Yesterday was Cincinnati’s first official Brewing Heritage Day. Although beer from several area breweries was available for tasting, official programs were essentially limited to two breweries near the city’s downtown. Actually, to be entirely honest, almost all special Brewing Heritage Day activities and displays were confined to the larger of the two.

I went first to the other one. Northern Row Brewery & Distillery had the day’s special flights available, and I believe some tours originated there, but the bulk of the attractions were around the corner. I enjoyed a Redlegger Amber Ale, then moved on.

There is obviously some pretty major work in progress on the exterior of Rhinegeist Brewery. The building was once the Christian Moerlein Brewing Company bottling plant. Inside, Brett Stakelin provided entertainment. In preparation for today, a single keg of Moerlein Lager had been aged in the lagering tunnels of the former Jackson Brewery and I was there in time to get a pint.

The Cincinnati Museum Center had a table filled with brewing memorabilia, and beside it was a virtual reality demonstration with visuals of the tunnels where the beer I’d just drunk was aged. Adjacent to the taproom, lots of informative panels from the American Museum of Brewing, a project of the Brewing Heritage Trail that is currently looking for a home. A conference room held hourly presentations. I was there as John Piening shared family and personal history from the Burger, Shoenling, Hudepohl, and other breweries. During Piening’s talk, very heavy rain broke loose and after a while the old roof began to leak. I took a picture of where it was dripping on the table but was so close that it looks more like a shiny surface than a wet surface.

I was working my way toward the exit when I encountered a Sausage Princess. I greeted her as Sausage Queen but was quickly corrected. I believe Sausage Princesses are those selected to represent various establishments in the annual competition for the Queen who reigns over Bockfest. Before I could verify that or ask her name, she turned the conversation to the Wooly Pig Brewery whose T-shirt I was wearing. She had only recently learned of the brewery and considered it a place she definitely needs to visit.

The rain had let up considerably by the time I stepped outside, but it had not stopped. However, the construction scaffolding kept me dry for the start of my walk to the car. Before I exited the dry tunnel, I snapped a picture of one of the tour groups braving the elements in search of knowledge.