  I did not have high expectations for their beer, but I was in for a surprise!

Type:  Brew pub; sports bar. 

Number of craft taps:  9:

Cask ale:  No.

Cider taps:  No.

Bottle Selection:  No.

Samples and Flights:  Yes.

Specialties:  German beer.

Vegan Options:  Yes.

Interior:  Large sports bar filled with TV screens.  Sigh.

Overall Rating:  ** 1/2 stars.  I am not a fan of "sports" bars.  This one has fabulous beer.

I sampled six beer.  Apparently a five glass  sampler includes a 6th.

Hefeweizen:  ** 1/2 stars.  5.5%.  Satisfying on a hot day, with good flavour.

Maibock:  *** stars.  7%.  A seasonal beer with excellent flavour, which lasts long after sipping.

Blood Orange IPA:  *** stars.  5.8%.  Very fruity and refreshing, with a minimum of IPA flavour.  An excellent ale.

Chocolate Rye Stout:  ** 1/2 stars.  4.6%.  Heavy on the coffee flavour, which I adore.

Mocha Stout:  *** stars.  4.6%.  Dark and spicy, there is a lot of coffee in this full bodied ale.

House IPA (given free without asking):  *** stars.  6.4%.  My favourite IPA is produced by Marble Brewery in Albuquerque, NM.  This is pretty much an exact replica!

Barley's Brewing Company  

 Lots of dark wood and booths inside Barley's.  

Located directly opposite the Columbus Convention Centre, where Origins is held.  The Origins weekend is the busiest of the year for the pub.

Type:  Brewpub.

Number of craft taps:  9.

Cask ale:  Yes, every Friday!

Craft cider?  No.

Bottle selection.  Nothing interesting.  Needs work.

Samples and flights:  Yes.

Vegan options.  Yes.

Interior:  Historic building with high tin ceiling; wainscoting; booths with brass fittings.

Overall Rating:  ** 1/2 stars.

I sampled 3 ales, including the current cask offerings (I had 2nds of this one!).

Point of Origin:  ** stars.  4.8%.  Special brew for the game fair, it was a Belgian Golden Ale.  Very refreshing, and went well with our meal.

Russian Imperial Stout:  ** stars.  7.6%.  Good and solid, but not memorable.

Sensual (or Sexual?) Chocolate:  ** 1/2 stars.  ?%  This week's cask offering featured chocolate and vanilla, and was dark, rich, and full-bodied.  I had two 5 oz. samples.

Wolf's Ridge Brewing Company  

The brewing tanks and the bar. 

It was quiet in the main bar and restaurant on a late afternoon Saturday.  However, the separate tap room, which can be reached from here but also has a separate entrance, was packed.  We sat at the quiet bar and chatted with the very friendly bartender.

Type:  Brewpub.

Number of craft taps:  12.

Cask Ale:  No.

Craft Cider:  In bottles.

Bottle selection.  No.

Samples and flights:  Yes. 

Specialty:  Cream ales.

Vegan options.  Limited.

Interior:  Modern Industrial, with plenty of chrome.  Tap room separate.  Nice bar in main restaurant.

Overall rating:  ** 1/2 stars.

I sampled 3 ales.  All were good to excellent.

Hefe:  ** stars.  5 %.  A good Hefe.

Daybreak Cream Ale:  *** stars.  5%.  Wonderful coffee aroma.

Terre du Sauvage Blue:  ***+ stars.  5.5%.  Barrel-aged sour with 40% oats, and conditioned on fresh citrus.  Must be tasted to be believed!!!

We also ate at a place called Melt!, which is an Ohio chain that features gourmet grilled cheese sandwiches.  They offer vegan cheese and a wide vegan menu.  In addition, they offer a number of craft taps.  Love this place!!!

 Interior of Melt, on High Street, Columbus.

I came across Brioso Cafe and Roastery on my walk to the Museum of Art.  I had a cold brew, then brought Deb back next morning for her espresso.  We bought coffee beans here, too.  A great place, and a small city parking lot next door.  We parked here all day Saturday for $3!

Mapman Mike

 

 

Columbus, Ohio: Origins Game Fair 2018

We made our 2nd annual visit to Origins Game and Film Festival in Columbus, Ohio.  The event is held downtown at the colossal convention center.  It is jam-packed with board game geeks who come to play and to shop.  Besides thousands of board games for sale there are booths selling clothing, knick-knacks, game add-ons, model cities, forts, ships, etc, and artists displaying original fantasy and SF art, as well as authors trying to sell their books.  It is certainly fun to visit.  The film festival is small. but they showed two of Deb's films (for the 2nd year in a row!).  Acceptance gets her two entry badges for the entire 5-day festival, worth $70 each.  Here are the three games we came home with this year.

 Front of the boxes.

Back of Planetarium.  This one also came with a free SF expansion pack!  Scroll right...

 Back Of Cthulu Tales

 Back of Dr. Who box.  

There were about half a dozen other games I could have bought.  The Dr. Who Game was from last year, but the booth had sold out by the time we went back.  This year we bought it sooner.  The same game comes also as a box using only the newer Doctors, with an expansion added for the newest (Peter Capaldi) one.

Deb wanted to attend some of the film events on Friday afternoon.  I made the mile long walk to the Columbus Museum of Art instead, meeting up at 6 pm with Deb at a nearby pub.  The Museum of Art is a small one by Ohio big city standards, with much larger and more important collections found in Cleveland, Toledo, and Cincinnati.  However, it's a decent spot to spend a few hours.  A modern addition wraps around the old original building, with lots of space for temporary exhibits and local artists.  Ten themed galleries surround Derby Court, and I spent a good deal of time browsing here.  there is also a cafe, where I stopped for some refreshment, and an outdoor sculpture garden where I sat and read for a time.

Columbus Museum of Art

 Entrance foyer, with Derby Court in background.

Entrance ceiling.

Derby Court, the centre of the old building.  Ten themed galleries surround it.

Gallery hallway.

 Gallery 1 had a quilt show, with a flower theme.

 Gallery 1.

Half of a gallery was devoted to the folk art of Mr. Pierce, which was a highlight of my visit.

Migrating North, by Pierce.

Another great work by Elijah Pierce!  Scroll right...

Another hallway, which served as additional gallery space.

The best of a small series they had by Matisse.

Sunflowers in a Wind Storm, by Emil Nolde.

Lhasa, by Charles Sheeler

They had 3 good works by Monet, including this unusual forest scene. 

The central and largest of the older galleries is devoted to Old Masters.  People are encouraged to write their thoughts on little cards, and pin them to a bulletin board.

Close up of above.

 See below for tag...

Old building showing newer addition.

From within the cafe, looking out towards the sculpture garden.

Far corner of the sculpture garden, looking back towards the cafe.  I sat out here and read for a time before joining Deb downtown.

Downtown Columbus is littered with about 20 skyscrapers, though none of the modern ones are architecturally interesting from the outside.  This is the Chase Building, the 12th tallest in town and 357' high.  Today, people were allowed to climb it with ropes!  There are 3 climbers on their way down.

Columbus is the state capital, and this is the building.

From 1906, this is now the 28th tallest building in Columbus, at 180'.  Detail of the ornate summit.

  

Internet photo of downtown Columbus, Ohio, skyline.

 Internet photo of LeVeque Tower.  It is the 2nd tallest in town at 555', and was built in the 1920s.  It's worth a trip downtown to visit!

Mapman Mike