CINCINNATI — Adam Bankovich joined Rhinegeist Brewery in October 2022 because the fast-growing beer maker’s chief business officer. However his private connection to the Over-the-Rhine brewery dates to when it opened 10 years in the past.
Bankovich, who’s doubling as the corporate’s interim CEO, fondly recollects spending time with his household there shortly after the brewery opened in June 2013. He and his spouse proudly confirmed off their then-newborn daughter to family and friends who made the journey to hang around on the new brewery.
That very same little one, now 10, has two youthful siblings who repeatedly dart round Rhinegeist, taking part in cornhole on its sprawling taproom ground and consuming snacks from Native Cantina, the in-house taqueria.
“It’s been a lot of full circle, pinch me sort of moments in the short time I’ve been with the company,” Bankovich stated about his new “office job.”
Bankovich’s expertise isn’t distinctive. Over the previous decade, tens of 1000’s of Cincinnatians, vacationers and beer fans have made pilgrimages to Ohio’s second-largest craft brewery.
To mark its aluminum anniversary, Rhinegeist will host a competition inside its taproom and rooftop deck on Saturday, June 17.
What You Want To Know
- Since 2013, Rhinegeist has labored to turn into one of many largest craft breweries within the nation
- To have fun its 10 years in enterprise, Rhinegeist is internet hosting a tenth anniversary occasion at its Over-the-Rhine headquarters
- Cincinnati leaders credit score Rhinegeist with serving to to spur catalytic improvement in an underdeveloped a part of OTR
- Regardless of rising distribution to 11 states, Rhinegeist officers vocalized their want to stay “Cincy Made”
As a part of the all-day “Now and Ten” celebration, Rhinegeist invited beer lovers from throughout the area as they take a suds-soaked stroll down reminiscence lane and in addition provide a glimpse at what lies forward for one of many area’s largest craft brewers.
Rhinegeist workers deliberate an anniversary beer backyard, an interactive timeline of the brewery’s historical past and a number of other themed taproom activations based mostly on a few of its hottest manufacturers.
The corporate’s brewers created a pair of limited-run birthday beers: TENfinity and Past!, a fruited bitter ale accessible within the taproom, and Now and Ten, a Thiolized IPA served in 16-ounce cans and on draft.
Bankovich described Thiolized as having “exceptionally vivid tropical fruit aromas” and “expressive notes” of passionfruit, mango and blueberry.
Celebrating a decade and past
For Rhinegeist founders Bob Bonder and Bryant Goulding, the journey to this milestone represents the fruition of greater than a decade of planning, onerous work and dreaming.
Bonder didn’t relocate from San Francisco to Cincinnati in 2007 to start out a brewery. On the time, his focus was on creating a series of regional espresso roasteries known as Tazza Mia.
However after spending time in OTR and studying in regards to the neighborhood’s historic connection to beer-making, Bonder explored the feasibility of opening a brewery.
Rhinegeist took over a former brewery packing corridor as its headquarters in 2013. (Spectrum News 1/Casey Weldon)
Rhinegeist means “Ghost of the Rhine” in German. It’s a reference to OTR’s historic connections to brewing tradition and German heritage, Bankovich stated.
In August 2011, Bonder enlisted the assistance of Goulding, a fellow West Coaster and former enterprise colleague. Goulding had a ardour for beer; he home-brewed on weekends and repeatedly traveled up and down the Pacific Coast, hitting up breweries and beer festivals. He’d additionally labored at Anderson Valley Brewing Firm in Mendocino County, Calif., and Dogfish Head, managing its West Coast gross sales enterprise.
After a visit to Cincinnati, Goulding joined Bonder there in July 2021.
Bonder and Goulding selected the 250,000-square-foot web site at 1910 Elm St. partly due to its connection to town’s wealthy brewing custom, Bankovich stated. The town-block-long warehouse previously functioned as Christian Moerlein’s packaging corridor.
“They saw this building and fell in love with it,” Bankovich stated of Bonder and Goulding, who at this time serves as president and vice chairman of Rhinegeist’s board.
“They knew the heritage of Cincinnati and what brewing meant to Over-the-Rhine and greater Cincinnati area pre-prohibition,” Bankovich added. “So, to find this building that’s rooted in brewing history … means everything.”
Rising together with OTR
Rhinegeist opened June 29, 2013 — precisely 3,638 days earlier than Saturday’s anniversary occasion.
Greater than 2,000 company got here by that door on the primary day. They’d solely 4 beers to select from: Uncle; Cougar; a now-defunct hoppy wheat known as Spikelet; and the brewery’s flagship IPA, Reality.
Bonder and Goulding anticipated an enormous day, Bankovich stated, however he famous they had been nonetheless working by some kinks on the time.
They relied on a handful of family and friends to work the door, pour beers and acquire money. The team recollects having to make an emergency run to what’s now Exhausting Rock On line casino to get extra $1 payments.
Bob Bonder and Bryant Goulding began Rhinegeist believing Cincinnati was a great market given its wealthy beer and brewing historical past. (Picture courtesy of Rhinegeist Brewery)
Brendon Cull remembers Rhinegeist’s humble origin story. He first tried one in all their beers — an Uncle — again when Bonder and Goulding had been operating faucets by coolers at events to construct the brewery’s model.
