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Beers of the Day: Rhinegeist Ghost Pils and Ghost Haze To Start the Halloween Season

September 29, 2026 by Dow Scoggins

Two Friendly Ghosts from Over-the-Rhine
Some ghosts rattle chains. These two just want to hand you a cold one that won’t slow you down. Ghost Pils and Ghost Haze are Rhinegeist’s nonalcoholic beers, and the name is a play on the “geist” in Rhinegeist, which means ghost or spirit. The brewery’s pitch is simple: ghost on booze, not on flavor. Both come in under 0.5% ABV. CEO Adam Bankovich describes them as the answer for moments when beer is the perfect drink but alcohol might not be. Rhinegeist made them with Sustainable Beverage Technologies using its BrewVo process, which is built to keep full craft flavor without the alcohol.

Ghost Pils is the crisp one, with smooth, bready malts and a light, clean finish. It made an early splash, picking up a bronze medal at the 2025 Great American Beer Festival. Ghost Haze is the juicy one. It pours bright gold with heavy haze and a thick white head, and delivers big stone fruit and fresh citrus notes on a full, juice-like body. Rhinegeist says it tastes much closer to a regular hazy IPA than older NA beers, which often leaned too sweet and came up short on hop flavor. Both launched in August 2025 and are now year-round releases in six-packs of 12-ounce cans across Ohio, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Kentucky, Tennessee, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan and Wisconsin.

A Brewery Built in a Pre-Prohibition Bottling Plant
Rhinegeist was founded by Bob Bonder and Bryant Goulding, who met in 2005 while working as business consultants in San Francisco. In August 2011 Bonder called Goulding with an idea for a brewery in Cincinnati, a city he saw as a vacuum for locally brewed craft beer. They brought in head brewer Jim Matt, a chemist for 20 years before he moved into beer at Sun King Brewery in Indianapolis. Their flagship, Truth IPA, began as one of Matt’s homebrew projects.

The building made the brand. It was built more than a century ago as a Christian Moerlein bottling plant and closed in 1919 because of Prohibition, which is where the name Rhinegeist, or ghost of the Rhine, came from. Goulding said his first look inside felt like walking into a cathedral. Rhinegeist opened on June 29, 2013, and more than 2,000 beer lovers turned out for the debut. It has since become a regional heavyweight, with a mid-20s percentage share of craft beer in the Cincinnati market, and it remains independently owned with no parent company and no outside investors.

Any Real Ghosts?
The honest answer is that the brewery’s ghost is more tribute than haunting, and there are no well-documented sightings in the taproom. The “Rhine” part of the name comes from the old saying that German workers were “crossing the Rhine” when they walked across the canal into downtown, and “geist” honors those immigrants. The neighborhood itself has plenty of spooky lore, though. By the 1860s there were 36 breweries in Over-the-Rhine making 30 million gallons of beer a year, and many left behind lagering tunnels deep underground. Nobody knows how many there are because riots in the 1880s burned the County Courthouse and destroyed most records, but about a dozen have been found so far. Local ghost tours stop at Rhinegeist to talk about hauntings in the area, calling it one of the last remaining pieces of the old Christian Moerlein Brewery, before heading down into tunnels 30 feet below the street.

So grab a Ghost Pils or a Ghost Haze, head up to the rooftop deck, and raise a can to the Moerlein bottlers who worked here before Prohibition shut the doors.

Address: 1910 Elm St., Cincinnati, OH 45202
Website: https://rhinegeist.com

Epic Brewing Unleashes Six New Big Bad Baptist Variants for 2026

September 24, 2026 by Dow Scoggins

Salt Lake City’s Epic Brewing is bringing back one of craft beer’s most anticipated annual releases, with six new takes on its celebrated barrel-aged imperial stout, Big Bad Baptist. Fans can get first crack at the 2026 lineup at the brewery on Friday, October 9, with wider distribution following in November. This year’s series pushes the flagship stout in bold new directions, layering barrel character, coffee, spices, honey, and even peat smoke over the rich, roasty backbone that made the original a cult favorite.

The 2026 lineup includes:

Big Bad Baptist 10-Year Anniversary, a celebratory blend of vanilla, cinnamon, cacao, and house-roasted Mexican coffee marking a decade of this fan favorite.

Godfather Part II, the return of the Godfather series, built to showcase the depth and complexity of Epic’s whiskey barrels.

Beehive, an imperial stout brewed with local Utah honey and cacao nibs, a nod to the Beehive State.

Big Easy, a rye whiskey barrel-aged stout inspired by New Orleans’ classic Sazerac cocktail.

Irish Baptist, featuring smooth vanilla bean and coffee flavors.

Scottish Baptist, brewed with coffee, cacao nibs, and peat-smoked barley for a distinctly smoky, layered finish.

All six variants will be packaged in 16-ounce cans and will ship across Epic’s distribution footprint beginning in November. Stout lovers in Washington, Oregon, Southern California, Maryland, North Carolina, Ohio, and Wisconsin should keep an eye on shelves, since these limited releases tend to disappear quickly.

