All About Municipal Brew Works

Municipal Brew Works brought beer to a part of Cincinnati that was absolutely desperate for it, and they continue to serve their community with a dedication that you can’t help but smile about. They love fundraisers to give back to Hamilton, and they pride themselves in becoming part of the revival of a city that was on the verge of something big when they chose their location.

Head Brewer Sean Willingham teams up with a great group of people who are all deeply dedicated to not just brewing true-to-style brews but to keeping the styles on tap varied and easy to drink, as well.

Municipal Brew Works is very, very much representative of the new era of what downtown Hamilton, Ohio is all about!

What’s Municipal Like?

Municipal Brew Works has two taprooms both of which are familiar, yet with their own personalities, too.

The original taproom and production system is housed in the city’s old Municipal Building, more specifically inside Fire Station #2, and it maintains the feeling of that. Their space lends unique touches that you won’t find in many places… their boiler is housed in the former police department firing range, the grain room is in an old vault, and upstairs in the building, there are even jail cells. It’s nuts (in a really fun way). The taproom is just one part of the Municipal experience, though. The brewery has one of the biggest and best patios in a Cincy taproom, and it gets hopping in the warm summer months.

Their second taproom which opened in October of 2022 is located across the river in the Spooky Nook sports complex. It’s a bigger taproom, with a smaller pilot brewhouse. Maintaining a lot of the same concrete and exposed steel that you find in the original space – it immediately feels familiar if you’ve been drinking at Municipal before. The space is a little more low-key and comfortable than their original space.

The Municipal Brew Works Timeline

June 8, 2016 – The brewery hosts its grand opening ceremony, even with a surprise announcement it’s a packed event, with wall-to-wall people filling the patio and taproom.
March 2017 – Municipal signs with a distributor, Great Eagle, to make their beer available outside of their taproom in Ohio.
6/10/2017 – Not just celebrating their first anniversary, the brewery uses this day to release their first packaged beer, an Imperial Stout called Anniversary Series #1 (You can see more about their packaged releases here)
2/17/18 – The first barrel-aged release from Municipal is packaged and released, called ‘Long Slumber’ an Old Ale.
June 2019 – The brewery releases its first three canned beers as part of a test run (which ends up being very successful, and leads to their cans headed into the market)
10/1/22 – Municipal’s second brewery and taproom opens in Spooky Nook across the river.