Cincinnati’s Brewery District was once a centerpiece of its economy

Cincinnati was once home to dozens of breweries, making the city a hub of beer production.  There’s still a lot of beer brewed here, but it’s nothing like it was during the heyday. A community group is working to bring back a little of the history behind Cincinnati’s beer-making tradition, and in so doing, help to revitalize an urban neighborhood. The Brewery District Community Urban Redevelopment Corp.  is a non-profit committed to preserving, restoring and redeveloping the district and the city’s brewing history.

On Saturday and Sunday, March 8 and 9, the district goes underground with a tour of the sub-basements and tunnels of the old breweries, spaces unused since Prohibition and never before open to the public. The underground tour is part of a larger “Prohibition Resistance Tour” that weekend that includes a guided bus and walking tour of some of the remaining historic brewery buildings in Cincinnati, including the John Hauck Dayton Street Brewery, the Clyffside Brewery, the Jackson Brewery and the Christian Moerlein Brewery.  The $30 tickets, available at www.bockfest.com, include a voucher good for one year to the Cincinnati History Museum at the Cincinnati Museum Center.

Writer: David Holthaus
Source: Steven Hampton, Brewery District