Built on Beer Tour: Findlay Market brewing history, 2 hours

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Free cancellationExcellent quality

1/10

Duration2h

GroupUp to 20

LanguagesEN

Mobile ticketAccepted

Walk into a pre-Prohibition brewery's subterranean cellars carved from the hillside.

The Built on Beer Tour is a two-hour guided walking tour of Cincinnati's Brewery District that starts at Findlay Market and covers the western portion of the neighborhood, including a descent into the historic Jackson Brewery's underground lagering cellars. The tour visits the Sohn/Mohawk Brewery, several Christian Moerlein sites, and the location of the Bellevue Incline, with stories of the breweries and the people who built them during beer's industrial revolution. A pint of local beer or soft drink is included at a neighborhood taproom at the end, and the total walking distance is less than a mile with no stairs required to enter or exit the cellars.

Step-by-step itinerary

Brewing history and architecture tour

Start at Brewing Heritage Trail Sign
Walk along Brewing Heritage Trail
Visit underground lager cellars at Jackson Brewery
See Sohn/Mohawk Brewery and Christian Moerlein sites
View Bellevue Incline location
End at neighborhood taproom for local beer

The Experience

Two hours, less than a mile of walking, and the route stays in the western Brewery District around Findlay Market. The guide leads you past 19th and early 20th century brewery buildings that still stand, explaining which ones operated during Prohibition and which ones didn't survive it. The centerpiece is a walk into the Jackson Brewery's subterranean lagering cellars—the cold rooms where brewers stored beer before refrigeration. You enter from street level and there are no stairs going in or out, so the cellars themselves are accessible even though the neighborhood has hills.

The tour also passes the Sohn/Mohawk Brewery, multiple Christian Moerlein sites (Moerlein was one of Cincinnati's major brewing figures), and the location of the Bellevue Incline, a cable car that once connected the neighborhood to the hilltop above. Each stop has a story about the people who built these operations and the industrial scale of beer production in the city. The guide is live and speaks English, so the commentary is direct rather than audio or app-based.

At the end, the group stops at a neighborhood taproom where a pint of local beer is included with your ticket—or a soft drink if you prefer. The Brewing Heritage Trail store also offers a discount on merchandise, so if you want to take something home about the history, there's a place to do that before or after the tour.

What’s included

Entry into the Jackson Brewery's historic underground lagering cellars.
a guided walk past 19th and early 20th century brewery buildings in the Brewery District.
a pint of local beer or soft drink at a neighborhood taproom at the tour's end.
a discount on merchandise in the Brewing Heritage Trail store.

Good to know

Easy physical levelStroller friendlyPets welcomePublic transport nearbyNot for pregnant travelersNot for heart conditionsNot for back problems

Operated by Brewing Heritage Trail

Is this one for you?The guide speaks English and delivers the commentary live, so you follow the stories directly rather than through an app or audio device. This works well if you want to ask questions about the buildings or the brewers as you walk, and it's comfortable for anyone who prefers a human voice to a recording.