As usual, there are a couple caveats to this exercise. I haven't had every beer ever made by each brewery, so even I don't consider these rankings precise or exact. I don't include breweries that aren't based here, so that excludes Platform and Brewdog as well as all the restaurant/brewery chains. I have de-listed the closed breweries, so please pour one out for Four String, Zauber, Actual, Pigskin, and Kindred (which is still kind of open, but not really). And I also haven't included a couple small breweries that don't have a taproom.
Finally, the order of this list is based almost entirely on the quality of the brewery's own output. A lot of places have nice patios/food/guest taps which I will often mention, but very little of that will play into the rankings.
#40 - Knotty Pine Brewing
Less of a brewery and more of a bar that brews a couple of beers, Knotty Pine is nonetheless a pleasant place to go on a weekday afternoon and have a beer on an empty patio overlooking residential Grandview.
#39 - Elevator Brewing Company
One of the old guard brewers in Columbus that hasn't really kept up with the times. You could probably sell what they currently are as a working-class type ethos if their accompanying restaurant wasn't a mildly expensive place located in the middle of downtown. Oh and they don't make their most interesting beer (Mogabi) anymore.
#38 - Smokehouse Brewing Company
If you want to think of Smokehouse as a good barbecue spot with a decent list of guest taps, then that's not a bad way to be. But as a brewery there's nothing much special here. They made a pretty good barrel-aged sour a few years back, but I haven't seen anything like that in a while, and the newer offerings I've had were mediocre at best. Oh well.
#37 - Old Dog Alehouse & Brewery
The newest of Delaware's three breweries is also its least essential. The one time I went the draft list was pretty basic. I had their IPA (Jetta's Flying Snot) and it was fine. Obviously they could get better with time but I'm fine placing them here for now. There is a bakery (?) on the premises which is kinda cool I guess.
#36 - Galena Brewing Company
Originally located in Johnstown, Galena has since moved to Westerville (it's very confusing that they've never actually been located in Galena). I went once when they were in Johnstown and had a thoroughly mediocre milkshake IPA...I think it had orange in it but honestly couldn't tell. But their conceit is that their lineup is ever-improving based on customer feedback, so I'm still mildly intrigued to go back sometime.
#35 - Grove City Brewing Company
These guys are actually in the city they share a name with, so that automatically places them higher than Galena. Most of what I've had there has been forgettable, though I did have a nice pale ale with kviek yeast on my last visit. At the very least, they always have double-digit taps going so there's a little more variety than some of the other smaller places.
#34 - Three Tigers Brewing Company
This is obviously an incomplete rating as their head brewer sadly passed away last summer. The highlights whenever I have visited have been well-executed classical styles, such as the Old Gregg cream ale. It's good for Granville to have a solid spot (especially after Brews declined in quality and then closed), so I hope they are able to keep going.
#33 - Random Precision Brewing Company
With Kindred exiting the local market, it's nice to have a couple new sour-focused places popping up. And Random Precision has a lot going for it, as it's location in an old bike shop is downright charming. But the beers aren't quite there yet as most of what I've had has been rather thin. Of course a sharp learning curve is to be expected given the nature of barrel-aged stuff, so I'm excited to see what they do as they mature.
#32 - Buck's Brewing Co
There is something very pure about Buck's. The taproom opened in 2018 after years of its founder's homebrews making their way into local bars. It's located in a former pool shop on the north side of Newark. Most of the beers are unnamed and everything I had was perfectly cromulent (I had the milk stout and NEIPA). Just a small, nice place, and nothing more...nothing wrong with that.
#31 - Trek Brewing Company
Newark's other perfectly fine place for beer is located in a former Damon's. Much like Buck's it is perfectly fine (one of the small joys of the beer world at this point is that a small town like Newark can have multiple places with a competent lineup). I recommend the Trail Magik stout.
#30 - Temperance Row Brewing Company
A deli that makes beer in a town (Westerville) known as the former home of the temperance movement. This description makes it sound like an old-fashioned place and you would not be wrong. Which necessarily means that their maltier stuff is solid (Scofflaw is great, but last time I had their English PA Hatchetation which was also quite lovely) and their IPAs are subpar.
#29 - Olentangy River Brewing Company
If you're going to embrace the zeitgeist and make hazy IPAs your main thing, you'd better be good at it. I'd generally prefer a more "boring" place to a pale imitation of my favorite style. Because the multiple such offerings I had from these guys were all either thin or muddled, I was disappointed. And their orange gose (Ol'n Tangy) was baaaad. The saving grace of my visit was a really nice coffee stout that felt like a full meal even though it was only 5% ABV.
#28 - Nostalgia Brewing Company
I've been here once, when they had just taken over Pigskin's old spot in Creekside, so this is an incomplete grade. The strawberry rhubarb milkshake IPA I had was clean if unspectacular, so they go here for now. I will assuredly go back if only because they are the closest brewery to my house.
