Bridge’s End Brewing, Shawnee Hills OH

12 March 2026

Let me start this post by simply saying WOW!!!! This place earned a spot on my all-time-best list and I’ll be back again without a doubt. I stayed in a hotel in Dublin and Bridge’s End was just about 15 minutes north of where I was.

This is the story of a gastrointestinal surgeon who was also a home brewer, and as a surgeon he was meticulous in his attention to detail in his brewing as well. Along comes COVID in 2020 and he and his wife (somewhat reluctantly on her part, perhaps) decide it’s time for him to retire from his 40-year career and open a brewpub. But as a surgeon, he also understands the importance of knowing what you do best and hiring top people to do what they do best … and the result is Bridge’s End, housed in a new, very large, no-expense-spared building. But this isn’t just surface beauty, the beers are uniformly outstanding!

From left to right:

Sweatin’ the Small Stuff – German Pilsner, 4.9% – This is a great pilsner, and yet it’s the least good of the flight simply because the others are even more amazing. Still, I could drink this pilsner all day and be happy. It goes with everything.

My Left or Your Left – Schwarzbier, 4.2% – I like to try this style when I visit places because I feel it is one that allows little margin for error — it can easily be too thin, or too overpowering a flavor, or somehow just not quite right. This one was everything I want in a Schwarzbier. In the right weather on the right day, this would be all I would drink.

Bavarian Britches – Märzen, 5.4% – It’s hard to find a good Märzen as they’re so often overly malty with no real flavor or interest. This is perhaps the best I’ve ever had (and I took a crowler of it for later).

Anybody Got a Crampon – Hazy IPA, 5.0% – This was brewed in collaboration with Combustion Brewing (my other favorite brewery in this area) for International Women’s Day. I’d be hard-pressed to name another of this style that is so well balanced and also a low enough ABV that you could have a few in the course of a day. (I also took a crowler of this.)

Their food menu is small from 3pm (when they open) to 4:30, and slightly expanded from then to closing. I didn’t take a photo of it, but I had their cheeseburger and I loved that it was just the right size for me to finish along with all the fries. It wasn’t “the best of the best” but it was really, really good.

Finally, there was this beer that was the top favorite of one of the bartenders:

Schirminator (I’ll Be Bock) – Doppelbock, 9.6% – This beer isn’t just a great name, it’s a phenomenal beer, so smooth, so balanced, with a prominent taste of alcohol that is just “there” without slapping you in the face. If it hadn’t been 9.6%, I’d have taken a crowler of this as well!

What more can I say? Bridge’s End is one of the very best brewpubs I’ve had the pleasure to experience in all my travels across the country. If you’re anywhere near them, you need to stop in. https://bridgesend.beer