Ohio Tap Tour & Ohio Tap Handle #1: MadTree Brewing Company

Ohio Brewery Coasters

Back in 2014, a decision to combine my love of beer, tap handles, and travel set me on a quest to visit every brewery in Ohio. I was looking to snag a tap handle from each brewery visited and prioritized brewery visits based on the uniqueness of a brewery's tap handle. A website was created, Points On Pints, to document my progress and provide information and pictures for each tasting room visited. There were around 135 breweries in Ohio at the time, so it seemed like an achievable venture. I'm 125 Breweries in, but now over 222 breweries are operating in Ohio, so it looks like I still have a lot of work to do! This is the story of my brewery journey and the various tap handles I've collected along the way! I'll try to point out some other aspects of marketing that differentiate the breweries. Hope you enjoy! 

Ohio Tap Handle #1: MadTree Brewing Company

My Ohio tap handle collection started from a gift on my birthday while visiting MadTree Brewing Company in Cincinnati, Ohio. MadTree uses four distinct pieces to make up their tap handle: an actual branch of a tree, a laser cut MadTree logo, an oval metal section with a sticker to represent the beer being served. MadTree uses artistic magic to make turn trees into logos - and as you can see from the sticker - the pumpkin shines through. 

The Beer
Name: The Great PumpCAN
Style: Pumpkin Ale
ABV: 7.9%
Beer Advocate Rating: Very Good - 3.77/5



Fast Facts of Madtree Brewing:

- First modern Ohio brewery to can their beer in Ohio 
- Opened their second location, Madtree 2.0 in 2017, a 50,000-square-foot taproom and brewery expansion 
- Considered a Regional Brewery, as they have an annual beer production of between 15,000 and 6,000,000 barrels. (There are 31 gallons in a barrel, so that's at least 465,000 gallons or 3.72 million pints!) 


Background about the Craft Beer industry, specifically in Ohio: 

The U.S. beer industry sells more than $100B in beer and malt-based beverages to U.S. consumers each year¹. In 2016, that number reached $107.6B, and Craft Beer made up $23.5B², increasing the craft beer percentage of the overall beer market to almost 22%. As the craft beer market continues to rise, the number of choices, both in location and beer style, has also risen. In 2011, House Bill 243 passed in Ohio, providing the opportunity for a new beer serving permit at a cost of $1,000 vs $3,906, starting a rise in breweries with onsite tasting rooms opening across the state. Only 45 breweries existed in Ohio at the end of 2011, but increased to 177 in 2016. In 2017, an additional 49 breweries opened, with more than 80 in planning.
¹Beer Institute Annual Report, 2014
²National Beer Sales & Production Data, Brewers Association

Next Tap Handle in the Ohio Tap Tour: Maumee Bay Brewing