Check out this nice video review of the new Rockmill Brewery in Lancaster. They say the secret to great Belgian beers is in the water:

Watch the video here!

Not sure how I missed this last week, but it has been announced that Eric Bean, brewmaster at Columbus Brewing Company has bought the majority share of the brewery.  He's the first brewmaster in Columbus to own his own brewery since 1944.  Columbus Brewing has issued a press release here: http://www.columbusbrewing.com/pages/pressrelease1.pdf

Eric Bean, Brewmaster, said "Owning a brewery has been my dream since my first batch of homebrew in 1993, and after fifteen years of professional brewing it has finally happened. I am proud to own a company with such a great history and excited for the future. Now it is time to get back to work and get ready for next month’s addition of new tanks that will allow for an expansion of 70%."

Congrats to Eric and here's hoping for many years of continued success.

The much-talked about expansion of the Brooklyn Brewery is apparently ready to go and BB spokespeople are saying the expansion promises more production and more variety in those very special Brooklyn Brewery small-batch beers.

I spoke with the Heidelberg Distributing rep (the distributor for Brooklyn beer in Ohio) about a week ago and she indicated the expansion could mean better availability in Ohio for things like Black Ops and, hopefully, other Brewmaster's Reserve beers. Is there a possibility we could see Dark Matter here? It's unsure at this point if we'll get a much wider range of Brooklyn's beers here or if we'll just get better availability of what we already have. However, the expansion does mean Brooklyn will be making some new beers and, if they're a hit, we could see some of them here.

Congrats to the brewery on the expansion and here's to hoping we see some great new Brooklyn Brewery beers here in Ohio.

There's lots of great breweries making lots of great beers out there, but I wanted to commend New Holland Brewery from Michigan for making some of the best beers I've had this year. I'm consistently happy with everything I've tried from them - I know how hard it is to have great beers across an entire line.

Just to name two, the Dragon's Milk Ale is probably one of the top 2 beers I've had this year. Incredibly smooth, super flavorful and just an all-around great barrel aged beer. If you have the chance, do yourself a favor and try this stuff.

The second is a bit of a novelty, but after a single taste, it's proof that even New Holland's unique beers are outstanding. The "El Mole Ocho" is really unique - a full chocolate flavor with a hint of chili pepper spice on the back end. It's not something I thought I would even like, but have to admit is pretty darn good.

To the people at New Holland - keep up the good work up there!

The good folks from Sixpoint Craft Ales in Brooklyn were kind enough to send us a care package of some of their fine brews, one of which included a "Dr. Klankenstein". Not knowing exactly what that was, I enquired with brewmaster Shane Welch. I'm glad I did because the story behind this beer is amazing.

While in New York a few weeks ago, we made our way up to Pleasantville, NY for the Captain Lawrence Brewery's 4th Anniversary Party. It was a really fun event and the weather could not have been better.

The brewery is a pretty cool little place, but I didn't get to see much of it because of the party. That's ok, there's always next time. We sampled the Pale Ale, "Liquid Gold" and their summer seasonal, Kolsh. All were very tasty and I managed to get a few bottles of the Imperial IPA home in my suitcase. I'll hold on to those for a special occasion.

Here some short video clips of the event:

I spent some time in Brooklyn last weekend and was able to sample one of the fine Sixpoint Craft Ales beers being brewed there.  The Bengali Tiger IPA was a tremendous beer, and a fine example of a more traditional IPA. It wasn't too heavy in the hop profile like some IPA's are these days. It was full of flavor and refreshing enough for some warm spring days in Brooklyn.

While I'm at it, I should mention it paired nearly perfectly with the burger at Prime Meats in Brooklyn. The hefty burger, loaded with bacon and bleu cheese, really brings out the bitter profile in the beer, but like I said above, it's still quite refreshing.

Wish I'd had the chance to sample some of their other offerings, but I guess that'll wait until next time I'm in the area.

Who's had some of their other beers and what did you think?

Columbus Brewing Company has announced a list of events they'll be participating in for May. Seems like they'll be a busy bunch:

1. May's Hop Odyssey beer is now available. "Rhapsody" is a very nice Pilsner with a huge hop presence, which makes it really tasty. Be sure to get your hands on some before it's gone.
2. This Friday, May 14, you can find CBC at the Kroger in Brewer's Yard for a beer and food pairing with chef Meredith Evans. Tickets are $10 and can be purchased at the door.
3. On Saturday May 22, CBC will be at Barley's Mini Real Ale Festival. This is a great event to try many different ales direct from the firkin. Limited tickets are available here.
4. Later on the 22nd, CBC will be at the North Market's Apron Gala. $75 per person gets you in the door and includes drinks and food sampling from the vendors in the North Market. More details here.
5. If you're headed north on the 22nd, CBC beers will also be featured at Fathead's Heavyweight Brewer's Brawl in N. Olmstead. Over 50 beers from 25 breweries will be there. More details here.
6. If you make it past the 22nd, you're doing well, and you can join CBC for the Local Brews and Local Foods event at the North Market on the 26th. Food, beer and music all from local vendors. More details here.
7. Last but not least, CBC will be pouring at the 1st Annual Columbus Beerfest on Memorial Day weekend (28th and 29th). The festival promises to be quite good, so get your tickets now. More details and tickets available here.

As we mentioned earlier, "Big Brew" was held at the Columbus Brewing Company on May 1, 2010. Home brewers from all over the area came to brew an American Wheat Beer.  Nearly 25 home brewers participated and almost 150 gallons of beer were produced. The event was really fun and the folks at Columbus Brewing Company are to be commended for putting on a great event. Watching brewmaster Eric Bean and crew roast a pig, and subsequently eat the pig's ear, was a true highlight.

The music in the video was provided by our friends The Wet Darlings. The song is "Vampires" (not necessarily a comment on home brewers!) from their upcoming EP "X". You can check them out here: http://www.thewetdarlings.com.

Let us know if you're in the video and we'll tag it appropriately.

Columbus Brewing Company's "2010: A Hop Odyssey" series continues with May's limited offering, "Rhapsody." It's described as a Czech style pilsner with a huge hop presence. Sounds like a great summer beer to me (although don't forget about Summer Teeth!). There's a tapping party this Thursday at the CBC Restaurant: