Rhinegeist Brewery - Cincinnati

Entrance to the Rhinegeist Taproom

This past Saturday, my wife and I visited the Rhinegeist taproom in the Over the Rhine area of Cincinnati.

The taproom is located up four flights of stairs from the street.  The stairwell is very industrial looking, but is decorated with stickers from other breweries, many of which I'd never seen.

At the top of the final flight of stairs, you step through a doorway into the main taproom.  This is a massive room with high ceilings, huge ceiling fans, corn hole games, a gift shop, a couple of bars, lots of seating, and brewing equipment.

One thing the taproom does not have, however, is air conditioning.  On a hot day, depending on where you sit in proximity to those huge ceiling fans, the taproom can feel pretty toasty.  We were covered in sweat not too long after getting there.

At the main bar in the taproom, all of the Rhinegeist beers I could remember (as well as the various ciders) were on tap.  In addition to these, Rhinegeist offered several limited edition brews like a barrel aged Belgian Dubbel.  Each of the three bars in the building offered a slightly different set of brews, which encouraged moving around and checking them out.

The main taproom

One of the bars in the taproom

Brewing equipment in the taproom

At one corner of the taproom, you'll find a guarded door.  After showing your ID to the guard, you're allowed to walk up the flights of stairs to the Rhinegeist rooftop bar.  This area offers some amazing views of the surrounding area and a decent amount of seating.

The Rooftop Bar at Rhinegeist

View from the rooftop bar

Rhinegeist makes for an interesting visit.  I found it to be one of the more interesting taprooms I've visited, and one of the more interesting brewery visits.

If you find yourself in the Cincinnati area or if you're a big fan of their beer, you might find it worth the trip to visit.

If it's a hot day, though, make sure you dress in your coolest clothing.