A sign just inside the door of the Ohio Taproom reads, “If you tap it, they will come.”
A variation of a line from the 1989 Kevin Costner movie Field of Dreams, the maxim has proved true for owner John Evans.
Since Evans and his wife, Stephanie, opened the Ohio Taproom in early May, Evans estimates they tap 10 kegs per week.
But you won’t find a host of patrons sipping beer at the bar. The Taproom is a carryout, and what they offer is growler fills. Purchase a glass bottle – either 64 oz. or 32 oz., also called a “howler” – and from there, you can fill and refill the bottle with beer. The growler is a one-time investment. The beer, Evans hopes, you’ll continue to come back for.
Located at the corner of Northwest Boulevard and Third Avenue, the Ohio Taproom features 20 different Ohio beers at a time, as well as other Ohio-made goods such as Brezel pretzels, Brothers Drake mead, Wild Joe’s beef jerky and Cousin’s Utility Sauce.
“The bottom line is we’re a shop that celebrates things made in Ohio,” Evans says, “primarily beer.”
The shop’s atmosphere contributes to its allure just as much as what it peddles does. After gutting the 720-square-foot space, John and Stephanie, both originally from Chillicothe, sought to capture the many aspects of Grandview Heights.
Adorning the walls are yearbook pictures from the Grandview Heights High School classes from 1978-84, around the time John and Stephanie were in high school. In the corner are three chairs surrounding a chessboard on a table, lit by a mason jar ceiling lamp. An Ohio flag rests on the counter in front of a chalkboard wall featuring the menu. On the opposite wall is a shelf displaying growler jugs.
John even left a few tributes to the building’s past as a barber shop: outside, a barber pole with a red, white and blue helix; inside, a picture of Frank Policaro, the shop’s owner, cutting a customer’s hair and a trophy bearing the name “Frank’s Barber Shop.”
“Our goal all along has been to be a comfortable gathering spot, all for an eclectic feel,” John says.
The beer selection is just as eclectic as the decorations. The menu features a selection from more than 60 breweries all over Ohio, including Columbus favorites such as Elevator Brewery, North High Brewing Co. and Seventh Son Brewing Co. The styles range from IPAs to brown ales to wheat beers.
“We knew we could find a lot of interesting beer,” John says. “We offer good stuff because good stuff is being made in the state.”
The draw of a place like the Taproom is that members of the community, and even John himself, are able to try beer that they might not have necessarily tried, or even heard of.
“My palate has expanded as a result of this business,” he says.
Customers are able to buy four 2-oz. samples before choosing which beer they want for their growler. To fill the growlers, John uses technology called CrafTap, a counter-pressure fill system that uses carbon dioxide to purge the bottle of oxygen, which keeps the beer fresh once it’s sealed.
And the Taproom menu has food to offer as well. One of the best sellers is pie by the slice from Honeykiss Bakery, a home-based business owned by Grandview resident Rachel Eaton that started in February.
“She just does amazing work,” John says of Eaton’s baked goods.
Every Friday, Eaton delivers around 20 slices of homemade pie to the Taproom.
Eaton mainly sells pies to order via her website, the Easton Farmers Market and the Moonlight Market on Gay Street, but the relationship between her businesses and the Taproom has given Honeykiss a brick-and-mortar location as well.
“It’s brought more customers to us,” Eaton says. “I love their shop and I couldn’t be happier.”
Eaton bakes a range of pie flavors, including an apple cheddar bacon pie called “Red, White and Bacon.” She has even integrated local beer into a few of her pie crusts – most notably, Lancaster-based Rockmill Brewery’s Tripel in her Tripel Blueberry Heaven pie.
“If there’s a pie where we can figure out a way to use (Taproom) beer, we’ll do that,” Eaton says. “It’s fun for me to mess around with pie flavors.”
Eaton and her husband, Dan, both beer lovers, have also enjoyed the chance to explore beer they wouldn’t find anywhere else.
“I think I’m spending way more than I make (at the Taproom),” Eaton says with a laugh.
Part of John’s philosophy for the Taproom, beyond just selling Ohio beer, is to become a fixture in the area he and Stephanie have called home for 24 years.
“We’ve been very welcomed by the (Grandview) community,” he says. “It’s good people, the beer business.”
The Taproom sponsors a youth baseball team in the Grandview Baseball Softball Association, the Ohio Taproom Brewers. John also started the Ohio Taproom Running Club, which anyone in Grandview can join. Information is available on the Taproom’s Facebook page, www.facebook.com/theohiotaproom.
And he’s not done yet. John will continue to expand the menu to include more drinks and food from around the state. He is also working to secure licenses that would allow his customers to drink more than beer samples at the pub.
“We plan to be a part of the community for a long time,” John says. “We’ll remain all Ohio and only Ohio.”
For more information, visit www.theohiotaproom.com.
Eric Lagatta is a contributing writer. Feedback welcome at laurand@cityscenemediagroup.com.
