CMH Gourmand – Eating in Columbus & Ohio

Hills Market (Beer tasting and more..)

I have missed every Hills Market special event this summer – wine tastings, crab boils, you name it, so I was determined not to miss the beer tasting last Wednesday.

The Hop Head Beer Tasting was on August 29 from 5.30 p.m. to 8 p.m. Beer expert Kristine Eley tended beer bar on the Hills Market veranda pouring a selection of seven new and mostly hard to find hoppy beers. The price of $10 was well worth it.

These were the beers sampled:

American IPA

• Summit Extra Pale Ale
• Boulder Mojo India Pale Ale
• New Holland Mad Hatter
• Bell’s Two-Hearted

American Pale Ales

• Otter Creek Pale Ale (my favorite for the night)

American Double IPA

• Stone Ruination
• Stoudts Double IPA

Kristine had a lot of interesting information on each brewery and beer. She has traveled extensively around the US learning about beer and the brewing process. All of the fine sampling selections she collected for the tasting can be purchased at the market. The next tasting will be near the end of September.

I also learned that there are some serious, hardcore beer lovers in Columbus. There are some cool beer events in town and many friendly people that will happily share their drinking discoveries. You can get more information from the Beer Advocate website.