Take a Dayton Brewery Hop with this easy map!
The first time I did a pub crawl was when I visited London with my sister. We had an absolute blast on the first one we want on with our travel group. We met people from all over the world and got to enjoy lots of different drink specials, all while wearing cheesy matching shirts. It was seriously an unforgettable night. The second one we did on that trip wasn’t so great, but we still had a fun time because, duh, we were in London.
For our anniversary, I gave Kyle a book with a year of pre-planned dates. For our October date, I decided to plan a brewery hop, and he invited some friends along to join in on the fun. One of the reasons I wanted to do a brewery hop with Kyle is because he enjoys drinking beer and has tried a lot of the local beers, but we haven’t visited most of the breweries. We used to go to breweries all the time when we lived in Louisiana, but it hasn’t been a super big priority since we moved here. I’m not much of a beer person, but the great thing about a lot of breweries nowadays is that many will also serve ciders, and some even serve wine and some cocktails. This was the case for a lot of breweries we visited.
Here was our original plan for the night:
Lock 27 Brewing > Dayton Beer Company > Warped Wing > Toxic Brew > Fifth Street Brewpub
We ended up not going to Fifth Street Brewpub and instead made our last stop Troll Pub, which isn’t a brewery, but it was a fun way to end the night. I’ll talk a little bit more about that below.
Stop 1: Lock 27 Brewing
329 E 1st Street rear
Dayton, OH 45402
They also have a location in Centerville.
Lock 27 is one of my favorite breweries, but I would consider it more of a restaurant than a brewery. They have plenty of tables, some of which have a view of the containers they use to brew the beer. They have a full bar with beer, wine, and cocktails, as well as a bar top. They also have a full menu with rotating daily specials.
We started the night at Lock 27 because we wanted to eat dinner first. Kyle and I have been here twice, and both times we started with the pierogies. They are so freaking delicious. I never had a pierogi before I lived in the Midwest, and honestly, these may be the best ones I’ve eaten since we’ve lived here, and I’ve eaten a lot of them. For dinner, I had one of the specials, which was a crab fried rice. Y’all, it was amazing, and I was bummed that I couldn’t take the leftover home since we were going on a brewery hop. Kyle happily finished the leftovers for me though.
As mentioned, I’m not much of a beer gal, but I enjoyed one of their raspberry ciders. It was so sweet and tasty. Their beer and ciders are constantly rotating, and I have yet to have a cider there that I didn’t enjoy.
Stop 2: The Dayton Beer Company
41 Madison Street
Dayton, OH 45402
Stop two on our list was the Dayton Beer Company. The first time I went to DBC was for a trivia night with a girl I met on BumbleBFF. I ended up meeting a lot of new girls that night, and it was so much fun. Kyle and I had also gone to DBC together for their Oktoberfest last year. Admittedly, their Oktoberfest wasn’t super great. They had some music outside, but we didn’t get to see any even though we were there for an hour. They scheduled way too much time between sets. They also didn’t have any German food. The only thing that was Oktoberfest about the event was a little Oktoberfest photobooth that they set up outside. We still had fun drinking and hanging out though.
Dayton Beer Company has a ton of different beers on tap, including ones from other breweries. They also have cider from time to time, as well as wine, but they only sell the wine by the bottle. Sometimes, they have a drink special, and when we went, they had a frozen Fire Whisky drink that was just apple cider mixed with Fireball. Kyle got it, and it was so good. I opted for Rheingheist’s Bubbles.
DBC has two rooms with different types of tables, and they also have a patio area with outdoor seating. There was some live music going on outside, so it was packed out there. Luckily, there was plenty of seating inside, and the shuffleboard table was free. I played my first game of shuffleboard, and I won! I was so excited.
Also worth mentioning is that they also have a food menu, so if you’re getting snacky, DBC is a good stop along the way.
Stop 3: Warped Wing Brewing Company
26 Wyandot Street
Dayton, OH 45402
This was my first visit to Warped Wing, and I loved it. It’s such a cool space downtown. It’s located in a historic, industrial building, and they also had some Halloween decorations out, which made it a little spooky. Warped Wing also has a full kitchen, so it’s a nice stop on the brewery hop to get some snacks.
I love when breweries actually have things to do and not just places to sit and enjoy your drink. One of my favorite breweries in Louisiana had all sorts of party games, like ping pong and cornhole. While Warped Wing doesn’t have any of that, they do have a few pinball machines in the back and a shelf full of card and board games. There’s also a foosball table, which is where a good portion of our group spent most of the night.
Stop 4: Toxic Brew Company
431 E 5th Street
Dayton, OH 45402
I had only ever stopped into Toxic Brew for a few minutes and had never actually hung out there, so I was excited to get to change that on our Dayton brewery hop. They have a strangely shaped space that’s kind of an L-shape, so the space in front of the bar can be a little award to hang out at, but that’s exactly where we ended up. They didn’t have any ciders on the menu on the night we went, but they do have plenty of beer and wine options, and they also serve cocktails. I had a Moscow mule served in a silver mug.
As far as activities go, they do have one pinball machine in the back, and they also have a shuffleboard, but it was out of commission when we went. Food-wise, they’ve partnered with a food truck called the Drunken Waffle, so they pretty much serve the exact kind of food you’d want after a night of drinking.
Stop 5: Fifth Street Brewpub Troll Pub
216 Wayne Avenue
Dayton, OH 45402
Fifth Street Brewpub was a little bit of a walk, so we opted to go to Troll Pub instead, even though it’s not a brewery. It was a good place to end the night because it wasn’t super crowded, we could actually talk to each other, and Kyle got a free birthday shot of tequila from the bartender.
Troll Pub has a ton of seating because it’s also a restaurant. Unfortunately, the kitchen was closed when we got there, but they let us order Domino’s pizza and eat it at the bar. It pretty much saved all of our lives.
The things I loved most about Troll Pub were the huge troll decorations outside – one greeting you before you walk into the gate of the patio and the other climbing up the clock tower – and this bookcase that opened like a door that led you into the other part of the dining room. I’ve just always wanted to have a door/bookshelf like that.
There are tons of other breweries in the Dayton area, but most of them aren’t within walking distance of each other. Here are some other breweries that didn’t make it onto our Dayton brewery hop. This is by no means an extensive list of all breweries in the area. I put a * next to the ones I’ve actually visited.
Yellow Springs Brewery*
305 Walnut Street
Yellow Springs, OH 45387
Eudora Brewing Company
3022 Wilmington Pike
Kettering, OH 45429
Carillon Brewing*
1000 Carillon Blvd.
Dayton, OH 45409
Heavier Than Air Brewing Co
497 Miamisburg Centerville Road
Dayton, OH 45459
Lucky Star Brewery and Cantina
219 S Second St
Miamisburg, OH 45342
Star City Brewing Company
319 S 2nd St
Miamisburg, OH 45342
Crooked Handle Brewing Co
760 N Main St
Springboro, OH 45066
The Hairless Hare Brewery
738 W National Road
Vandalia, OH 45377
Branch & Bone Artisan Ales
905 Wayne Avenue
Dayton, OH 45410
Alematic Artisan Ales
6182 Chambersburg Road
Huber Heights, OH 45424
Have you ever been on a brewery hop?
Gem City Sunday is a series where I share blog posts about some of my favorite things in Dayton, Ohio. Why Dayton is called Gem City is unknown, but I do think this city is a little gem. My boyfriend, Kyle and I moved to Dayton during the summer of 2018, and the city found a way into our hearts. Check back on Sundays for new Gem City Sunday posts with topics ranging from my favorite restaurants, festivals to check out, things to do in Dayton, and lots more.
