It’s always fun to celebrate an anniversary with a brewery. It might even be more fun when it’s a tiny place like NEW Ales, and it might still be even more, more fun when you think about all that the last two years have thrown at small businesses like theirs.
The brewery (if you haven’t been paying attention) is located up in Middletown, and definitely lay claim to fame as the smallest in town. There is something that is really special about nano-breweries, and they have managed to own it in a way that warms my beer-loving soul every time I get a chance to drink their beer.
The Anniversary
It’s hard to figure out how you should celebrate your anniversary when you’re a brewery in Cincinnati. Sometimes I think it can feel like everything has been done, and an anniversary celebration can just feel like any other event – which it definitely shouldn’t be.
NEW Ales isn’t doing something that will get some big write-up in Brewbound, or get folks from across the beer universe jumping on planes to venture to Middletown Ohio to visit – but they paid attention to the people that matter the most.
Their customers.
Every single fall, people go nuts for ‘OMG Becky Look At That Pumpkin’ – the pumpkin beer from NEW Ales. People flip their lids over this beer – and it’s one of a few that they are doing special releases of during the weekend celebration.
They are also releasing a farmhouse ale aged on Pinot Grapes, and their ‘Sittin on the Nibs’ Pastry Stout. This is a party that is built around the beers, and the ideas that so many loyal folks have fallen in love with.
What You Should Understand About NEW Ales
NEW Ales isn’t like the other places that you’ll visit around Cincinnati.
On the beer side… things are really good. I recognize in Cincinnati that it’s become a bit of an expectation – but that doesn’t mean it’s the norm. These guys are super, super small – that doesn’t always lend to having the best beer. There are a lot of variables when you’re making tiny batches of beer. But they are brewing great beer.
On top of it tasting good, it’s actually fun stuff, too. NEW Ales is not afraid to brew trendy styles, play around with new things and actually brew beer that fits into the bigger picture of Cincinnati’s growing beer scene. For a nano-brewery… that’s again… surprising.
The taproom is in an old house, it’s small – it’s intimate, I guess. Next to that, though – NEW Ales put in an excellent shaded beer garden. Maybe it’s part of the product of opening your doors during 2020’s chaos – but it doesn’t feel like what you would expect it to.
In fact, so many little pieces of NEW Ales one by one are so unexpected that when you put it all together – NEW Ales sort of blows your mind a bit. It’s a special place that deserves not just to raise a pint and celebrate, but to have a few folks around this city that maybe haven’t been up there to make it a conscious point to do it to help them celebrate.
The Details
While you can certainly hit up their taproom anytime to raise a pint with them – It’s way more fun if you do it during their anniversary party. It all goes down next weekend (May 20th) – but I have a sneaking suspicion that it’s going to feel celebratory all weekend long.