Brewery – Rivertown
Beer – Hop Bomber
Style – Rye Pale Ale
ABV – 5.5%
IBUs – 30

A sessionable blend of Bravo, Columbus, and Cascade hops, backed with a balanced malt profile and subtle hints of rye. Crafted for the ones who honor yesterday, today and tomorrow.

Rivertown first introduced their ‘Hop Bomber’ Rye Pale Ale back in their old location in Lockland. It became one of their staple beers, making it’s way around the city on it’s immediately recognizeable bomb shaped tap handles, as well as eventually into 12oz bottles and 16oz cans for a small run as well.

In 2014, the brewery was in the middle of a growth – or evolution. The brewery was moving from their old, small location in Lockland to their beautiful new space up in Monroe. New beers were being created, a new direction of Rivertown was becoming a reality – and Hop Bomber was retired. There were a lot of sad people, yeah – but with the changes came new, exciting beers. They soon had an amazing new restaurant/brewery. It was easy to forget about Hop Bomber.

Fast forward to 2019. Cincinnati’s beer community is different. It’s grown exponentially. Popular styles have changed. ‘Normal’ has shifted, grown and evolved in the same way that our older breweries have. Rivertown has settled into their new space, moved from their old distributor to a self distribution model… and they’ve started honoring their past alongside who they are today.

Hop Bomber made it’s return to 6 packs of 12oz cans in June of 2019 – and I have to tell you, the timing is absolutely perfect. Drinkers remember Lockland. Not that we don’t love what Monroe has become, but you can taste the memories that you have of their old space, and of the

when the brewery reintroduced the beer as part of their rotating lineup of 12oz six packs… and I have to say, the timing was absolutely perfect. We are in the middle of a busy, and ever growing craft beer world in Cincinnati – and the nostalgia that a beer like this can bring us as drinkers is real.

This beer tastes like everything I remember of their Lockland taproom, and that’s something that no other brewery can do. It’s 100% Rivertown, the old and the new. It’s hard to put a price tag on that feeling.

My Thoughts About Rivertown Hop Bomber

In the glass, this pours an deep coppery color with a thin offwhite head on top. The foam leaves an awesome sticky lacing on my glass as I drink it, which alone I could lick off the glass and be a happy gnome.

Aromas are citrus, and deep bready toast. As it warms up I get a little bit of a piney note too.

The beer is light and easy to put down, while still having a really great malty body balanced out by rich earthy hops.

As I talked about earlier… this beer tastes like Rivertown’s past, while still being a shining beacon of who they are today. Awesome.