#27 - Endeavor Brewing Company
The first time I went to the brewery that replaced Zauber, everything in my flight sucked. This included some truly horrendous IPAs that made me long for the pleasant competence of Berzerker. But return I did and it's a good thing because the beer pictured above (Banana Hammock) was amazing. I generally do not like banana flavor in anything other than bananas, but adding that fruit along with hefe yeast to a pillowy hazy IPA is a stroke of genius. The perfect patio beer is enough for me to put Endeavor above breweries with more depth.
#26 - Zaftig Brewing Company
I appreciate Zaftig's commitment to making big beers, but historically very few of them have matched my palate. And then on my last visit I had their ever-changing hazy IPA, Hop Swapper, and fell in love. I'm going to be a sucker for anything with Idaho 7 in it, but this was legitimately well done and balanced. I'm excited to see what these guys do with their new location in Italian Village.
#25 - Loose Rail Brewing
Located in a barn-like building in the middle of Canal Winchester, Loose Rail executes a number of styles admirably well. Nothing sticks out in either direction, which is fine. The most average brewery in the Columbus area.
#24 - Buckeye Lake Brewery
Is Buckeye Lake actually better than the last couple entries in this list? Probably not. But every time I venture to Central Ohio's weak facsimile of a resort town to visit this place, it feels at least a little bit like a tiny vacation. And lately, the beer even matches that perception with the Peaches and Cream ale being an optimal beer to enjoy outdoors on their deck.
#23 - Ill Mannered Brewing Company
I've been less impressed by the recent beers I've had here, but this is still a solid spot with good variety if you're ever in Powell. The expanded taproom certainly helps matters as the old location was cute but extreeeemely small. My favorite beer of theirs remains the DIPA Palate Fatigue, a good old-fashioned Simcoe bomb.
#22 - Combustion Brewery & Taproom
Elliott approves of the train table. And the beer is pretty good, too! I've always enjoyed their IPA (of course), but they're known for their Imperial Breakfast Stout, which is equal parts smooth and roasty.
#21 - Restoration Brew Worx
I've been up to Delaware thrice, but have somehow never had Restoration's high-ABV stouts. As such, this is an incomplete grade. That said, I've had so many successful variations on their hoppy beers (like their IPA, Judgment), that I feel confident in saying that they are skilled at what they do.
#20 - Barley's Brewing Company
An oldie but a goody. Their imperial stout is great. Blurry Bike is light and airy with a bite. Blood Thirst Wheat is a beautiful use of fruit. Barley's rarely tries to reinvent itself, but that's fine because they're just really good at making beer.
#19 - Somewhere In Particular Brewing Company
Cousin to the enigmatic Nowhere In Particular, SIP is the opposite of Barley's: new, weird, and all over the place. But there's enough that's interesting and good to keep me coming back. Their space is both in a weird location and itself a weird location - a half-bar and outdoor space connected to a historic house (which you can rent out if you really want).
#18 - Double Edge Brewing Company
If you must absolutely go all the way out to Lancaster for whatever reason, at least they have a pretty good brewery there. They had a nice colorful sour (Axl Razz - see above) when I went, as well as a few IPAs and a very nice coffee stout with extra coffee. As is often true with breweries that don't specialize in haze bombs, the traditional DIPA (The Lateral) was significantly better than the NEIPAs (Skal, Strange Music). Nothing wrong with that.
#17 - Lineage Brewing
I've never had anything at Lineage that blew me away, but I've had a whole lot of pretty damn good beers. The Space Echo (above) tastes exactly like it looks while the Going Ham is a near-optimal DIPA. They make solid goses and berliners as well. And it's super close to my kids' daycare which is convenient for Daddy.
#16 - Outerbelt Brewing
The newest entry on this list, Outerbelt is off to a fine start. Gravel Donuts and Olaf are perfectly good hazys that are readily available in cans. Make no mistake though, the taplist at their preposterously large brewery has a lot of variety - I had a solid barrel-aged porter my first time there.
#15 - Parsons North Brewing Company
Another new place that's just....really solid. The taproom is incredibly cozy and has a nice little outdoor space, tucked away on the outskirts of German Village. They had a bunch of unnamed beers (my pet peeve), but this at least served to highlight the differences between their different styles of IPAs. I liked the east coast one the best, but whatever you have there it's clear they know what they're doing.
#14 - Sideswipe Brewing
Sideswipe is probably not actually the fourteenth-best brewery in Columbus but I love them so they go here. The precision and restraint on most of their beers reminds me a bit of Maine Beer Company. But their DIPA Hop Tat while good isn't Dinner or anything, so they're a (very) poor man's Maine. That the comparison can even be made should be enough to convince you to check out their ever-growing warehouse taproom.
#13 - Homestead Beer Company
A place that's gone from vaguely OK to pretty good to just plain good. The recent offerings I've had have been (you guessed it) NEIPAs, but they're so specifically and emphatically fruit-forward that it still feels like a distinct and worthwhile pursuit. Older stuff like Snake Oil (a more "traditional" Citra bomb) still slaps, and I'm waiting on a barrel-aged stout in my cellar that might bump this one up the list even further. We shall see.
