Thomas Jefferson once said, “Beer, if drank with moderation, softens the temper, cheers the spirit and promotes health.” Thursday, April 7, is National Beer Day, started in 1933 when President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed legislation repealing prohibition and when he famously noted, “I think this would be a good time for a beer.” When at CMH, you can celebrate one of the world’s oldest beverages at many of our concessionaires, any day of the year.
Pre-Security
CMH’s newest restaurant Hangar 815 offers a variety of beer including a Columbus Brewing Company seasonal and a nonalcoholic version of Heineken. The manager tells me Belgian’s Stella Artois on draft is the best seller, which makes sense as it is one of the top five beer brands worldwide (along with Budweiser, Heineken, Bud Light and Corona). The restaurant also serves craft cocktails, wine and has a full bar. Fun fact: Nonalcoholic beer is made either by eliminating fermentation or by removing the alcohol from the finished beer. Compared to the making of conventional beer, the technology of making nonalcoholic beer is more complicated.
Concourse A
National chain Chili’s Too has popular beers like Bud Light, Corona and Angry Orchard Hard Cider. Passenger Megan, on her way to Austin, has just ordered a Corona. “I ordered nachos so it seemed like a Corona was in order,” she says. Fun fact: Corona is the fourth best-selling beer in the world and the best-selling beer in Mexico.
Local favorite Donatos (also in Concourse C) offers mostly local beers. The bartender tells me the Columbus Brewing Company’s IPA is the most popular draft, BrewDog’s citrusy Elvis Juice is the best-selling canned beer and all the Seventh Son brews are hot items as well. He also notes that the Donatos in Concourse C has many more taps featuring local beers. Fun fact: The BrewDog brewery has the world’s first hotel inside a craft brewery. The hotel, Doghouse Columbus Hotel, features 32 beer-themed rooms with draft brew on tap in each room and is just a 20-minute drive from CMH.
Vino Volo is known for its great wines – cabernet is the most popular – but did you know they also offer the sudsy stuff? They have three versions of Cincinnati-based Rhinegeist on the menu – Truth IPA, Bubbles Rose Ale and Cheetah Lager. And, they offer a twist on a mimosa – a beermosa! Which is any of the beers paired with orange juice – the bartender recommends the Cheetah in the beermosa. Fun fact: The name Rhinegeist refers to its location in the historic Over-the-Rhine Brewery District in Cincinnati – “Rhine” for the Over-the-Rhine neighborhood it called home, and “geist” as a ghostly nod to the area’s German heritage and a signifier that brewing life was making a comeback in Cincinnati.
Concourse B
The bartender I talked to at local restaurant Eddie George’s Grille 27 says the American classic Bud Light gets a lot of traction. No surprise there, given it’s the best-selling and most popular beer in America. Fun fact: Bud Light is brewed with just four ingredients: barley, rice, hops and water.
Land-Grant Brewing Co. is the first airport taproom of this Columbus brewery. The eight-beer tap system features Land-Grant’s four core beers and rotating seasonals. Land-Grant’s House Beer is their best seller, described by the brewery as an “easy drinking premium lager [that] is a familiar and approachable beer, the perfect intro to craft.” House Beer is a year-round offering, but Land-Grant is also known for their seasonals – the Belgians and farmhouse beers of spring lead to summer’s light beers then we get into the amber, heavier beers in the fall and dark stouts and porters in the winter. Fun fact: Land-Grant was the first Columbus brewery to can beer in their own canning line.
CMH mainstay Wolfgang Puck has beers on tap, in cans and in bottles as well as wine and cocktails. The waiter told me that the best seller here is Blue Moon, served in the classic style with an orange garnish. Passenger Ben, heading out of town for a wedding, just ordered one because it reminds him of a trip he took to the Blue Moon brewery in Denver. Fun fact: Blue Moon was created at Denver’s Coors Field baseball diamond (not in Belgian as many think although it is a Belgian-style ale).
Concourse C
At American Craft Tavern, tap beers include Samuel Adams beer and local drafts– as well as a variety of cans and bottles from Sierra Nevada’s Hazy Little Thing IPA to Modelo. Featuring the local brewery Land-Grant has proven popular and their India Pale Ale Stiff Arm and their 1862 Ale, a take on a German Kolsch, are some of the best-sellers. Fun fact: Land-Grant’s 1862 Ale is named after the year President Lincoln signed the Morrill Act into law, giving grants of land to states to establish colleges and giving American people the opportunity to seek higher education.
Donatos in Concourse C – see more information under the Concourse A Donatos offerings – has even more local brews than the Concourse A location. Fun fact: Pizza and beer are a classic American combo.
At the golf-themed PGA Tour Grill, Goose Head IPA is a popular tap beer and Modelo in a bottle is another fan favorite… which makes sense, given that Modelo was chosen by golf.com as one of the best beers to drink while on the golf course. Fun fact: Modelo is almost 100 years old. It was first brewed in a northwestern part of Mexico City back in 1925.
Beer on the go
Post-security, you can get beer, cocktails, wine – any drink really – to-go so you can imbibe gate-side, relax knowing you’re not missing any flight info.
More fun facts: The earliest evidence of brewing beer dates back to about 3500-2900 B.C. Ancient evidence, in the form of chemical residues, was found in ancient Iran. China, the United States, Germany, Russia and Brazil are among the top five beer-producing countries. The most common type of beer is lager, making up 80% of the beer consumed worldwide.
