One of Licking County’s oldest breweries now has Licking County’s newest taproom.
Since opening in 2013, the Granville Brewing Co, which is located on State Route 16 just a few miles west of Granville, has essentially been off limits to those that enjoy their lineup of Belgian-style beers. Access to their brewery was limited to private groups or those that took the Columbus Brew Adventures Licking County tour. But now, after almost six years in business, Granville Brewing has a taproom open to the public… at least on Fridays and Saturdays.
Co-Owner Ross Kirk has converted his personal man cave into a 700 square foot taproom featuring 11 house beers on tap, bar seating for six, and tables that accommodate another two dozen patrons. The taproom still has a décor that reflects Kirk’s personal touch — lots of beer signs, posters, album cover and even a plaque that celebrates Kirk as ‘Player of the Week’ in the 1989 Newark/Worthington football game. Look up at the top plate of the exterior wall and take notice of scores of empty PBR cans; Kirk claims these sustained him while he was drywalling the room. Make sure to say hi to the black and white taproom cat, Bluto. He is often spotted behind the bar curled up on the warm printer
Granville’s beer lineup still holds true to brewery’s Belgian-style roots with The Oppressor, The Reaper and The Betrayer featured on tap. Alongside these flagship favorites are a Petite Saison, Wit, Pale Ale, Gose, Porter, Flanders Red, Imperial Stout and a Maple/Bourbon Barrel Aged version of the Imperial Stout. There’s a notable lack of India Pale Ales.
“IPAs are not beers that I like to drink, plus there are plenty of good IPAs already out there,” said Kirk. Personal preference aside, he said the brewery’s water supply is not well suited for crafting IPAs.
Their taproom opened officially on December 8 and is now open Fridays from 4-8pm and Saturdays from 2-8pm. As an added bonus for fellow beers geeks, the brewer is the bartender. Steven Wagner (call him Pinto) can not only pour you a beer, but tell you how he made it. Full pours (10-14 oz) are only $4 and growler fills are only $10. They also have Prowlers. I have heard of Growlers, Howlers and Crowlers but this was my first encounter with Prowlers — a one-pint, refillable bottle for $4 a fill.
Granville Brewing is located at 5371 Columbus Road. An exterior sign awaits approval by the Granville Zoning Commission, but should be up by February.