#12 - Staas Brewing Company
So if I'm going to refer to Sideswipe as a very poor man's Maine, then Staas would be....a very poor man's Hill Farmstead? Delaware's finest brewery runs the gamut from saisons to IPAs, but everything has a very classical feel to it. And to be clear, all the beers are well-executed and very good. The House English Ale is probably the star (if only because I don't think I've ever had anything quite like it), but you literally can't go wrong here which is something you might not be able to say about anywhere else on this list.
#11 - Land-Grant Brewing Company
While refreshing my memory for this piece I found that I have checked in 35 (!) distinct beers from Land-Grant on Untappd. This is my second-highest total among local places, which is only appropriate as that's kind of their whole deal. This commitment to quantity means there are some duds but there's also some really good ones, like CMYK, a really sharp and crisp DIPA. They recently expanded their footprint to include a large outdoor space, which someone without small children could probably tell you gets busy on weekends in the summer.
#10 - Nocterra Brewing Company
I already liked going up to Powell and now that these guys opened it's even better. Nocterra's highlight is their series of over-fruited goses Swell Line, which might be the best of that style in the city. Their more normal sours are less spectacular but still good. I liked the light touch of their pale ale Split Wheel, but some of their other hoppy offerings are merely fine (ie. the Beta Flash is a bit muddled and its strawberry version was downright subpar). There's a lot here and most of it is at least interesting....not a bad start.
#9 - Pretentious Barrel House
When Pretentious first opened, the majority of their beers consisted of a couple sour bases (ie. Truculent, Derisive) with one or two adjuncts added. These were certainly good, and I will never complain about well-executed barrel-aged sours, but nothing felt inspired quite yet. This has begun to change with some of their more recent output, and suggests that they might yet become a major player in the world of sours. So yeah, this serves as a reminder that I need to go there more often.
#8 - 2 Tones Brewing Co.
A quick glance at 2 Tones' taplist suggests a pretty straightforward brewery with a typically wide variety of offerings. While this initial perception is indeed true and admirable, what really excites me about Whitehall's finest institution is their hazys. Not every single one I've had has knocked me over, but 1) they're pretty new so give them time, and 2) About a Month is a near-pefect Citra/Mosaic joint that is the best such beer outside of the top two breweries on this list. So that's nice.
#7 - Seventh Son Brewing Co.
Great space. Great consistency. Maybe the best lineup of flagship beers in town. What holds them back ever so slightly is a lack of upside. This is epitomized by their recently opened offshoot Antiques on High, which has a sour/hazy focus. What I've had from there has been....fine (ie. Tessera is a perfectly cromulent IPA).
#6 - North High Brewing
Possibly the best combination of versatility, quality, and availability in town. Stouts, IPAs, seasonal ales like Jalalima (for Cinco)...virtually everything is good here. On my last trip there I had their unassuming hazy pale ale Fly, and it was shockingly good. I should probably stop taking North High for granted.
#5 - Wolf's Ridge Brewing
The various Dire Wolf stouts remain the top reason to go to Wolf's Ridge. Whether barrel-aged or loaded with adjuncts, there isn't a better dark beer in town. But everything else, from their cream ales to IPAs to sours, is at least interesting enough to justify the preposterously large tap list. And now that they've bought the old Four String production facility, it's going to be even easier to get very soon. Get excited.
#4 - Columbus Brewing Company
The funny thing about CBC finally opening a taproom is that the decades-old godfather of local brewing is so post-hype that I haven't even gone yet. I will have to rectify that soon because Bodhi and friends are great beers that deserve their own place of worship. Every positive thing I just said about North High and Seventh Son is probably more true of CBC - it's just less sexy to say that about our eponymous brewer. Nevertheless, the original is still amazing.
#3 - Rockmill Brewery
I've probably underrated Rockmill in the past but no more. They are far and away the local champion of classic Belgian styles and that deserves to be recognized. And I know I'm not supposed to include the places themselves in the rankings, but the farmhouse and the tavern are both amazing locations with their own unique charms.
#2 - DankHouse Brewing Company
The best-smelling place in Central Ohio is Newark's own DankHouse for reasons that should be obvious from the name. Their specialty is the haze, but as you also might guess from the name they are a bit bolder with the hops than the next entry on the list. I wouldn't say that bigger=better quite yet, but they're not far off. Lest one tire of the zeitgeist there are other worthy beers here as well. Super Fantastic (on the left above) is a great straightforward IPA that's almost always on tap. Feelin' Berry Good is like literally a slushy. And there's a few other more straightforward beers that are really good as well. Once they expand, it very well might be a tight battle for the top spot. But until then...
#1 - Hoof Hearted Brewing
The king stays the king. Everything is cleaner, sharper, and more widely available since the last time Hoof topped this list. They've added oat IPAs (Special Occasion), bigger versions of existing IPAs (Honey Combover), milkshakes (Clipboard), and slushies (Don't Boil It, Don't Microwave It). Even more basic things like their pilsners are well-done and unique. If not for these guys Columbus would still be a fine beer town, but Hoof is what makes it truly great.
