Taft's Ale House serves craft beer, food and more in this brewpub named after Cincinnati's favorite son.

Constructed in 1850 amidst the burgeoning Over-the-Rhine brewing industry, St. Paul’s Evangelical Church was once the oldest protestant parish in the Queen City. Young Billy Taft may have even sauntered past, his cheeks still stained with gooseberry pie. Unbeknownst to him, this structure would carry on his own legacy. 

Young Billy would go onto become Supreme Court Chief Justice, Yale Bonesman, and 27th US President,William Howard Taft. He was a collegiate heavyweight-wrestling champion, could bury a two-seam fastball through the backside of a catcher’s mitt, and made the most brazen ham tremble with a single glance. Our city was without its fabled folk hero for too long, but at last the mythos of Big Billy has been restored. 

The legend of Cincinnati’s prodigal son lives on inside the hallowed halls of Taft’s Ale House. Join your fellow compatriots, hand-in-handle, as we toast flawless libations, feast on fine fare, and renew a national pastime of united tomfoolery in the pursuit of muddled happiness.

They had a whole list of drafts on tap, so I did a flight.

They also had a good number of cocktails available.

But since beer is their thing, I went with a few: sour vice, Nellie's key lime, oktuberfest, jerk and gustav.

The sour vice was by far my favorite - no surprise there - but they were all solid.

What's your favorite?

I had been to Short Story Brewing previously, but it was prior to the addition of Street Food Kitchen.

So I went back to try this new restaurant headed up by none other than local chef Donnie Orr. This local restaurant celebrates "food concepts from around the world, locally sourced Appalachian ingredients, and a passion for the pursuit of perfection."

First, a glass of "Hunt and Peck," which was an American brown ale. "Malty but not overly sweet with hints of chocolate."

I got the Barbacoa beef brisket with black beans, sweet corn, queso fresco, red chili aioli on flour tortilla. Droool!

Sophisticated Hound Brewing Company is one of West Virginia's newest breweries!

Located in Princeton, this brewery has been on tap around the state for some time but recently opened its own taproom.

At the time of this writing, it's only open on Saturdays but word is the owner plans to open up more days, as well.

The first thing I noticed was the outdoor space with lights strung overhead and the Patch Whiskey mural.

So cool!

Inside, there are a good bit of tables and a bar area.

I ordered a flight of all their beers on tap: Racer 8 American Stout, 1863 Pale Ale, RYEbellion, Tail Chaser, Mahaffey's Irish Red and the El Jefe.

My favorites were the 1863 Pale Al and Tail Chaser.

The owner also talked about how the name for the brewery was inspired by their dog, who is a retired racing greyhound.


That's so sweet.

We also got some snacks!

I went for the spinach artichoke dip, and friends got the pretzels.

Have you been?

Fran's Family Restaurant is a small restaurant in Summersville that I came across because they are the only restaurant in the state that carries one West Virginia beer.

Fran's Family Restaurant serves Banning's Beer - and it's the ONLY place that serves it.

Banning's is a West Virginia brewery that's hoping to get into more restaurants in the Summersville area, but for now, Fran's has it all.

I was mostly excited about the beer, but I wanted to try a bite, too. And for some reason, that baked potato was jumping off the menu at me.

I got it with cheese and sour cream. Is this ever a bad combo? Yum!












And the beer! There aren't many styles - black stout was one - but I went with a lighter blonde that I liked.

Have you tried Bannings yet?

The newest establishment to begin brewing their own beer is in Walton - Roane County.

Walton Mountain Brewing Company has been operating as a bar and restaurant for some time. But, recently, they received their own license to begin brewing.

They're located next to a hardware store/deli that has a little bit of everything. Tom and I actually walked through here to get to the brewery (though it has its own entrance).

They had just opened, and we were waiting for 1 p.m. on this Sunday to roll around so we could get our hands on a craft beer.


The space has pool tables, TVs and lots of taxidermy animals. So, we watched some TV and put in our food orders first.

The menu is pretty big: burgers, pizza, fried appetizers, bbq, hot dogs and more.

I went for a cheeseburger with a side salad.

And Tom got the pulled pork.

At the time of this writing, they had just one beer on tap: Gusher Blonde Ale. Mm!


And, apparently they do some fire pits because look at these cute s'more kits!

Blonde Ale



Pale Ale



American Stout



Amber Ale