Brewing Heritage Trail receives $300,000 in state/local funds, construction to begin early next year

The Over-the-Rhine Brewery District was recently awarded $200,000 from the state and $100,000 from the city to help get construction underway on the Brewing Heritage Trail. The $5 million project will include a 2.3-mile trail as well as a website and mobile app.
 
The trail will tell the story of Cincinnati’s beer culture by showcasing the city’s historic breweries and taverns through a series of plaques and murals. A number of the buildings that have served as breweries and taverns over the years are currently in use today by new breweries like Rhinegeist and reborn breweries like Christian Moerlein.
 
The trail will be split into three segments and will begin in Pendleton and wind its way through Over-the-Rhine and into the Mohawk area. Three murals depicting Cincinnati’s brewing history are located at 25 Back St., 1625 Central Parkway and 131 E. McMicken St. in Over-the-Rhine.
 
Construction is expected to begin on the middle segment in early 2017. The middle segment will showcase the history of lager, an industry that began in Cincinnati, and the bars and saloons that played important roles in the city’s politics and history.
 
The first segment of the trail will tell the story of Cincinnati’s early brewers and the cultural background of the English, French, Germans and Irish who settled the city. The third segment will focus on the growth of the city’s breweries and how they began shipping beer all over the world.
 
The website and mobile app, which were made possible by a grant from the Haile Foundation, are expected to launch this fall. They’ll help guide people through the trail as well as provide additional information.