From Brine Shrimp to Big Beers: The Epic Story
Epic Brewing’s roots trace back to an unlikely source: brine shrimp. Founders and co-owners Dave Cole and Peter Erickson, originally from California, started an international aquaculture company in Utah in 1992. The two had met in San Diego in the mid-1980s, when Erickson was managing an indoor aquaculture facility producing brine shrimp and Cole was hired on, and they spent years watching the Bay Area microbrewery boom with envy. Their chance came when Utah passed a law in 2008 permitting breweries to produce and sell “heavy” beer, over 3.2% alcohol by weight, directly to the public. Epic opened in May 2010, and billed itself as the first brewery in Utah since Prohibition to brew only high-alcohol beer.

Growth came fast. The brewery started with six 10-barrel fermentation tanks, and within a few short months it was earning medals domestically and internationally. In 2013 Epic expanded into Colorado with a second brewery in Denver’s River North district, giving it room for national distribution, a larger barrel-aged program, and a new line of sour beers. Beyond the Big Bad Baptist family, Epic has built a loyal following for beers like the award-winning Utah Sage Saison and Hopulent IPA, and the company has even branched outside of beer with Clearly Coconut, a brewed coconut water made from 100% USDA Organic coconut. Visitors to the flagship taproom on State Street will find a wide rotating lineup, from hazy IPAs and sours to the big barrel-aged stouts that put Epic on the map.

For more information about the 2026 Big Bad Baptist series, visit epicbrewing.com or email info@epicbrewing.com.

Address: 825 South State Street, Salt Lake City, Utah 84111
Website: https://www.epicbrewing.com

DESTIHL Launches Normal Beer, an All-Malt American Light Lager Starting in Illinois

September 18, 2026 by Dustin Scoggins

NORMAL, Ill. (Aug. 26, 2026) — DESTIHL Holdings is rolling out Normal Beer, a standalone American light lager meant to be simple on purpose.

The first cans hit Illinois in September. After that, DESTIHL plans to move the brand through its roughly 40-state network. The beer is 4.0% ABV and 99 calories per 12-ounce can. It is brewed with 100% barley malt and no rice or corn. Suggested retail on a 12-pack of 12-ounce cans is $15.99 to $16.99. Draft kegs are also available.

Normal Beer is a separate brand from DESTIHL Brewery’s core craft lineup, including the DeadHead IPA Series and Wild Sour Series. Packaging, pricing, and positioning are built for cookouts, tailgates, golf, yard work, and a cooler — not for tasting notes and limited drops.

“A perfectly normal beer”

“Somewhere along the way, beer and other beverages got complicated — tasting notes, stars and everybody telling you what you should be drinking. We don’t think it has to be that way,” said Matt Potts, founder and CEO of DESTIHL Holdings. “Normal Beer is a crisp, clean lager brewed with all malt and no shortcuts, made for the normal things people actually do — cookouts, fishing, hiking & ski trips, fire pits, tailgates, golfing, concerts, yard work and every cooler worth opening. It’s a perfectly normal beer, and we think that’s exactly what a lot of drinkers are looking for right now.”

About DESTIHL

DESTIHL started as a homebrew habit. In December 1995, Lyn Potts gave her husband, attorney Matt Potts, a five-gallon kit. He later opened Elmwood Brewing Company in 2001, then left law to build a larger concept. On November 23, 2007, Matt and Lyn Potts opened DESTIHL Restaurant & Brew Works in Normal, Illinois, with partners Troy Nelson, Laurie Nelson, and Jason Bratcher — a week before the Great Recession. The brewpub poured seven beers, including Normal Lager and Baldock IPA. A Champaign restaurant followed in 2011. Production left the 8-barrel pub system in 2013, and in May 2017 DESTIHL opened a $14 million, 47,000-square-foot brewery and beer hall in Normal. That plant made the company a regional player and helped put the Wild Sour Series into cans early, when canned sours were still unusual.

From there DESTIHL Holdings became more than a brewpub group. DeadHead IPAs, Dosvidanya barrel-aged stout, and the Saint Dekkera / Wild Sour lines won medals at GABF and FoBAB and pushed distribution toward 40 states. In 2023 the company launched Canopolis, a contract brewing and canning shop inside the Normal plant. DESTIHL Spirits followed in 2024. In 2026 it added Normal Beer, a separate all-malt American light lager at 4.0% ABV, as a lower-price brand beside the craft portfolio. The holding company still sits in Normal and still uses the same line: flavor over bland.

For more information, please visit https://destihl.com/

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Bruz Beers Closing Colfax Taproom in September, Keeping Midtown Open and Planning a 2028 Golden Location

September 18, 2026 by Dustin Scoggins

DENVER — Bruz Beers will close Bruz Off Fax in September after six years on Colfax Avenue. The original 10-year-old production brewery and taproom in Denver’s Midtown neighborhood stays open.

The last day at Bruz Off Fax is September 24, 2026. The same Belgian-style beers will remain on tap at 1675 West 67th Avenue, Suite 100. Owners Ryan and Rachel Evans say a going-away party is coming; details will be posted on Bruz social channels.

