Cornerstone Brewing, Madison OH

Madison is a small town along I-90 east of Cleveland and Cornerstone doesn’t actually look like much from the outside.

You can see their name on the two awnings and the main entrance is in what might have been a alley but is now their outdoor dining area. The room I was in, with the bar, was to the right; I didn’t check out the space to the left but it’s where the bathrooms are along with more seating.

Cornerstone has 9 taps running and 7 of them are their own beers.

I asked about a flight, of course, and they’ll do any number in a flight, so I opted for all 9 (as I discovered, though, I’d have been happy with just 6 … but it’s all good!).

My comments start from the beer in the right group that has the straw in it, going clockwise in that group, then continuing clockwise from the beer with the straw in the left group.

Grindstone – 4.5% – This pilsner is very clean and tasty. If that’s the taste you’re after, there’s no need to look further … but if you do, this one becomes tasteless in comparison.

Sandstone – 5.4% – I have to confess that I’ve become a real sucker for a good German Märzen, and this is a good one. It’s not particularly distinguishable, but it was very well executed and quite tasty.

Seven – 7% – My server’s dad’s favorite … and while at first I found the next beer more to my liking, I really did come around to this one in the end. It’s a great IPA.

Pleasurable Demise – 6.2% – I have to admit that I truly do love this name (and I may steal it for one of my own concoctions some day). As I said, my first impression was that this was the better of their two IPAs, but after tasting everything, the flavor was somewhat lacking in this one. I think they were trying for an NEIPA but failed in their quest.

Dockside Wit – 4.7% – If I’d been after a very palatable wheat beer, this would have filled the bill admirably.

Erie Blu – 6.7% – I’m not really a fan of fruit beers per se, and fortunately this one wasn’t terribly heavy on the fruit flavors. I was actually surprised at the alcohol content – it didn’t seem that strong as I was sipping it.

Breezy (Platform Beer Company) – 5% – I really did enjoy this sour. If I’d been in the right mood, I’d have wanted more of this; unfortunately, it really didn’t work with the food.

Bumble Berry (Fat Head) – 5.3% – This one was tough to categorize, a “light ale” with honey and blueberries. I didn’t dislike it, but I certainly wouldn’t order it again – the honey gave it too much sweetness for my taste.

O’Nooley’s Dark – 5% – I don’t like stouts in the summer, but this one was a light enough stout to be perfectly enjoyable. I wonder whether it would be as good in the middle of winter – perhaps too thin for then – but I definitely enjoyed it.

The pizza was a bit disappointing. The crust was good, but everything else about it made me wonder if it started as frozen crust-sauce-cheese that had the toppings thrown on.

If it wasn’t clear from the earlier comments, I did have two follow-up pints, first a Sandstone Lager (Märzen) and then a Seven (IPA). I screwed up somehow taking a photo of the full pint of the Sandstone so there’s only the Seven for you to admire here.

Would I come here again? No. Do I regret stopping here? No, of course not. They just didn’t excel at either food or beer to the point that I would bother in the future. Fortunately, the server was very nice (and he grew up south of Boston).

Tomorrow will be one final brewpub stop before I’m back home. I’m pretty sure I’ll be revisiting Factory by Beer Tree in Johnson City NY as there are just so few options in that area.