DVD Brewing Is Open!

3/17/24

Written By: The Gnarly Gnome
Photography By: The Gnarly Gnome

When a new brewery opens its doors, there are almost always questions. What will the vibe of the space be like? Will the beer be any good? How will this new place fit in with the community around them? The excitement of bullying up to the taproom bar the first time is one of my favorite drinking experiences. You get your first peek at a new place that will hopefully be part of the Cincinnati craft beer scene for years. The beers you sip on that first trip lay a foundation for all the beer that will come after it, and it sets the stage for how you feel about this new brewery.

DVD Brew is open in Loveland this weekend, and I had to get out there to check it out and let you know what I thought.

What is DVD Brew?

DVD Brew is the long-term project of local homebrewer Dana Depenbrock. That’s where the name comes from: Dana Vaughn Depenbrock. When Dana was looking at places to open a brewery, he bounced back and forth between Loveland and Milford before finally settling on the space that they occupy at 1555 Loveland Madeira Rd in Loveland, Ohio

Their space is an old converted carwash, and it sits in a part of Loveland that is ripe for a business like this. Hopefully, it will stretch out the crowds that sometimes clog up downtown Loveland as it is currently.

My Thoughts On The Space

When you first hear that a brewery is taking over an old carwash, it’s hard to imagine exactly what that will look like. They nailed it, though. The 5bbl brewhouse sits in a separate building that used to house an automated carwash, while the long narrow taproom occupies the bays that used to be the self-service carwash. Huge glass garage doors sit all along the street side of the taproom, with a patio that runs the length of the building.

Inside, they chose a rustic, slightly industrial feel (which shouldn’t be too unfamiliar if you’ve spent time in any number of taprooms). The decor is livened up with a whole bevy of Cincinnati and beer paraphernalia – everything from sports memorabilia to shelves of beer steins and beer signs, as you might see in any great beer lover’s basement.

On the far end of the building, one of the bays was left open outside – a space that provides perfect cover and access to food trucks, which is the brewery’s planned way to get food in your hands while you’re drinking (though, technically, they have ramen noodles to satisfy their A1A license requirements).

A long bar sits center in the space featuring several televisions and THIRTY, yes, 30 different taps along the wall behind it.

My Thoughts On DVD Brewing’s Beer

There was an apparent, conscious effort from DVD Brew to try to have a little bit of everything to ensure that it’ll be on tap no matter your favorite beer style. Several beers weren’t quite available as of the grand opening, but the way their taps are set up, you can clearly see what they are going to be – and it was fun watching folks get excited about what they’d drink the next time they stopped by the brewery.

I was surprised to see several lagers available, something that I still can’t get used to seeing when a brewery is brand new. They had several different pilsners, an Oktoberfest, and a Bock on tap—and if you know anything about my lager-loving heart, you know that is definitely speaking my language. While, like almost any brewery at its grand opening, there was room for improvement, I enjoyed everything that I tried while I was there.

I always like people-watching and listening to bar conversations while I’m having a drink. It’s one of the easiest ways to see what folks think about their experience. Sitting at DVD Brew I heard excitement that can only be compared to when a brewery moves into a part of town that hasn’t had a brewery before. The people were thrilled to have another spot to grab a beer in Loveland, and you could tell that this spot would quickly build a great bar full of regulars.

To note… one thing that I’m not a fan of – at all. Michelob Ultra was also available on draft. It’s featured right at the center of the bar with a big tall handle that stands out like a sore thumb amongst all the house beer handles that blend into the space’s decor. Craft breweries don’t need to serve macro beer. Can everyone repeat that after me until we understand it?

Craft breweries don’t need to serve macro beer.

My Overall Impressions Of DVD Brew

This place is going to be great. The beer will only improve over time. The folks behind the bar were wonderful, though they seemed to need to figure out a few processes to make things run a little smoother. Again, this will come over time and will get a little easier once the chaos of a grand opening fades.

It’s still too early to figure out how this new space will fit into the overall craft beer scene here in Cincinnati (or if they are even concerned with that community at all) – but I think that if they embrace the things that make this city’s beer scene fantastic – they’ll have a ton of success.