Rivertown has been a staple in the brewing community here in Cincinnati for countless years and they are on the verge of opening the doors of their brand new Monroe Production Facility! Their original location has been nestled in Lockland for 7 years. It’s nice and cozy, but who doesn’t like a shiny new 26,000 square foot humongous facility! Their new digs are located a bit north up the highway at 6550 Hamilton – Lebanon Road, Middletown, OH 45044 and will be new neighbors with Figleaf and Dogberry. I got the chance to personally check out the new location this week and I have to say the excitement and energy is real.

The Taproom

The taproom and restaurant space is huge, with warming wood accents mixed with an industrial feel. You can’t help but feel like you just got home when you walked in. The space can accommodate 208 guests at any given time with more space outside on the patio (which I will talk about a little later). The Rivertown Monroe Facility is more than just a simple taproom, they will feature a robust menu of food including appetizers, BBQ, burgers, and other entrees. While I was not allowed to post the menu here I can say that it’s absolutely killer. This place is going to be a one stop shop for amazing beer and good food all around.

The taproom itself will sport 30 taps along a lenghty bar with plenty of seating. At any given time at least 20 of the taps will be flowing with Rivertown beers and the remainder will be guest taps from friends around Cincinnati and Dayton. At least four of the Rivertown taps will be dedicated to their wild, funky beers at all times and if you aren’t in the mood for a beer they’ll always have root beer on tap that’s made in house, Pepsi products, and coffee from LaTerza to quench your thirst. In addition to beer, Rivertown will be serving up wine from Valley Vineyards, spirits featuring Watershed and Stillwrights and Kombucha from their Lockland neighbors Fab Ferments. Rivertown want’s to keep what they serve in the taproom as local as possible which is incredible.

The Patio

Rivertown Monroe also has an extensive outdoor patio with room for tons of tables and chairs complete with a concrete bar with 24 taps! I can’t wait for this nasty weather to go away so I can enjoy a nice cold beer out here. As time continues they will also be developing the outside further to allow more room in a brand new beer garden. They’ve got two acres to play with and that’s a lot of room for activities.

The Brewery

The brewery production area is simply massive. Rivertown plans to be at 25,000 – 30,000 bbls per year with the ability to expand up to 150,000 bbls. That’s an enormous amount of beer! They might be opening on Friday, but as you can see the brand new brewing system hasn’t been completed just yet. They will begin installing the new system at the end of the month and will be moving their two 100 barrel fermenters along with their bottling line over from the Lockland brewery.

So what does that mean for the original Rivertown location? Don’t you worry beer lovers, the plans for the O.G. Rivertown location are rather exciting. They will be installing a new, smaller brew house that will serve as a pilot and test batch platform. Brewers and staff will have time to play around with new creations that will end up being served at both locations. They are really excited to cut the staff loose on the smaller system to get some creative suds flowing. With a smaller brewery footprint at the old spot, Rivertown plans to renovate the extra space into a huge event center for parties, weddings, meetings, or whatever other events you might need a lot of space and amazing beer in the same spot. This space will also host special Rivertown events as well. The Lockland brewery will not be left in the dust my friends. This will be a new birth on two fronts and I can’t wait to see how it all turns out.

The Grand Opening

Rivertown Monroe will be opening this Friday, January 20 at 4pm. They will have their full menu available and every tap will be flowing. Normally with a brand new brewery this is where I would be talking about the new beers they planned on having at the grand opening. Well, Rivertown has been around a while so how about some old beers? As in, beers they’ve been holding onto for this special occasion. They’ll be slinging some of their 2015 Geuze, Pear Lambic, and Ojos Negros along with their Brett fermented Brett T-Shirt Contest and their Chicago Breakfast Stout that they brewed with Quaff Bros. A couple of new beers will also make an appearance that night for the first time: a new Rye IPA called F0x Rye-PA with tons of rye and mosaic hops and Tequilana Sunrise infused with cherry juice! If that doesn’t make you want to get to their grand opening I don’t know what will.

In Conclusion

I always love to see our beloved Cincinnati breweries expanding and I love to see new breweries come into the mix even more. But what excites me the most is seeing breweries like Rivertown, FigLeaf and Dogberry come into play in the northern suburbs to help start bridging the gap between Cincinnati and Dayton. Both of our cities are amidst a craft beer revolution and what better way to feed the flames of innovation and excitement than to start building that bridge between us. Sharing is indeed caring and I can see nothing but good things coming from mixing up our awesome craft beer communities.

I asked Lindsey Roeper, Dream Facilitator and wife of founder Jason Roeper, what she would like to say to the community now that they are about to open the doors to a new chapter in the Rivertown story and here’s what she had to say: “Dream Big, Dream Beer! Dream Big Dream Beer is about not only dreaming big but manifesting the belief that anything is possible and making it happen – it’s all about hard work, purpose, excellence and tenacity. It’s been a crazy journey and seeing our team come together to make it happen has been nothing short of inspiring. We’re so excited to share our space with you all and look forward to all the shared exBEERiences to come!”

The crew at Rivertown have done a fantastic job at building a solid space that will welcome the masses into their family. Their dedication and excitement for what they do is amazing. I am excited for what’s happened so far in the Rivertown story and I an beyond excited to see where this next chapter will lead. Join me in congratulating them for a job well done. I hope to see you all at the grand opening!

Cheers!

Bonus Photos!