Columbus is a fun city in the center of Ohio—a sentence I never thought I would say!
Cbus Tips:
Remember every time you are planning a trip to the Midwest—you will enjoy your time more if you go from May-October. Winter can be brutal!
There is a thriving beer scene here! Be sure to plan ahead because you’ll want to target your ideal breweries, it would be nearly impossible to hit them all in one trip!
Snag a Columbus Ale Trail booklet from pretty much any brewery to get stamps for your purchases and earn free swag!
Ohio State University is located here so be conscious of football/graduation seasons when planning your trip! [Also be sure to yell Go Green for me if you’re there when they play Michigan State!]
Columbus definitely has some rough areas so be aware and be safe.
Exploring Ohio? Check out my guides to Cincinnati, Dayton and Cleveland!
Adventures & Ales Top Recommendations:
Pretentious Barrel House: This brewery makes all barrel aged beers and they are absolutely fantastic! They’ve also got a ton of games in the back to entertain you while you sip your sours including corn hole, darts, and arcade games!
Hoof Hearted Brewing: A hype brewery mainly known for their IPAs which are super tasty, but everything they make is generally great. They have two locations in the Columbus area:
Marengo, Ohio: Their original location is about 30 minutes northeast of Columbus. They have Oak Hill BBQ onsite, an arcade, front and back patios, and overall chill vibes. This is basically in the middle of nowhere but it is a cool spot to check out.
Italian Village Neighborhood: Their downtown spot has fun vibes and even a pool that you can pay $10 to hang out at if you’re not a member of the gym it’s connected to.
Land Grant Brewing Company: Yummy beers, a massive outdoor beer garden space, and tons of TVs. They also have frequent live music and outdoor movies during the summer months! Rayrays Hog Pit lives onsite for your BBQ needs.
Gemut Biergarten: A great German biergarten with traditional German food (read: great pretzel) and solid beers.
Lineage Brewing: A very chill spot with a full food menu without exuding ‘restaurant’ vibes. They’ve also got wine and cocktails for your non-beer friends and frequently host events.
Emmett’s Café: A fantastic neighborhood café in the Brewery District of Columbus. They have fantastic breakfast/brunch/lunch and coffees and a great outdoor patio in the back. Highly recommend!
North High Brewing: Super delicious beers at this brewery located in the Short North Arts District. You can also brew your own beer here which is a super fun concept! It can get quite loud and crazy on the weekends as a forewarning.
Henmick Farm & Brewery: A farm-style brewery in Deleware, Ohio just north of Columbus. They have an extremely nice set up both indoors and out and great beers. There is usually a food truck or you can also bring your own food.
Wolf’s Ridge Brewing: There are two different entrances to Wolf’s Ridge, one for the taproom and one for the restaurant, so decide what kind of mood you are in and go in the correct door! The taproom side has a smaller food menu and you can get beer from both sides of course!
2 Tones Brewing: Delicious beers and a super friendly staff. Worth adventuring out of central Columbus for!
Somewhere in Particular Brewing: A funky brewery with a nice outdoor space and average beers. They’ve also got a full food menu if you’re hungry!
Zaftig Brewing: This brewery also has two locations—the original is just north of the city and the newer spot is downtown. During my first visit to the original spot the beers were super impressive and the staff was incredibly friendly. During my visit to the downtown location the beers were not good and the service was terrible. Take that as you will!
Pretentious Barrel House
The Classic Tourist Spots Actually Worth Visiting:
The Book Loft: A giant bookstore with 32 rooms and a cute garden out front!
Stauf’s Coffee Roasters is located right next door with delicious coffees and pastries!
These are located in the German Village neighborhood which is cute and has several German bars and restaurants
Scioto Mile: Several parks along the river downtown. It makes for a lovely walk/run/bike ride!
Bicentennial Park: If it is summertime and you’ve got kids with you on your trip this is the perfect park to hang out in with water features for them to play in
North Market: Classic food hall/farmer’s market combo in the heart of the city
Jeni’s Ice Cream is located here and will forever be one of my favorite ice cream spots!
Barrel and Bottle is a beer shop—you can get a beer on tap and “sip and stroll” the market with it if you want!
Short North Arts District: A fun neighborhood downtown with all kinds of restaurants, bars, coffee shops, and stores to wander!
Take a day trip or weekend trip to Hocking Hills! This gorgeous state park is just an hour southeast of Columbus. Check out my recommendations here!
Hoof Hearted Brewing
Other ideas:
Mission Coffee Co: Cute industrial coffee shop in the Short North Arts District neighborhood
Endeavor Brewing: I loved the adventure theme at Endeavor but their beers were just average. They had a bunch of board games and they host soccer viewing parties too!
Seventh Son Brewing: Located just up the street from Hoof Hearted’s downtown location, this brewery has a rooftop bar and frequent food trucks.
Platform Beer Co: Solid beers, rooftop space, and a little off the beaten path. They’ve got darts and several board games for entertainment. Heads up you have to pay for metered parking here. Unfortunately they sold out to big beer, so support small and local first.
BrewDog: A Scottish brewery with several outposts in the Columbus area. This brewery has faced a lot of issues with sexism and discrimination, so please support somewhere else first. Prior to all of these issues were surfaced I visited the Franklinton location which is right across the street from Land Grant Brewing. At this location the downstairs had more of a restaurant vibe with a full food menu and upstairs was a rooftop bar. The Doghouse, BrewDog’s craft beer hotel is also located in Columbus.
There are a TON of other breweries in the area if you have a longer trip—over 45! Check out the map here.
