It’s no secret that I, like most of America, love craft beer!  One of the gems in Cincinnati is Fifty West Brewing Co.  Located on the east side of the city, they have a wonderful selection of house brews and a good menu to match.  What I love most, is that they have a great variety beyond the typical IPA-heavy selections you see elsewhere.  Still, I started with the Petroglyph Pale Ale, which was aromatic, slightly hoppy and had a good bitter finish.  My wife went with the Fuzzy Feeling Golden Ale, a crisp fruity light beer with a good apricot flavor.  You could drink that one all day – it just tastes like summer!

The atmosphere is warm and comfortable in the bar and the restaurant.  They also have patio space as well as a shuffleboard table room with additional bar seats.  We sat in the bar area and started with a couple of appetizers.  The Pretzels & Pimento Cheese are salty, warm and buttery.  The pimento cheese isn’t memorable, but it was definitely good.  We also tried the Cornmeal Crusted Goetta Balls.  For those that aren’t from here, goetta is a pork product made with spices and cut oats.  It’s served all different ways, but in this application it makes for a creamy “sausage-like” center in contrast to a crispy exterior.  Dipped in grain mustard, these were delicious, but really heavy – they could totally be an entree.

We decided to split an entree and the Brontosaurus Beef Rib with Gouda Grits was really good.  This is a huge piece of slow-cooked meat with a great outside char.  Pull pieces of this rib away from the bone with just a fork and make sure you get some of the great Carolina-style BBQ sauce with each bite.  It was moist, smokey and was complimented really well by the creamy grits and crunchy cole slaw.  It’s a huge portion and I think you’d be hard-pressed to polish this thing off on your own.  It would be a lot of fun trying though!

Overall, it was another excellent meal at one of our favorites.  The menu has a lot of great choices and I highly recommend the wings and the mussels – especially the mussels!!  Brewmaster Blake Horsburgh and Chef John Tomain will keep you coming back again and again for new beers and seasonal menus.  Check out their website fiftywestbrew.com and grab a growler at their location or one of the other outlets they distribute to around the city.  You will be as big a fan as I am!  Oh, I almost forgot to tell you to stop in for “Penny Tuesdays” when you flip for every beer and either pay full price or just a penny – either way, you’ll come out a winner…