As you can see it was a pretty snowy day when we rolled up to BrewDog Brewery in one of the neighborhoods of Columbus, OH.
Being one of the average big cities in the middle of America, you might not think there is much variety in Columbus. You would be very wrong though, Columbus is a hub of culinary excitement. Don't believe me? Check out this site.
Columbus continues to be known as a huge food city. It is a test market for several fast food restaurants so you will often find new items in the area that haven't made it nationwide yet.
Additionally, Columbus and it's outlying area is home to several restaurant chain headquarters like Wendy's and was the birthplace of Buffalo Wild Wings.
@mrsbozz and I visit Columbus quite frequently because her sister's family lives there. I have often said that we could eat at a different restaurant every day for two years and never go to the same place twice.
On to the brewery though...
BrewDog is off the road in the middle of a large field. It's actually someplace you would potentially drive by and miss if you didn't know what to look for.
There are actually four parts to the business. There is the restaurant area, the brewing floor area, a store/bar area and a hotel. True to the BrewDog name, some of their rooms are pet friends and there is even a dog park a short walk from the hotel where you can let your pooch run free.
According to the website, this isn't your average hotel. Many of the rooms have a view of the brewery production area. Each room also has a fridge stocked with hand selected beers from the brewmasters as well as a fridge in the shower so you are never too far away from your favorite brew.
In addition to that, they also have a tap in every room. That's right, when you book your room you tell them which beer you want to have on draft at your fingertips 24/7!
On this trip we already had accomodations though so we only stayed for a late lunch/early dinner.
These are some shots of the store/bar area where you can lounge around and view their promotional items.
As you walk in to the left, they also have a beer museum and they offer tours of the brewing floor. I don't remember the cost, but I feel like it was pretty reasonable.
Heading back into the dining area, you are presented with an arch of kegs. It is pretty impressive and the whole place has a distinct industrial feel. It is a brewery after all...
As you can see, seating is pretty typical with a "U" shaped bar in the center and booths and high top tables around the perimeter.
I can imagine in the summer they have those garage doors open so patrons can spill into the outdoor area that you can kind of see in one of the opening pictures. Since we were looking at about 5 to 6 inches of snow, it is probably best they left them closed!
I noticed when we sat down that many of the beers were IPA's. I am not a huge fan of IPA's, but I am really trying to expand my pallet.
To be safe, I started with the "Lost Lager" which is a 4.7% pilsner and can be seen in the opening collage picture.
My wife and her sister both went with a beer from another brewery which was the a crisp Belgium Wit called Bell's Winter White Ale
My brother in law got a flight, but I didn't get a picture of it and the kiddo's got a nice refreshing lemonade.
The menu had a good variety without being too overwhelming. A couple of us were really torn about what we wanted to get, but eventually we all decided and put our orders in.
While we were waiting for our food, I took some more shots of the interior. Our table was facing the brewery floor. The kids went up a small flight of stairs to the game area which had acrade games, pinball machines, and shuffleboard tables.
I didn't know it at the time, but BrewDog also has an original location in Scotland. The US brewery is relatively new.
It wasn't long and our food showed up. Before that though my brother in law was raving about one of the dark beers he had gotten in his flight. Wanting to expand my horizons a little, I decided to get one after I finished my first beer.
This beer they call "Choco Libre" and it is a Mexican-spiced hot chocolate infused imperial stout. I could have drank many of these beers it was so good. At 8.2% alcohol, they probably would have needed to carry me out of the place though.
Before I get to the food, I also wanted to mention that BrewDog was brewing Resilience IPA. This IPA was brewed in collaboration with Sierra Nevada. They basically gave the recipie to craft breweries throughout the country and all of the proceeds from the sale of the beer go towards wildfire relief for the "Camp Fire" that devestated parts of California. Pretty cool I think.
Now for the food! My brother in law went with the cheese curd and bacon pizza. He said it was fantastic and there wasn't a crumb left when he was finished with it.
My nieces shared the "Fast Joe" burger and they also got a side of mac and cheese.
My sister in law got one brisket and one carnitas tacos and she also got a side salad.
@mrsbozz when with a side of mac and cheese, the black bean taco and a side of brussel sprouts.
I tried the brussel sprouts and the mac and cheese and I have to say, they were both amazing. I know sprouts tend to have a bad reputation, but these ones were roasted in oil with bacon and jalapenos.
The flavors worked together exceedingly well.
Finally, I got the sweet and spicy pulled pork sandwich with fries(chips).
It was a good sandwich, but I typically perfer my pulled pork to have a little more texture. This was a little mushy and not quite the consistency I like. Also, the brussel sprout slaw didn't have as much flavor as I hoped it would.
It was a good sandwich though and I am not dissappointed that I got it. I would probably try something different next time though.
At $58.05 USD for our bill before tip, this place isn't cheap. If you look though our beers alone were $26 or so. This is definitely someplace I would come back to for a special occasion.
On the way out, we were waiting for some members of our party and I noticed something I had totally missed on the way in.
Just to the left when you first walk in, they have a model of the brewery completely made of Lego's. I tried to get some shots, but because it is under glass, there might be some reflection.
As I said, this is someplace I would definitely come back to and it is also someplace I would highly recommend if you are ever in the area.
In fact, if you find yourself staying in the Columbus area, you should try to get one of the rooms here. I don' t think you will be dissappointed.
Edit
Since I posted yesterday about a beer, I wasn't even thinking about submitting this post to #beersaturday run by @detlev. I am really proud of this post though, so I am going to submit it and I would like to encourage everyone to support the #beersaturday tag. https://steemit.com/beersaturday/@detlev/another-week-another-beersaturday-this-is-week-84-comes-with-a-help-request
Cheers!
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Restaurant Information
BrewDog Brewery
96 Gender Rd, Canal Winchester, OH 43110, USA
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