The last two stops of the day in this quadrant of Cincinnati are Mt. Carmel Brewing and Little Miami Brewing Company.
Mt. Carmel Brewing Company (Cincinnati, OH)
About 6 miles off the direct path to Little Miami, and on a man-made pond sits one of the more chill breweries we visited on this trip. The outside had a winery (or even golf course) feel, but the inside was clearly a brewery vibe. We recommend visiting on a cool summers night for full effect.
Our flight of five didn’t break any new ground or boundaries; but nevertheless we enjoyed the clean beers, on the warm night. From least to most enjoyed we had the White IPA, Queen Bee, the Gambler, and the Coffee Brown Ale. Obviously that was only four, as we had some disagreement over the Hibiscus Blueberry Blonde Ale.
- The White IPA was supposed to have a “bold grapefruit” flavor, but that didn’t come to fruition.
- The Queen Bee was a blackberry blonde ale, that again was lacking in fruit flavor. We were disappointed but the lack of follow through
- The Gambler certainly surprised us. This amber lager has a smooth mouthfeel, subtle hop finish and all around was thirst quenching. It’s not often that we are pleasantly surprised by the basics, but when we are it’s for brews like the Gambler.
- Last up is the Coffee Brown Ale. Far from a traditional murky brown; boasting a fair amount of coffee flavor, and smooth malt body. If the Fifty West Irish Cream was a touch too dark and rich for your consumption, certainly give this one a go.
- As I said above, we had some disagreement over the Hibiscus Blueberry Blonde. Melissa enjoyed the aroma and flavor of this tea infused beer, where as I felt it was lacking in both departments. We’re chalking it up to my palate just not being as sensitive as hers. If you give it a try, please let us know your thoughts.
Mt. Carmel Brewing offers a traditional approaching to beer making and beer drinking. Simple ingredients and wholesome products probably will not appeal to the beersnobs and beerventurers; but if you’re looking for a laid back venue with lots of outdoor seating and mellow beers this is the place for you. They were also undergoing construction on a much larger tasting room, so this spot will definitely be one to check out! Mt. Carmel earns a 2.75 out of 5.
Little Miami Brewing Company (Milford, OH)
Detour out of the way and back on track for the last brewery of the night; Little Miami Brewing Company of Milford, Ohio. Wow, we’ve finally left Cincinnati proper after 15 miles of driving. We just didn’t expect to drive into Miami…
The brewpubs main dish seems to be pizza; literally every other table is eating one but we’re still full from Fifty West and didn’t partake. Instead we were just in the mood for a flight… but Little Miami does not do flights. Kind of disappointing.
Since we could not flight up, we limited ourselves to two nightcaps; Lime Light sour ale and Goggles Paisano gose. Normally, we would have diversified a little, but these two just sounded like they would hit the spot.
- Lime Light was pure tart and massive lime flavor. There were few beers that came to mind which were more sour, and lime, than this.
- Goggles Paisano was a blood orange gose, but there was a spice that overwhelmed the blood orange. I’m not sure what that spice was, but it certainly was not orange.
We feel that Goggles was similarly built to Lime Light. Be weary if you’re not the biggest sour fan; these aren’t the two beers to try.
While Melissa was certainly a fan of sour beers, even she has her limits and we came to the conclusion that these two were just too tart for the sake of tart. Sour beers are a difficult style to master, so we’re not going to hold this against the brewers. And since we were unwilling to diversify our lineup; half of the blame is on us. We’re going to abstain in rating Little Miami for the time being. But if you’re a local, reach out to us and let us know what score they should receive.