“It’s hard to believe that it has only been 10 years because Rhinegeist feels as much a part of Cincinnati as Skyline or Graeter’s,” stated Cull, president and CEO of the Cincinnati USA Regional Chamber.
In some methods, the expansion of Rhinegeist mirrored the continued modifications in OTR. A culturally wealthy space, the neighborhood had skilled many years of disinvestment earlier than a surge of improvement {dollars} across the identical interval that the brewery opened.
Throughout these early days, Rhinegeist served as a “hub” in a still-developing a part of OTR north of Liberty Road, Bankovich stated. It hosted an indoor wiffle ball league in its major taproom space and regarded for distinctive methods to attract folks right down to the realm.
Bankovich, a longtime beer trade veteran, recalled bringing his youngsters to the brewery in 2018 to take a look at the 50-foot-long skeleton of a galeamopus, a dinosaur that roamed the earth roughly 150 million years in the past. It was a partnership with the Cincinnati Museum Heart.
“It’s important to us,” Bankovich stated about being a neighborhood ambassador.
Findlay Market and Rhinegeist obtain credit score for serving to to spur improvement within the northern a part of OTR. (Spectrum News 1/Casey Weldon)
Since becoming a member of the corporate final yr, Bankovich, has met quite a few beer pilgrims who’re visiting from out of city. The Queen Metropolis is the second-best beer metropolis within the U.S., in response to a latest checklist from an actual property web site.
Corporations of Rhinegeist’s dimension can present important trickle-down advantages to no matter area they name home, stated Mike Sullivan, senior director of capital markets for Cushman and Wakefield, a worldwide actual property providers agency.
He stated these varieties of companies can have even higher impacts on areas, like northern OTR, that haven’t seen a lot improvement previous to their arrival.
Rhinegeist is answerable for bringing quite a lot of exercise to part of the neighborhood that in all probability wouldn’t have seen it in any other case, Sullivan stated. He labeled Rhinegeist and Findlay Market “anchor tenants” who’ve helped entice retailers, eating places and residences to the realm.
“They’re a large and valued part of OTR, for sure,” stated Sullivan, who’s additionally board chair of the Over-the-Rhine Chamber of Commerce.
Cull credited Rhinegeist and different domestically owned breweries with main a resurgence of the area’s brewing tradition. Via their group involvement and financial investments in neighborhoods, they have supplied momentum to town’s renaissance, he stated.
“It’s a uniquely Cincinnati story, and one all of us should be very proud of,” he added.
Proud to be ‘Made in Cincy’
Since 2013, Rhinegeist has continued to develop. Its roster of beers now contains quite a lot of year-round, seasonal and experimental choices. They’ve additionally ventured into different onerous drinks, together with ciders and spiked teas. One in every of their new improvements is its RGBevs model, a line of full-flavored onerous craft drinks.
Rhinegeist, which was initially solely accessible in Better Cincinnati, is now accessible all through Ohio, Kentucky and 9 different states. It’s now the twenty third largest craft brewery, by quantity, in america, in response to the Brewers Affiliation.
Rhinegeist partnered with Cincy Reigns on a beer to assist assist NIL offers for UC student-athletes. (Picture courtesy of Rhinegeist)
For perspective, Rhinegeist produced 2,000 barrels of beer its first yr in operation. That annual manufacturing grew to 106,000 barrels in 2022.
When it started, the brewery had a 20-barrel brew home. To fulfill demand, they needed to broaden into an adjoining constructing to extend operations to a 60-barrel system.
They’ve additionally added a pair hundred workers through the years and constructed a second home just a few blocks down the highway in Camp Washington. The Spring Grove facility additionally serves as its warehouse and distribution heart.
Bankovich takes pleasure that regardless of Rhinegeist’s fast development, its roots stay firmly planted in OTR. All Rhinegeist beer is brewed in Cincinnati, Bankovich stated.
“Our logo says Cincy Made for a reason,” he added.
The brewery’s dedication to Cincinnati extends past simply making beer. Through the years, Rhinegeist has turn into a powerful supporter of the area’s nonprofits and group teams.
Via its “Beer for Humans” charitable outreach program, it really works with 300 organizations annually. Focuses vary from entrepreneurship coaching to eliminating meals insecurity to numerous environmental initiatives. In addition they maintain pint nights every Wednesday of their taproom that profit native nonprofit teams.
The brewery additionally partnered with the Cincy Reigns group on a particular beer model to lift cash to assist identify, picture, likeness (NIL) offers for College of Cincinnati athletes. They plan to carry a launch occasion for Cincy Mild on June 30 and July 1 to mark UC’s formal admittance into the Massive 12 Convention.
The tenth anniversary milestone is a crucial time to indicate gratitude to all the staff and supporters who’ve contributed to Rhinegeist’s success. However it additionally represents an opportunity to construct pleasure for what lies forward.
“We can’t wait to share with you what’s next,” Bankovich stated.
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