The BrassTap, “Drink Like a Local”…The largest collection of Local Cincinnati Beer on draft anywhere!

Fans of local Cincinnati Beer…heads up and hold to your mugs!  The BrassTap, located in Clifton across the street from U.C, is opening this weekend officially on Sunday.  Now, you might be wondering why a Local Beer Online Community like CincinnatiBeer.org would cover a bar?  There are three reasons.  The first, this just isn’t any bar!  Second is that when the BrassTap opens on Sunday they are launching with the largest collection of local Cincinnati Beer on draft in the city!  The third is that the mantra of the company is “Drink Like A Local”! (dang, wish I would have thought of that mantra!) (I know….who says “dang”?)

Mic, the managing partner, along with his parents Marta and Mike Foster are opening The Brass Tap this Sunday, 29 September.  When they launch, they will be serving up 21 Local Cincinnati Beers.  They have 80 taps available of great beer overall and their goal is that they will get to 30 of their taps being dedicated to Local Cincinnati Beer. Cool random side note:  Mic, Marta and Mike had been working on this concept for about two years, but it was actually mom (Marta) that discovered the BrassTap opportunity in Tampa at The BrassTap Headquarters…way to go Mom!!!! (Moms rock!) (I’ll be sending this review to my mom now…)

Not only will The BrassTap have the largest collection of Local Cincinnati Beer, but by my calculation will have the best prices!  There is a happy hour that runs every day (except Sunday) until 9pm which knocks $2 off of all drafts which should make The BrassTap the best local Cincinnati beer deal in town!  That’s right, that’s not a misprint…Happy Hour runs until 9pm! They also have ½ price beers on Monday until 9pm! It’s crazy; that means until 9pm you will be able to drink some local Cincinnati Beer for 2-4 dollars!

For the opening, Mic is requiring that the 22 newly minted servers go through a 5 day “Beer Boot-Camp”.  (See below for this in action) Beer Boot Camp covers the essentials; history of brewing, types of beers, appropriate glassware etc.   According to Mic this is a very knowledgeable beer staff under the guidance of GM Mike Kibitsch. 

 

This is largely a fine beer establishment with food not a major focus at all.  In fact, food won’t be available at all until November and when it is, it will simply be “snack” oriented.  So the space they saved by not having a big kitchen they used to build this huuuuuuuge beer cave!  I like this concept, I call it “Laser Beer Focus” (LBF)…See below:

 

I asked Mic about his reasoning for their location choice and he explained that there are other areas in Cincinnati that really might not need another establishment like his, The Banks, OTR etc., but that he felt that it was a unique offering for Clifton.  The BrassTap is located in the new U Square 78 Million Dollar development in Clifton and is surrounded by great dining choices.  Mic views his establishment as one of a couple of destinations that his customers would visit while they are out.  So wrapped around this Beer-Mecca called The BrassTap is a collection of neighborhood culinary opportunities to include with your brew infused festivities!  

Meanwhile, back to the beer….there are really some great beer events in the works.  WTF ALERT!!! (WTF-What The Firken) They will have a 10 tap take over every month.  In the works locally are Madtree and Rhinegeist.  Epic Brewery from Salt Lake will be on Oct 1 and Founders is scheduled for November.  Also monthly Firkens and Randall events are planned!  I admit, occasionally when no one is looking I actually drink fine ales from other locations other than Cincinnati and the fact that Epic and Founders will at some point have 10 taps dedicated is craaaaazy!  Mic did disclose that there will also be some considerably rare options served up by these brewers. 

The build-out of this “fine beer establishment” also includes a venue for live acoustic music.  Local acoustic artists are to be booked by local musician Donnie Bray. The build out includes a kinda “Romeo and Juliet” balcony for the musicians to play on that overlooks the back room.  (What, drawn, and talk of peace! I hate the word, As I hate hell, all Montagues, and thee: Have at thee, coward!...oops…sorry for the Shakespearian digression! ) Also included is a built-in PA System. As a former acoustic musician, I can tell you that it’s a really big deal to know that you don’t have to schlep a bunch of equipment but can just show up with guitar in hand, plug in and play! Are you kidding me? Local Beer and Local Music.  I feel like someone has been has been eavesdropping on my dreams and built a business plan around it!

Mic anticipates pushing 20K pints a fine brew a month! Make sure you are in the first thousand pint club! Although obviously (by law) Mic has to buy the local brews through distributors, he works directly with the local brewers themselves in the selection process, which he heads up, to determine which Local Cincinnati Beers he serves up.  This Sunday is D-Day….Saturday is a prelim Facebook launch! 

Be there or be U Square at the BrassTap in Clifton!

Clyde The BrewTruth

See below for his local beer list as it stands today! Also, Mic mentioned there will  be two surprise local Cincinnati kegs that will be served up next week!

