Yellow Springs Brewery Taproom & Kitchen, Columbus OH

3 April 2024

Yellow Springs started out in Yellow Springs OH and within the last year they opened this new location in the Clintonville area of Columbus. They were doing a decent business when I arrived a bit after 4:30 and had twice as many guests when I left an hour later. The space is definitely larger than it appears in these photos.

I did two flights plus a fish sandwich; no photo of the sandwich, but here are the two flights described left-to-right:

Zoetic – American Pale Ale, 5.2% – All four of the beers in this flight were distinctive in spite of the similar colors, but this was the most flavorful of the lot. Until I tasted the others, it was my favorite for sure; in the end, it was just a very, very good APA with a perfect balance of hops and malt.

Farmer’s Friend – Session IPA, 4.7% – This very pleasant Session IPA is flavored with Lemongrass, giving it an interesting spin on a typical IPA flavor. This was my pick to take a couple of pints of for later; Yellow Springs sells Howlers rather than Crowlers (glass vs. can) in addition to Growlers.

Harmonizer – Kölsch, 4.7% – I do love a good Kölsch and this fit my profile. It was just too light in comparison to everything else.

Captain Stardust – Saison, 6.5% – Although this was quite enjoyable, it wasn’t even as flavorful as the Kölsch. If it had been the only beer I’d had here, I’d have been happy — it just wasn’t quite in the running compared with all the more flavorful beers.

Gift of Gaia – Blood Orange Honey Wheat, 5.1% – This is billed as their International Women’s Day Brew and it’s certainly full of flavor! I rather liked it except for the honey which I felt made it too sweet, rather like a sugary soda. Without the honey, this would have been truly enjoyable.

Handsome – American Brown Ale, 5.5% – If you’ve read enough of my blog entries, you know I’m not a huge fan of Brown Ales. Sometimes one really strikes my palette as a winner; this particular version was good but not something I’d order more of. I didn’t dislike it, but it was too “traditionally brown” for me to want more than the taster size.

Moonmilk – Milk Stout, 5.5% – If you like a good milk stout, and I do, this is one to check out. There wasn’t anything particularly outstanding about it or the flavor; it was just a beautiful expression of this style.

Queen Redemption – Russian Imperial Stout, 9.6% – Unlike some imperial stouts I’ve had, this didn’t scream ALCOHOL. It was strong, sure, but in a good way. I’d definitely have more if I were back here again with more time to sit and enjoy it.

There are so many breweries in Columbus and more opening up all the time, it seems. I enjoyed the visit to Yellow Springs but it may be a couple of years before I stop back. As for this visit, I have three more days here and so many old favorites as well as new options to check out and I’ll never get to them all. So, three more brewpubs to visit in Columbus plus two more (perhaps three) on the trip home — plenty of entries to come in the next few days right here!