A Cincinnati underground brewery tour can take you through caverns that offer a glimpse of the area's beer history.
Interested in a Cincinnati underground brewery tour? The Brewing Heritage Trail offers a variety of options!
We took the Brewing and Distilling Tasting Tour, which includes a visit to Northern Row Brewery and Distillery, as well as an abandoned beer cave (at the former Jackson Brewery). The tour then finishes up at Rhinegeist Brewery.
Let’s start with the most interesting of the three: the underground caverns.
What Is an Underground Brewery (Beer Cave)?
Before mechanical refrigeration was available, some beer brewers used underground tunnels or man-made caves to chill and ferment their lagers.
In Cincinnati, this practice is now basically obsolete, so from what we could tell, any beer caves you tour are abandoned storage areas.
In other places, underground storage is still being used, like in this wine cave we toured in Sonoma.
Safety Concerns + Liability Waivers on an Underground Brewery Tour
When you book an underground brewery tour, you’ll likely be sent a digital liability waiver so that the tour company isn’t legally responsible if you get hurt. Why?
These tours go into buildings that are incredibly old and not up to current codes. Some of the tours include steep staircases.
Despite the waiver, I wasn’t concerned.
That said, I admit I did raise an eyebrow when I saw where the beer cave we were visiting was located.
Our tour visited the (now abandoned, non-functional) Jackson Brewery. The large brick brewery building caught on fire a while back, and the remains stand directly above the beer cave.
Is that completely safe to visit? I honestly have no idea, but my guess is no. And yet, in we went.
What’s the Underground Cavern Like?
It's cold, damp and dark. This location has been updated to include some electric lights, though.
There were crumbling remains around, and some stone, wood, and old rusting equipment. There were also spots of puddled water on the floor and uneven flooring.
It was a fun experience to wander the dark spaces, which went back quite a bit farther than I expected.
It was also a bit unsettling, especially if you started thinking about the brick ruins directly overhead. At one spot, there was an opening where you could see up into the ruins above.
Other Stops on Our Cincinnati Underground Brewery Tour
The Brewing & Distilling Tour with Brewing Heritage Trail also included a brief distillery tour and a brewery tour, although the underground caverns at the former Jackson Brewery were definitely the tour highlight.
You'll be walking from one facility to the next, but all three stops (Northern Row, Jackson Brewery, and Rhinegeist) are within a block or two of each other in the Over the Rhine District.
Northern Row Tour
Before you get to the caverns, the tour actually starts at Northern Row, which is both a brewery and a distillery.
It produces lager, ale, gin, whiskey, rum, and vodka.
The distillery tour was pretty high-level, with a brief overview of all types of distilled beverages (not just what Northern Row makes).
We then got a small tasting: we tried two gins and a rum.
After the tour, we returned to Northern Row for a late lunch and to try some of their beer. If you’re hungry after a tour, this is a great option!
They have a very comfortable taproom and dining area.
I enjoyed a turkey wrap alongside a glass of beer.
Looking for more food options in Over the Rhine? We loved the tacos and drinks at Bakersfield, and had delicious coffee at Redtree!
Rhinegeist Tour
Our time at Rhinegeist (the final stop on the tour) was also a high-level explanation of how beer is made, along with a tasting.
Instead of a flight, we got a glass of Rhinegeist beer of our choosing, which was pretty nice.
Rhinegeist is just about two blocks north of the historic Findlay Market, another Cincinnati landmark well worth visiting!
Which Cincinnati Underground Brewery Tour Should I Choose?
There are quite a few tour companies that can take you to the underground beer caverns of Cincinnati.
My recommendation would be to read the description carefully, especially if you’re concerned about navigating stairs or uneven terrain.
As for the specific tour we took, I loved the beer cavern portion, but since I’ve already done SO MANY distillery and brewery tours, these high-level tours were a bit less interesting to me. Because of that, the 2.5- to 3-hour tour seemed overly long.
I found myself wishing I’d done a shorter tour just of the caverns, and then done a tasting at the other locations on my own.
Either way, the underground beer caverns in Cincinnati are really interesting and worth visiting! Was there a tour you did here that you loved?
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