Congratulations, drinkers. You’ve helped our state by spending $742.7 million on 10.8 million gallons of liquor in the 2010 fiscal year. That’s an increase of $12.8 million over 2009’s total.
A report released last week by the Ohio Department of Commerce provides some detail on how the state liquor sales revenue is broken down, which includes $167 million for Ohio’s General Revenue Fund, $35.9 million for the Ohio Department of Development to fund the state’s small business loan program, $14.9 million to the Ohio Department of Development for Clean Ohio Revitalization Bonds, and millions more toward a variety of other state programs. [Read More]
The second annual Columbus Wine Festival kicked off last night outside of the Franklin Park Conservatory, and the festivities continue today from 3pm to 9pm. Over 270 wines are featured, and tickets to the event are $35 at the door, which includes 10 tasting tickets.
Below are some photos taken at last night’s event.
Via Vecchia Winery was founded in a Powell basement in 2005 by three guys with a passion for wine making. Five years later, the business is moving into a much larger facility located at 485 South Front Street in the heart of the Brewery District.
The new building will serve as a production facility, a weekend wine bar, a retail shop and a rentable special event location. “We’re keeping the speakers and lighting systems for entertainment, bands, poetry readings, weddings, corporate events and whatever else we want to do,” said co-founder Michael Elmer. [Read More]
The First Annual Columbus Beerfest kicked off last night at the Greater Columbus Convention Center, and continues this evening with more beer, music and festivities from 7pm to 11pm. The event features over 150 craft beers from both local and national brewers. Below are are photos taken at last night’s event. [Read More]
Starting in June, and running through November, The Ohio Quality Wine Program will partner with independent restaurants throughout Ohio to promote locally-produced wines. The program was established by the Ohio Grape Industries Committee, and is only open to wines produced with at least 90% Ohio-grown grapes.
The Columbus area restaurants participating include Barcelona, DeepWood, G. Michael’s, LaChatelaine, The Refectory and Tutto Vino. Each restaurant will offer a variety of wine-paired specials throughout the next six months such as five-course dinners and prix fixe menus.
The first annual Columbus Beerfest takes place this Friday and Saturday at the Columbus Convention Center. Over 150 local and national craft beers will be available for tasting, including offerings from The Elevator Brewing Company, Goose Island, Founders, Gordon Biersch, CBC, Stone Brewing Company, Barleys and more!
We’re giving away a pair of tickets to the Friday Night portion of the event. To enter to win, simply log in and post a reply to this topic and tell us about your favorite craft beer! The deadline to enter for today’s giveaway is midnight tonight. One name will be drawn at random, and the winner will receive two free will call tickets.
Both the homebrew and microbrew scenes in Columbus recently gained a notch in their belts with the opening of the Neil House Brewery & Homebrew Supply store. This Reynoldsburg-based business not only sells the supplies needed for brewing up your own beer at home, but they will also soon be selling their own batches at a store or bar near you. We recently caught up with Patrick Kelleher, Brewmaster, Owner and Founding Member of Neil House Brewery to find out more about the new operation. [Read More]
Mead may not currently be one of the most popular alcoholic beverages, but that isn’t stopping the passion that the Brothers Drake are putting into their business. The Brothers Drake Meadery started operations in 2008, but their beginnings go much further back. We recently sat down with founders Eric Drake, Woody Drake, Ben Hansen and Betty Fisher to learn more about their locally made line of honey wines. [Read More]
In this week’s podcast we sit down with James Marks, co-founder of the Columbus Beer Guys Blog, a new local resource that provides information about craft beers. Their site showcases beer events, local bars, local breweries and interviews with industry professionals. James shares with us his passion for craft beer and provides some insight on the best places to seek it out in Columbus.
You can use the player below to listen to the podcast, click here to download an mp3, click here to subscribe via iTunes, or click here to subscribe to the rss feed.
Zane Lamprey, host of the international bar-crawl show “Three Sheets” (which will be returning to the air on the Travel Channel on April 14th) is hitting the road this month on a cross-country drinking tour. According to his website, one of those stops will take place right here in Columbus:
“I’ll be in most cities for just a day. So, I’m not just interested in checking out any ol’ local bars or hang-outs… I want to know THE local bar or hang-out! What is THE bar in the city that best represents the city?”
So… if you could only recommend one bar for Zane that best represents Columbus… which bar would it be?
Congratulations, drinkers. You’ve helped our state by spending $742.7 million on 10.8 million gallons of liquor in the 2010 fiscal year. That’s an increase of $12.8 million over 2009’s total.
The second annual 
Via Vecchia Winery was founded in a Powell basement in 2005 by three guys with a passion for wine making. Five years later, the business is moving into a much larger facility located at 485 South Front Street in the heart of the Brewery District.
(Photos by 
Starting in June, and running through November, The Ohio Quality Wine Program will partner with independent restaurants throughout Ohio to promote locally-produced wines. The program was established by the Ohio Grape Industries Committee, and is only open to wines produced with at least 90% Ohio-grown grapes.
The first annual Columbus Beerfest takes place this Friday and Saturday at the Columbus Convention Center. Over 150 local and national craft beers will be available for tasting, including offerings from The Elevator Brewing Company, Goose Island, Founders, Gordon Biersch, CBC, Stone Brewing Company, Barleys and more!
Both the homebrew and microbrew scenes in Columbus recently gained a notch in their belts with the opening of the Neil House Brewery & Homebrew Supply store. This Reynoldsburg-based business not only sells the supplies needed for brewing up your own beer at home, but they will also soon be selling their own batches at a store or bar near you. We recently caught up with Patrick Kelleher, Brewmaster, Owner and Founding Member of Neil House Brewery to find out more about the new operation. 
Mead may not currently be one of the most popular alcoholic beverages, but that isn’t stopping the passion that the Brothers Drake are putting into their business. The Brothers Drake Meadery started operations in 2008, but their beginnings go much further back. We recently sat down with founders Eric Drake, Woody Drake, Ben Hansen and Betty Fisher to learn more about their locally made line of honey wines. 
In this week’s podcast we sit down with James Marks, co-founder of the 
Zane Lamprey, host of the international bar-crawl show “
