For the second year in a row, Cincinnati claimed the top spot in SmartAsset’s assessment of the best cities for beer drinkers. Mainly because we have dozens of breweries, a plethora of bars, hundreds of beer varieties, and a decent cost of living.

We compared 384 cities across the following metrics: total number of breweries, breweries per 100,000 residents, average number of beers per brewery, bars per 100,000 residents and the average price of a pint. 

From the SmartAsset article “Best Cities for Beer Drinkers – 2020 Edition”
Visual from the SmartAsset article

The Germans who immigrated to Cincinnati in the 1800s really loved their bier. You couldn’t swing a dead knockwurst without hitting a brewery. Most of these businesses didn’t survive Prohibition. But a new generation of brewmeisters has done a great job reviving the old traditions… and putting a new spin on them, too.

Clip from the Art & Craft video from Leapframe and Neltner Small Batch. Full video is below.

At present, we’ve got 70 local breweries and 63 taprooms. And they’re making good stuff: 18 local breweries picked up a total of 39 medals in the 2020 US Open Beer Championships.

Original artwork by my good friend Keith Neltner, done for an Artworks mural in the Over-the-Rhine area of Cincinnati. Learn more about the mural on Keith’s Neltner Small Batch website.

My wife and I went to our “local” brewery, Big Ash Brewing, last night.

photo from the Big Ash Brewing website

It was warm enough to sit outside… at least, it was warm enough with a fire pit going.

It’s tougher to visit taprooms in the Age of Coronavirus… but you can always get your beer to go. It’s good for your health…

Cheers to the Cincinnati Beer scene! If only they had this brewery…

Art & Craft | A Tale of Beer and Brushes from LEAPframe on Vimeo.