I reported back in February about a little brewing operation that popped up (seemingly overnight) out in Mt. Orab Ohio, and have finally made it out to pick up their beer to try.

If you aren’t familiar, Mt. Orab is a little town that sits about 40 miles east of Cincinnati with a population of about 3700 people or so.  They are just on the border, if not just past it for what I consider “Cincinnati”…but they are close enough that I think they deserve mention along with the rest of our beer scene here.  The brewery is located inside a renovated historic space.  The building from what I have read used to be the Moon Buggy Factory. You can read a little bit more about what I know of their backstory in my original article here: for our purpose today, we’re going to talk about the beer.

About The Beers

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  Orabian Dark – Obviously the name comes from it’s existence in Mt. Orab, this beer isn’t a porter or stout like you’d expect with the “dark name” – instead it’s a Mild.  That being said, it’s pretty tasty.  It has a nice full sweet malt character.  This one had a very bready quality to it.

• Bronco Beer – An Irish red, this was pretty sweet, which I imagine makes it a fun beer to pair with some of the food that they offer in the restaurant.  Some slight toasted flavors are present, but not enough to offend the “macro-drinking” crowd.  Easy drinking is the best way to describe this.
• Golden Buggy – I was torn on this beer for a big reason… I got an infected bottle.  When I popped the top it started gushing immediately.  The highly carbonated beer was puckeringly sour…but that being said… I loved it.  Keep in mind though that the beer is supposed to be slightly hoppy and sweet, so my opinion of it is as tainted as the beer was.

So.  The verdict?  I suppose it’s still out for a couple reasons… the biggest being that got a bad bottle, and I don’t think it’s fair to judge the beer based on that.  I also think that a massive part of Bardwell’s personality is their restaurant.  I think the beer stands much better in the environment that it’s made, so until I get out there for dinner some time, and try the beers in that space, I will refrain from forming a complete opinion about it.

Either way, I wish them the best of luck, they hold a very important place in the Cincinnati scene, even being a little outside of Cincinnati.