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BrewDog 'DogHouse' Columbus

Posted: Fri Jul 21, 2023 11:14 am
by Cass
I was on a family road trip this week and engineered a night on the way back at the BrewDog hotel in Columbus, somewhere I've always wanted to go.

I have mixed feelings about BrewDog in general, with all their controversies which are numerous and well-documented. And frankly I can't say I've ever been a huge fan of their beers - they don't really rise to the quality of their hype in my mind.

However, I have to admit that their Columbus brewery & hotel is a cool place. It's on a massive suburban property with the brewery itself, a big taproom, retail store, hotel rooms, a lobby bar and a "beer museum" which mixes the history of beer and BrewDog with how the brewing process works. It's dog friendly, there's lots of space including a few ponds, parkland and lots of sitting areas and places to explore.

They have many nice touches, such as a free beer upon check in, and a free "stout and cookies" happy hour in the evening. Although the main taproom closes at 10pm/11pm depending on the night, the hotel lobby bar is open until 2am. Free buffet breakfast w/ beermosas in the mornings. All the hotel rooms either face or open onto their barrel & foeder room. A ton of stuff to keep a family entertained, such as cornhole, shuffleboard, pinball machines, giant jenga, etc.

I was impressed with this place - it was very cool and we had an enjoyable night. I have to say I'm a bit puzzled that the U.S. market supports a facility this large - in my travels around the U.S. I don't remember seeing BrewDog much around, but maybe I'm just never really looking for it. I can't say that the "BrewDog ethos" is really my personal vibe, but a nice spot nonetheless and one I would visit again. Really the only drawback is that it's in the suburbs, and the bartenders told me it was about a $30 uber ride to downtown. So not really conducive for exploring the downtown spots unless you want to trek around.

Also, the much-promoted in-room draft taps isn't really a thing anymore. The staff admitted that it's too challenging to maintain the kegerators and they are only available in the suites, upon request. But there's no shortage of ways to drink here!

I did shoot some video while I was there so might try and whip together A Quick Beer :)