Cincinnati has been experiencing a very strong resurgence lately when it comes to our beer scene.  This wasn’t always the case with this city, though.  If you aren’t familiar with what the Brewery district is, and what the purpose and history of the B.D.C.U.R.C is, you might want to read a little bit about it here.

The reason that this event has made it as my event of the week is because I think this is something that every beer fan in Cincinnati needs to do at least once.  Part of what makes our city’s beer scene so special is the history that ties it all together.  This is a beer town…in it’s blood.  Without respect for that past, I don’t think you can ever really appreciate who we are now, and who we are becoming.

The Tour

If you’ve ever taken one of the tours at Bockfest, or Oktoberfest, or the like, you’re familiar with the history that lies underneath the streets of Cincinnati.  If you haven’t this is your chance to do so.

Arnold’s Brothels, Bootleggers and Booze Tour begins at the most logical place to start it – Arnold’s, Cincinnati’s oldest continuously operating saloon. Built in 1838 as a brothel, 210 E. 8 th became Simon Arnold’s Saloon in 1861 and has been serving libations to Cincinnatians ever since, including straight through Prohibition. Tour guests get the inside scoop on Arnold’s from the beginning to its more recent but equally colorful history.

The tour then takes a walking route that explores the days when Cincinnati’s dozens of breweries and distilleries and almost 2,000 saloons made it notorious for inebriation and mayhem. Guests then enter a side-alley entrance into subterranean cellars that were part of the Gerke Brewery complex. Renowned for its corruption, vice and crime, one of Cincinnati’s lowest moments is the Courthouse riot of 1884.

Guests hear about the history of the riot, how dozens of people came to be slain in the surrounding streets, then return to Arnold’s – where cold beverages and great food always await at the place that Men’s Health Magazine has voted one of the “Top 50 Bars in America,” and CityBeat readers have declared the “Best Outdoor Dining” year after year.

A portion of proceeds goes to support the non-profit Brewery District Community Urban Redevelopment Corp. and the preservation of our brewing history.

You can, of course view the event page on the calendar here.