“We accomplished what we wanted at Bruz Off Fax,” the Evanses said. “We built a special place where people could hang out and feel welcome while sipping some great beer. Colfax will always have a special place in our hearts. Thank you to our loyal fans for all of the memories!”

Next stop: Golden in 2028

Bruz is planning a taproom in the former Golden Animal Hospital. Local firm Ewers Architecture is on the design. The previous building owners chose Bruz to keep the property as a community space. The concept includes a two-story outdoor patio looking toward the foothills and sunset. Opening is slated for 2028.

Ryan and Rachel Evans live in Golden and say that is part of the move.

“Being Golden residents, we are looking forward to building something special for our community. Joining the ranks of one of the nation’s premier beer towns is truly thrilling, especially given Golden’s stellar reputation. We look forward to bringing not only our Bruz Beers brand, but also one of the best selections of Belgian import beers in the region.”

About Bruz Beers

Bruz Beers began with two Denver-area beer travelers who wanted a true Belgian-style brewery in Colorado. Charlie Gottenkieny, a longtime homebrewer and two-time AHA Homebrewer of the Year, fell for Belgian ales on a 1980s trip to Belgium and spent decades brewing those styles at home. Ryan Evans, a Colorado native with an MBA from the University of Denver, had his own conversion moment on a late-1990s layover in Brussels, when a bartender poured him Tripel Karmeliet. The two met around 2014 at a Belgian tasting Gottenkieny was teaching. After being priced out of RiNo, they opened Bruz in July 2016 as the anchor of the new Midtown neighborhood at 1675 West 67th Avenue, brewing only Belgian and Belgian-inspired beers — wit, dubbel, tripels, quads, and later sours and barrel-aged ales.

The original taproom stayed the production home. In February 2020 they opened Bruz Off Fax at Colfax and York, then added a canning line when the pandemic hit. Awards followed, including gold at the European Beer Star in Germany for Oak Marionette on Peaches. Ryan and his wife, Rachel Evans, also built a side business leading beer tours to Belgium. In 2026 they scheduled Bruz Off Fax to close on September 24 so they could keep Midtown running and plan a 2028 taproom in Golden, in the former Golden Animal Hospital, with a two-story patio facing the foothills.

For more information, please visit https://bruzbeers.com/

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Hindenburg Löwenbräu Beer Bottle Up for Auction Sept. 22, 2026 — Last One Sold for $16,000

September 18, 2026 by Dow Scoggins

Another Piece of Hindenburg Beer History Heads to Auction
Eighty-nine years after the Hindenburg burst into flames over Lakehurst, New Jersey, one more surviving bottle of Löwenbräu is coming up for sale. Wallis & Wallis in Lewes, England, is offering the fire-damaged bottle as Lot 431 in its Arms, Armour, Militaria & Collectibles auction on September 22, 2026. It’s a standard 23cm green bottle with a crown top, one of only six known to have survived the disaster — still sealed, though the label is scorched and crumbling and the foil cap disappeared long ago in the flames.

The bottle carries a modest £4,000–£6,000 estimate, well below the roughly $16,000 a sister bottle fetched back in 2009, but with these things, pre-auction estimates rarely hold once collectors start chasing a piece of aviation infamy. Somewhere out there, a handful of these bottles are still scattered in attics and family collections — each one a strange little souvenir of one of history’s most famous disasters, and proof that even a beer that’s been through a fireball can still find someone willing to pay for the story.

Website: https://www.wallisandwallis.co.uk/

A bottle of Löwenbräu beer was sold at auction back in 2009, fetching over $16,000.

A bottle of Löwenbräu beer, recovered from the 1937 Hindenburg airship disaster, was auctioned for over $16,000, making it the most expensive beer bottle ever sold, according to ABC News. Found among the wreckage in Lakehurst, New Jersey, the heavily damaged bottle retained about 80% of its contents, though auctioneer Andrew Aldridge noted it would be undrinkable due to its condition.

On May 6, 1937, Fire Chief Leroy Smith discovered six intact Löwenbräu bottles and a pitcher at the crash site. To retrieve them later, he hid the items, as authorities had restricted access to the area. Smith kept one bottle and shared the others with colleagues, though most are now unaccounted for. One was later donated to the Löwenbräu company after a colleague’s passing. This rare artifact remains a prized piece for Hindenburg memorabilia collectors.

About the Hindenburg:
The Hindenburg was a German airship, renowned for its luxury and technological marvel, that operated as a transatlantic passenger transport in the 1930s. Measuring over 800 feet long, it was one of the largest airships ever built, powered by hydrogen gas and capable of carrying dozens of passengers in opulent cabins. On May 6, 1937, while attempting to land in Lakehurst, New Jersey, the Hindenburg caught fire and was destroyed in a catastrophic explosion, killing 36 people and marking a tragic end to the airship era. The disaster, widely covered by media, remains a significant historical event, with artifacts like a recovered Löwenbräu bottle later becoming valuable collectibles.

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