We’re 3 weeks into the college football season and 2 weeks into the NFL, with that comes full days of football and beer. At times, our craft beer culture has enhanced our viewing experience, but some games become forgettable (or blurry) during the second half of the 1 o’clock games. Sometimes, the newest Double Imperial Oak-Aged & Dry Hopped ale doesn’t lend itself to having more than one and living to remember the final score. Here’s a list of a few Ohio brews that you can sip (or chug) during touchdowns and turnovers while watching the Buckeyes or the Bengals. If you’re watching the Browns, you may just want to hit the liquor cabinet for some stronger stuff.
Sunshine Daydream, Session IPA, 5% ABV, Fat Heads Brewery & Saloon-North Olmstead, OH.
This session IPA is brewed with pale malts and Centennial hops, providing a crisp light body and a balanced but noticeable hop finish. This IPA was developed to provide hopheads with an ale that can be enjoyed (bar side for now) repeatedly, making them come back for more. After the final score, celebrate or consul yourself with a fresh Headhunter IPA.
Citra SMaSH, American Pale Ale, 4.3% ABV, North High Brewing Company, Columbus, OH
SMaSH stands for “Single-Hop and Single-Malt”. Citra smash does this just right, featuring one hop, you guessed it, Citra hops and one malt, pale malt. The pale malt provides this pale ale a light color with an easy smooth finish, its complimented by the Citra hop’s citrus, mango, and tropical fruit flavors. All of these flavors make Citra SMaSH a great outdoor brew begging to be enjoyed outside on a sunny day.
Helles Lager, 5.3% ABV, Rivertown Brewing Company, Cincinnati, OH
Rivertown has done a great job of recreating a classic Bavarian Lager. Helles lager provides a mild spicyness of noble hops with a lite, but slightly bready flavor of German wheat and malt. If your not into football, this is a great alternative to an Ocktoberfest that you can enjoy while celebrating Cincinnati’s strong German heritage.
Recreation Ale, Session Ale, 4.7% ABV, Terrapin Beer Company, Athens, GA
I fully understand that this is the Ohio Beercast, but I feel like I need to list the beer that I’m drinking most frequently right now. My geographic location has something to do with this, but I think I’d drink this session ale no matter where I was. Terrapin did an amazing job of creating this hopped up session ale, brewing with five different hop varieties and then dry-hopping on top of that. It features a moderate body and doesn’t drink like 4.7%. All that said, its a brew I can enjoy time and time again during the Buckeyes, but still feel good enough to come back for more of it during the Bengals game on Sunday. Cheers!