They may be small…but nano breweries will start to shape what our beer scene is going to look like in the coming years. DogBerry may not technically be the first nano in Cincinnati… but they were certainly the first to get people talking about “nano brewing” and probably the first to really get people thinking about how smaller breweries can serve their neighborhoods, without desire to grow to massive size in order to dominate Cincinnati and beyond. They opened their doors on January 8th, 2015 to enormous fanfare…their opening week was so notoriously busy that they had to turn people away at the door to avoid getting shut down by the fire department.

The last year has enabled owners Chris Frede and Tony Meyer to hone what DogBerry is, and what DogBerry can possibly be phenomenal. They have developed a group of dedicated fans, that rush to their taproom each weekend to see what goodies will pop up on their constantly rotating taps of hop-forward, but balanced brews that show people there is more to an IPA than what you might think there is. But as 2015 draws to a close…it raises the question… How can a tiny little brewery celebrate something as big as their first year? Other breweries have thrown some massive shin-digs… exclusive releases, live music, food trucks, special gift for the people who get there first.

The Party

They’re doing it just how they want to do it – with all of that. It’s important to celebrate work anniversaries, especially when the business is officially turning 1! Celebrating a whole year of success is something everyone can get behind. They needed to get some details worked out to make all this work, though, such as where to get some work anniversary gifts, amongst others. Their parking lot is notoriously small, their taproom isn’t capable of handling the MadTree or Rhinegeist sized crowds… so pay attention to some of these details… this is working a little different than some other anniversary parties might.

• The party is on their actual anniversary day, January 8th 2016 and will run from 5pm-9pm
• You have to by a ticket to the event, $25
• Tickets are only available in the taproom, starting this Friday 11/27 at 2pm
• There are a very limited number of tickets available… buy early… this will sell out… quickly.
• Your ticket includes the following:
  • 2 Pours of beer (we’ll talk about the beer in a minute…)
  • Shuttle Bus from parking to the taproom (Craft Connection will make sure you get there safely!)
  • Special Gift

There will be a couple of food trucks on hand, and some live music to keep you entertained…but let’s be honest… we come to these parties for one thing specifically…

The Beer

DogBerry is known for having a constantly rotating tap selection, so they needed to do something that represented that for their party, and looking at the list I think they’ve knocked it out of the park. If you haven’t made it out there in the last couple weeks, you might not have gotten a chance to try their new Double Chocolate Stout called SuperNova, well… they’re going to give you a chance to do so at the party, in a lot of different forms. In addition to the regular SuperNova, You’ll find:

• Cherry Supernova
• Vanilla Supernova
• Supernova with Chilies
• Coffee Supernova
• Orange Supernova

They are brewing a new version of their popular Bray’s Brown called ‘Big Bray’s’ which will be a hopped up Imperial version…this next to their normal version of brays run through a Randall will make sure that the Brays fans keep away form their popular Cedar Planked Eric The Red, Single Hopped Citra Pale Ale, Mars Madness Double IPA and Sir Griff’s Double IPA.

It’s exciting to see the brewery celebrating the first year… but it’s even more exciting to think about what the coming years are going to hold in store for them. These are a couple of guys who do things the way they do not because someone is telling them that it’s the way they need to do it, or should do it… they do things because this is how they want it done. They are building a brewery and crafting beers that they want and hoping that someone else wants it to. I think the answer has been overwhelming… there are plenty of people here in Cincinnati that love the way they do things and want more!

Cheers to many, many more years! I’ll see you guys all there on the 8th!