Local, Local, Local!

Written By: The Gnarly Gnome

There have been plenty of places in Cincinnati that have tried to throw their own beer festivals, or an event that leans heavily into the craft beer community as a way to get more butts in seats. I don’t blame them, and I can’t say that it’s bad. Sometimes, those events are awesome. Let’s make this clear right off the top of things: That is not at all what Local, Local, Local is.

The Origins

Back in 2011, when Arnold’s first planned Local, Local, Local, it was done as a way to celebrate a very small craft brewery scene in Cincinnati. You have to remember back to what the craft beer scene looked like at that time, before places we now know as cornerstones of craft beer in this city (Places like Rhinegeist and MadTree were still years away…), it was tiny. In the middle of this small but exciting community, the city’s oldest bar threw a party that wasn’t some promo night or some ticketed event designed to capitalize on a growing trend… they actually got it.

It was genuine, it felt good, and they never stopped.

This Year’s Celebration

This year’s celebration brings together 16 different local breweries, and it’s hard to imagine thinking back to that very first event when 16 different local breweries would even be possible. The event has evolved as much to showcase how much things have grown in the local community as it is to support it.

In addition to the beer itself (which we’ll talk about in just a moment), they’ll have plenty of beer reps, brewers, and friends on hand to share beers, hang out, and swap stories. The fun will be set to a soundtrack of bluegrass music thanks to the band ‘Moonshine Drive,’ and it’s going to be an absolute ton of fun.

The Beer

While the event is necessarily about the beer… It’s hard not to admit that the beer plays a massive role in an evening like this. I mentioned that there would be 16 breweries on hand, but even better than that: every single pour will be $4.

Four-dollar beers – which, with how chaotic the economy has been lately, means that this event is just as much to support drinkers as it is the folks who make the drinks.

On hand all night, beers from these local spots:

• Braxton
• Brink
• Christian Moerlein
• Fifty West
• Fretboard
• Grainworks
• Karrikin
• Little Kings
• MadTree
• Northern Row
• Rhinegeist
• Sonder
• Urban Artifact
• Wandering Monsters
• West Side
• Wiedemann’s

Did I mention four-dollar beers?

If any of this sounds good to you, and it definitely should, you might want to clear your calendar for January 31st, starting at 6 pm.