One of the first attempts at really creating a Cincinnati brewing powerhouse in the “craft beer boom” of the ’90s. The Queen City Brewing Company grew very quickly, very fast, and it’s been said that their desire to expand quickly was their failure. A respectable 11-year run came to an end in 2005 with the closing of Blue Ash’s Watson Brother’s Brewhouse. This was a sign of the times around the country, with so many cities seeing meteoric growth of craft breweries and brewpubs, immediately followed by heartbreaking failure. Who knows what this city’s craft beer scene would look like today if the Queen City Brewing Company had succeeded?

Also, make note, that this is not the more recent Queen City Brewing Company of Cincinnati, which was a modern startup that used a similar name, although fun trivia – when the modern Queen City was open, they found themselves operating about a mile and half from the location of where Watson Brothers brewery once was.

Also… more fun trivia.  Firehouse Grill and Brewery is another new brewery that now operates in the exact building that Watson Brothers was once in… the circle continues.

Timeline

  • 1994 – The Queen City Brewing Company opens up their first brewpub with the Main Street Brewery
  • 1996 – They open up two new brewpubs, Watson Brothers Brewhouse and Teller’s of Hyde Park
  • 1997 – They install a 30bbl Specific Mechanical brewhouse at 218 W McMicken, in the old Jackson Brewery bottling plant, however, this was the first year they also posted a loss instead of a profit.
  • 1998 – The second year of a net loss forces them to close the production facility and put expansion plans for Cleveland and Chicago on hold.
  • 1999 – The QCBC changes its name to the Queen City Restaurant Group.
  • 1999 – The new Queen City Restaurant Group closes the Main Street Brewery and reopens it as the Jump Cafe & Bar.
  • 2001 – They open Bella, next to the Arnoff Center.
  • 2005 – Losing their brewing license, they close their last brewing operation, Watson Brothers.
  • 2006 – Teller’s becomes a stand-alone restaurant, and Bella closes.