2012 Cincinnati Beer Week

by Kevin

February is shaping up to be a great time to be a beer drinker in the Cincinnati area. The weather’s cold and the nights are long, but there are an amazing number of events coming in the next few weeks. Here’s a quick rundown:

In a few weeks, it will be the inaugural celebration of Cincinnati Beer Week. An official site has popped up to try and track the various events around the city, but I recommend hopping over to the Hoperatives blog for their take on the latest information. Here are a few of the events about which I’m excited:

Thursday February 2
Party Town Local Breweries Backroom Brawl from 6:00 – 8:00pm
Party Town kicks off Cincinnati’s Inaugural Beer Week with a “Backroom Brawl” of only local craft brews featuring the “Cincinnati Beer Week Barleywine,” a collaboration between local brewers, and our 18 tap growler program voted “Best of 2011″ by Cincinnati Magazine! Cost $2.00

Friday February 3
Arnold’s Bourbon Barrel 1861 Porter Happy Hour Tapping at 5pm
In honor of beer week Christian Moerlein has remixed a batch of the Arnold’s 1861 Porter. Arnold’s is already the only place that you could get the Porter, but for this special release, Christian Moerlein will be aging the same beer in a bourbon barrel.

Saturday February 4:
Cincinnati Brew Ha-Ha! from 07:00 PM – 11:00 PM
Cincy Brew Ha-Ha Winter Edition will bring all that has been enjoyed over the past 5 years indoors to the Cintas Center on Xavier University’s campus for its Winter Edition. This one-of-a-kind local event features top beers and top comedians creating the perfect recipe for a great time. From ales to lagers and pilsners to stouts, there is something for every type of beer aficionado – including 6 firkins! Cincy Brew Ha-Ha Winter Edition will feature over 80 selections of beer to sample and multiple comedians on 2 stages.

Additionally, there are a bunch of other events, including a 3 Floyds beer dinner at Tellers (2/8) and a selection of Left Hand beers on tap at the Hyde Park Cock and Bull (2/9) . This all leads up to the Cincinnati Winter Beer Festival on the 10th and 11th. Last year, this event was a great time and apparently it’s going to be even bigger this year. Click over to their site for more information and tickets.

On Feb 25, the Moerlein Lager house will be opening as part of the Banks, adding the first alternative to the Holy Grail, which opened last March. Tickets are $150 and the doors open at 6:30. More information can be found over on the Lager House official website.

I’m off to drink a Sierra Nevada Northern Hemisphere. That should help keep me sated until next month.

Join Angela this Thursday and Friday for free wine tastings

By Angela

Hello fellow wine lovers,

I just wanted to inform everyone that starting Thursday I will be pouring and hosting FREE wine tastings at Liquor City Bakewell in Covington KY.  Thursday and Friday, November 17 and 18, from 4 -8 p.m. I will be pouring the big six grapes. The tasting will be Riesling, Pinot Grigio, Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, Cabernet Sauvignon, and Syrah.

The big six wine tasting will get you to:

• taste the difference between each grape varietal
• taste the difference between light, medium, and full bodied wines
• see the color difference between the three whites and the three reds
• and you’ll be able to know a few basics about wines

If you happen to be in the Covington/Northern Kentucky area this Thursday or Friday please come and see me. Future wine tastings: November 21st & 23rd at Liquor City Bakewell.

Cheers.

For Historian Beer Drinkers, Beer Drinkers, and Historians

By Angela

Last night I went on the Queen City Under Ground Tour from American Legacy Tours and I was amazed. I’ve been on at least three of their tours and every time I go I learn something new about the greater Cincinnati area. This tour was focused on the Over the Rhine area where there were over 163 saloons, beer gardens, theatres, and breweries were on Vine St. in the late 1800s. The breweries would store and make their beer underground the buildings in these huge tunnels/rooms (the rooms are the sub and sub-sub basements). Some of the tunnels/rooms I was standing in were at least 20 feet high, it was amazing. They had tunnels that were underneath the streets that go in between the barreling and bottling buildings and onto other buildings.

Pictured: One of the tunnels underneath the Guild Haus on Vine Street. This was one of the barrel tunnels underneath the Barreling room.

Did you know that Cincinnati drank over two and a half times more beer than the national limit in the late 1800s? That’s a lot of beer! Besides seeing the underground breweries and historical buildings we saw where the new Christian Moerlein brewery will be located. There was a tunnel that was boarded up from the one building that led into the Christian Moerlein brewery but we didn’t get to see that tunnel. The future home of the Christian Moerlein Brewery was once the Malt and Lager house of the Kaufman Brewery that was one of the breweries during the late 1800s.  Christian Moerlein Brewery was the only Cincinnati beer from that time that was exported internationally.

The tour was a great history lesson and shows how much Over the Rhine have developed in the last decade.  Please note that the tour is a walking tour and to get to the tunnels you will have to go down a few flights of steps. The tour runs till the end of November every Saturday and Sunday. Please check their website for more information.

Hello there I’m One of the Newbies

Hello, I’m Angela Laible and I love wine and I’m excited to be a contributing writer for wine-girl.net!

I grew up in the wine world (sorda), my Uncle Richard was a Sommelier and traveled all over the world to sample wines, lecture on wines, visit wineries, and buy them for a national wine distributing company. When he traveled my family could always expect a box of wines shipped to us. My family never knew what country the box was coming from. I got to taste the wines watered down and my parents would explain what type of wine I was experiencing. This started the whole love of wines for me.

I grew up in Northern Kentucky; my parents started Main Strasse Village in 1972. I helped open 2 bars in Main Strasse; Cosmos and Zola’s. One of my favorite wine restaurants is located in Main Strasse, Bouquet; it is one of the best hidden secrets in the region!

I believe my wine experience comes from family introducing me to new wines, being a Mixologist and bartender for over 13 years for 10+ restaurants and bars (Waterfront included on that list), attending various wine tastings all over the region, and having an open mind when trying new wines. I’m also a KY bourbon girl; I graduated from the Woodford Reserve Bourbon Academy.

My Communications/Web Project Management consultant background supports my love affair for wines. I have a BA in Theatre Administration and I’m a CIW Internet Web Master. I worked in nonprofit as a Communications Specialist, Web Project Manager, Marketing Director, and Publications Director for over 11 years.  I’m now a Communications/Social Media/Web Development consultant and the great thing about being a consultant is meeting new people and helping them.

I live in Newport with my boyfriend Tony, cats Tigger & Hiro, and pug Sophie.

Harmony Hill Opens This Weekend!

Summer is finally here … maybe. It’s May, right? Time for flowers and maybe, just maybe, hints of sunshine.

The most fun winery in Southern Ohio is kicking off it’s summer festivities this Saturday and you should join them. If it wasn’t for my enduring love of the Kentucky Derby, I’d certainly be at Harmony Hill. 

This Saturday, May 7 from noon-8 pm, ‘The Hill’ will rock, as has come to be expected. We will release all of our five previously sold out award winning wines. We will have continuous entertainment all day. We have scheduled our Kick-off in conjunction with BAMfest, Bethel’s annual art and music festival in the heart of The Village. I can think of no better time to ‘Head East’ and see what this quiet farming village has to offer. We will kick off this 2011 summer in style. Our newly revamped website will answer any questions you might have about the upcoming festivities.

So there you go. Head on out to Harmony Hill this weekend for great music, great wine, and hopefully (fingers crossed), great weather.  Perhaps if we start acting like it’s summer, the weather will catch up.

Cheers!