When Chris Mitchell announced he was leaving his spot down at the Joseph Knox Distillery and OTR Stillhouse, there were a bunch of sad folks around town. Chris is not only a fantastic brewer, distiller, and all-around “drinks maker” but also a really nice guy that people were upset to see him leaving. It’s understandable.

The stars, however, realigned this morning as 16 Lots made the announcement on the heels of their last two additions to the leadership team down at their new location Chris Mitchell would be joining the Southern Outpost.

What’s This Mean For 16 Lots?

First and foremost, for the 16 Lots Southern Outpost, this means that there is going to be a bit more hype around what this place is going to be cranking out. Not only have they been redefining themselves with their “new” brewer up in Mason (Erich Streckfuss… who I’m not sure we can call “new” anymore) but adding Chris Mitchell into the mix down in Newport will continue to shake things up in really fun ways.

Chris will be not just a full-time employee of the brewery, but also a co-owner. He’ll be responsible for brewing up world-class beers, but also in the words of 16 Lots, for “defining their new product pipeline as they look to broaden their beverage offerings”.

We can certainly make a lot of guesses and assumptions about what that might mean going forward – but if you know how passionate Chris Mitchell is about creating really fun things – it can only mean good news for us drinkers.

Why Chris?

Anyone who has spent time around Cincinnati beer for any amount of time is at least partially familiar with Chris Mitchell. He’s got more than 20 years of experience as a “maker of all things liquid”. From his time at Listermann to helping start up one of the most hyped breweries in Cincinnati with the OG Woodburn Brewery, and over to his most recent project the incredible OTR Stillhouse where he served as head brewer, distiller, and winemaker – this dude is can seemingly do it all.

It’s an insanely fun fit into the new team at 16 Lots Southern Outpost.

This latest addition to the leadership team is just another move by the new brewery to try to put all the perfect pieces in place to turn this brewery into something that really blows people away.

Hype, Excitement, and New Breweries.

I actually just had this conversation the other night with someone about new breweries. People don’t seem to get as excited about new projects as they used to, and we were trying to understand why – and if it was possible to create buzz around something at the same level that it used to exist.

If there is any project that I think has the potential to get folks as excited, and as curious as some of the “OG” places around this beer scene did – I think The Southern Outpost is starting to look like the place to do it.

If you haven’t been able to tell, I’m equally as excited and curious as I have been for a long time, and you know that you’ll keep reading about it right here. Follow along via 16 Lots’ social media – or just right here on the website. Before you know it we’ll be counting down the days to a grand opening.

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