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:

If you haven't been to a beer tasting and a movie at Clintonville's Studio 35 yet, you really need to. 

This may have been one of the most fun events I've been to in a long time. The tasting was great, featuring 10 of Columbus Brewing Company's beers, including some rarely seen ones.  Brewmaster Eric Bean was there to talk everyone through the samples, and I've listed some of the highlights and news from CBC after the jump.

We recently interviewed Eric Bean, brewmaster of Columbus Brewing Company before our March craft beer event. Eric discusses how he got into brewing, the challenges of being a small brewery, and what's new and exciting for Columbus Brewing Company, including the 2010: A Hop Odyssey series.

We were able to get a few minutes with Matt Wehmeyer of Red Ear Brewing at the Cincinnati Beerfest a few weeks ago. He told us a little bit about what Red Ear is up to, how it began and where they're going from here. I was really impressed with the beers they had at the festival, and would recommend them to anyone in the Cincinnati area. They're based in Fort Thomas, KY, which is just over the river, and are part of Vito's Cafe.  Of course they're going slow and cautious as they grow and gain popularity, but based on what I sampled, including the tremendous Big Al's Nut Brown Ale, I would guess it won't be long before they are doing pretty well.

Ohio State men's basketball player Mark Titus has been "honored" with a special beer from Oval Brewing Company.  More details on the brew here: http://news.draftmag.com/2010/04/05/im-a-vaguely-famous-blogger-and-all-i-got-was-this-sweet-beer/

This also links to Titus' blog, which is worth a read if you follow the Buckeyes at all.  Interesting perspective and some witty writing.

The Moerlein Northern Liberties IPA keg tapping is slated for Thursday, May 6 at the Rookwood Pottery Company from 5:30-8:00pm.  Rookwood will also be unveiling a Moerlein-Rookwood Pottery Stein custom-crafted just for the Northern Liberties IPA.  The event looks to include hors d'oeuvres paired with Moerlein's lagers and ales.  There will also be walking tours of the OTR Brewery District.

Cost is $20 in advance and $25 at the door.  Tickets can be had here.  Rookwood Pottery is located at 1920 Race Street in the Over-the-Rhine historic brewery district.  

Columbus Brewing Company's fourth beer in their "2010: A Hop Odyssey" dubbed "Uncle Rusty" is set to launch tomorrow night, April 1.  The beer is listed as an Imperial Red Ale.

There will be having a tapping party for Uncle Rusty at the CBC Restaurant and at Bob's Bar on April 1st. 

Select locations around town will also be pouring Uncle Rusty. Due to the incredible response to our Hop Odyssey beers, CBC has stepped up production of Uncle Rusty. Be sure to give it a try while it lasts.

Also launching tomorrow is CBC's Summer Teeth: a crisp, unfiltered kellerbier. This traditional Bavarian style beer originated from the small artisanal breweries of Franconia, where Kellerbier is still a favorite beverage in the local beer gardens.

Summer Teeth will be available April through August in bottles and on draft around town.

I've never been inspired much by Troegs beers - it seemed to me they were trying a bit too hard to be on the cutting edge and too bold in their marketing.  But, I have to give credit where credit is due and say that the Troegs Nugget Nectar is a great pint of beer.

Right as the Hopslam ran out this year, I tried a pint of this and was pleasantly surprised at the hoppy, complex flavor it offers.  It's a tad sweeter than Hopslam, and that might be a good thing.  Bitter, but not smacking you in the face, it's great for this early spring period.  

From the Troegs website:
Squeeze those hops for all they’re worth and prepare to pucker up: Nugget Nectar Ale, will take hopheads to nirvana with a heady collection of Nugget, Warrior and Tomahawk hops. Starting with the same base ingredients of our flagship HopBack Amber Ale, Nugget Nectar intensifies the malt and hop flavors to create an explosive hop experience.

The third beer in their 2010: A Hop Odyssey series, "Arnold" is set to be launch next week.  I for one am looking forward to getting a test of it asap.  Brewmaster Eric Bean describes Arnold as a "Pumped Up Pale Ale."  There's a tapping party at the CBC Restaurant on March 4.  More details on that here: 

Date: Thursday, 3/4
Time: 5pm
Location: CBC Restaurant, 525 Short St.
Phone: 614.464.2739
Web Site: Columbus Brewing Company Restaurant
More Info: Join us for the tapping of the third beer in our 2010: A Hop Odyssey, Arnold, a pumped up pale ale. Keg tapping will be at 6pm. Bar Happy Hour prices from 5-7 p.m.

February's "Creeper" barleywine was truly outstanding, and I'll be sad to see it going.  Perhaps CBC would consider brewing it year-round?

Really enjoyed this video of Sam Calagione from Dogfish Head Brewing Co discussing a bit about how they got their start and what equipment they used then and are using now to do test batches.  Yes, it's a promo video for the Sabco system, but it's interesting nonetheless.  I just hope they continue to use this thing to innovate and bring us new beers!