Rhingeist Franz

Rhingeist Uncle

Rhingeist Cougar

Rhingeist Truth

BlankSlate pitter patter

BlankSlate Lesser Path

BlankSlate Ryesing

MadTree Pump can

MadTree Happy Amber

MadTree Psychopathy

Rivertown Dunkel

Christian Morlein OTR

Christian Morlein Oktoberfest

Mt. Carmel Harvest Ale

Sam Adams Angry Orchard

Listermann Jungle Honey

Listermann Triple Digit Nutcase

Triple Digit Decimation

Listermann Chickow

Double Barrel Bad Tom

Cellar Dweller Shawesome

Mt Carmel: Harvest Ale

 

Last week I stopped by the Local Beer Fest-Thang that 50W was hosting.  It was early in the day so there wasn’t much going on at that point.  Just a few people meandering around and I was one of those folks with more time than beer on my hands.  That worked out well because it afforded me the opportunity to meet Jared, one of the brewers at Mt Carmel. Since it was still early in the day and a bit slow, Jared and I chatted quite a bit, exchanged observations on the burgeoning beer scene in Cincinnati and were of one mind about who our favorite brewer in the city was at this point. I will admit, that prior to the meeting I hadn’t been the biggest fan (at least in my little mind) of Mt Carmel beer. Although it is a goal of mine to taste and review at least one brew from each brewery in Cincinnati to start with, I had put Mt Carmel towards the bottom of the list because it is, how should I say, a bit less sexy than the new breweries popping up in the city. (Beer snob disclaimer warning!) However, now that I have pulled my “beer snobbed head” out of my exterior end, I can not only see a lot better, but was absolutely blown away by the beer that I tasted from Mt Carmel.  Jared later invited me to the brewery this week which I, in a duty-bound way, accepted. 

 

 

 I literally passed the brewery up, blew by it like a wayward wind with no particular place to go.  I was on a bike and it was a very hot 90plus day.  I first smelled the brewery, you know that very distinctive smell, intoxicating aroma and blissful bouquet that only can be attributed to breweries, but I just kept riding.  I eventually lost the scent and like any good bird dog knew that I must have past it so I circled back to sneak up on it.  The converted farm house shelters the tasting room and the attached outbuilding hides the brewery.  The place comes equipped with the obligatory pond with a weeping willow leaning over the pond stretching its’ branches downward as if drinking the water offered up from the pond.  This was a very different setting than the Cincinnati breweries that I had reviewed so far.  These guys are literally making beer in their back yard (it’s just a really big back yard!)

The Mt Carmel Harvest ale is a “newer” recipe and the recipe is shared by Mike, Jared and Virgil and is the last of the four seasonals to be developed.  When Jared started with Mt Carmel, he took over for Anthony, who has now moved on to becoming a lawyer, (trying really hard not to provide commentary on that).  Jared had only a three week overlap with Anthony before he had to go solo and in the first month was when he nailed down the recipe for the Mt Carmel Harvest Ale.  I also met Virgil while at the Brewery, between Virgil, Jared and assistant brewer Matt they handle the entire brewery and bottling operation. 

What makes this beer particularly interesting is that it is a dry-hopped harvest ale.  Normally when “people” refer to a harvest ale it is because they used freshly harvested hops as opposed to dried hops.  However the boys at Mt Carmel have used dry-hopping to get the freshness.  Normally dry hopping with Cascade is done with an IPA for example.

GUEST BEER REVIEWER!!!:  I actually had Jared review his own beer and below are the notes from him describing his experience.  (pretty cool, huh?)

“the goal is a fully body ale, ESB.  Hops are English challenger and Cascade and then dry hopped with Cascade”

NOSE: “the nose is fresh, grassy, lemon citrus. 

TASTE: “Coates your entire tongue, full flavor across, velvety, not prickly, very smooth.  Not super hard up front.  Citrus is more of a rind flavor, not orange”

“…the Malt is slight sweet, biscuit quality almost graham like”

FINISH: “…not super dry, but dries up a bit, linger fresh hops on the tongue”

When I asked him what the Harvest Ale will taste like on the third beer he said:  “…the hops will take over, going back and forth between hops and the malt” 

Jared provided a great explanation of what to expect from this ale, this ale has a very approachable personality and immediately gets your attention. You like the ale when you first meet it and you like it even better the more you get to know it. 

5 Cool Brew Clues:  (Things to talk about and impress with whoever will listen with while partaking…)

1.  The color led them to the style, very fall like bright auburn color. 

 2. They have increased capacity 40 percent since May and have plans to continue to increase capacity. 

3.  The head is off white because of the malt, the roasted malt makes it a tan head

 4.  ABV 5.8, IBU 55

5.  They have a tap room only nut brown cask-conditioned coming soon

What I really like is how they “handle” their beer handles.  One of the things I see beer consumers struggle with is choosing new local beer because they’ve never had it before.  So they are largely picking their beer based on how the “name sounds” (kinda like choosing wine because of the label).  Mt Carmel’s handles actually include a detailed description of the beer which is just smart all the way around.  I also tasted the Porter (which was brewed for Dewey’s Pizza) and the Stout and was just blown away by both of the brews.  While I tasted these, Mike (owner) came by and shared that he had just had the Harvest Ale at the Main Street Tavern and how much he really liked “his own” ale.   Sorta cool in an antidotal, incidentally speaking as a side note way.   

Towards the end of our session I shared with Jared (with my tail between my legs) that I had been guilty in discounting Mt Carmel and had become overly enamored with the coolness of some of the other breweries, this is how Jared responded;

“Yeah, we’re not too cool, we just make beer. We aren't the pretty boys at the dance.  We just let the beer speak for itself.”

Just letting the brewer speak for himself….

Clyde Brewtruth
www.facebook.com/cincinnatibeer

PS...See below for pic of Mt Carmel Cow Food!