CINCINNATI — Adam Bankovich joined Rhinegeist Brewery in October 2022 as the fast-growing beer maker’s chief commercial officer. But his personal connection to the Over-the-Rhine brewery dates to when it opened 10 years ago.
Bankovich, who’s doubling as the company’s interim CEO, fondly recalls spending time with his family there shortly after the brewery opened in June 2013. He and his wife proudly showed off their then-newborn daughter to friends and family who made the trip to hang out at the new brewery.
That same child, now 10, has two younger siblings who regularly dart around Rhinegeist, playing cornhole on its sprawling taproom floor and eating snacks from Local Cantina, the in-house taqueria.
“It’s been a lot of full circle, pinch me sort of moments in the short time I’ve been with the company,” Bankovich said about his new “office job.”
Bankovich’s experience isn’t unique. Over the past decade, tens of thousands of Cincinnatians, tourists and beer enthusiasts have made pilgrimages to Ohio’s second-largest craft brewery.
To mark its aluminum anniversary, Rhinegeist hosted a festival on Saturday inside its taproom and rooftop deck.
What You Need To Know
- Since 2013, Rhinegeist has worked to become one of the largest craft breweries in the country
- To celebrate its 10 years in business, Rhinegeist hosted a 10th anniversary party at its Over-the-Rhine headquarters
- Cincinnati leaders credit Rhinegeist with helping to spur catalytic development in an underdeveloped part of OTR
- Despite growing distribution to 11 states, Rhinegeist officials vocalized their desire to remain "Cincy Made"
As part of the all-day “Now and Ten” celebration, Rhinegeist invited beer lovers from across the region as they take a suds-soaked walk down memory lane and also offer a glimpse at what lies ahead for one of the region’s largest craft brewers.
Rhinegeist staff planned an anniversary beer garden, an interactive timeline of the brewery’s history and several themed taproom activations based on some of its most popular brands.
The company’s brewers created a pair of limited-run birthday beers: TENfinity and Beyond!, a fruited sour ale available in the taproom, and Now and Ten, a Thiolized IPA served in 16-ounce cans and on draft.
Bankovich described Thiolized as having “exceptionally vivid tropical fruit aromas” and “expressive notes” of passionfruit, mango and blueberry.
Celebrating a decade and beyond
For Rhinegeist founders Bob Bonder and Bryant Goulding, the journey to this milestone represents the fruition of more than a decade of planning, hard work and dreaming.
Bonder didn’t relocate from San Francisco to Cincinnati in 2007 to start a brewery. At the time, his focus was on developing a chain of regional coffee roasteries called Tazza Mia.
But after spending time in OTR and learning about the neighborhood’s historic connection to beer-making, Bonder explored the feasibility of opening a brewery.
Rhinegeist means “Ghost of the Rhine” in German. It’s a reference to OTR's historic connections to brewing culture and German heritage, Bankovich said.
In August 2011, Bonder enlisted the help of Goulding, a fellow West Coaster and former business colleague. Goulding had a passion for beer; he home-brewed on weekends and regularly traveled up and down the Pacific Coast, hitting up breweries and beer festivals. He’d also worked at Anderson Valley Brewing Company in Mendocino County, Calif., and Dogfish Head, managing its West Coast sales business.
After a trip to Cincinnati, Goulding joined Bonder there in July 2021.
Bonder and Goulding decided on the 250,000-square-foot site at 1910 Elm St. in part because of its connection to the city’s rich brewing tradition, Bankovich said. The city-block-long warehouse formerly functioned as Christian Moerlein’s packaging hall.
“They saw this building and fell in love with it,” Bankovich said of Bonder and Goulding, who today serves as president and vice president of Rhinegeist’s board.
“They knew the heritage of Cincinnati and what brewing meant to Over-the-Rhine and greater Cincinnati area pre-prohibition,” Bankovich added. “So, to find this building that’s rooted in brewing history … means everything.”
Growing along with OTR
Rhinegeist opened June 29, 2013 — exactly 3,638 days before Saturday’s anniversary party.
More than 2,000 guests came through that door on the first day. They had only four beers to choose from: Uncle; Cougar; a now-defunct hoppy wheat called Spikelet; and the brewery’s flagship IPA, Truth.
Bonder and Goulding expected a big day, Bankovich said, but he noted they were still working through some kinks at the time.
They relied on a handful of friends and family to work the door, pour beers and collect cash. The team recalls having to make an emergency run to what is now Hard Rock Casino to get more $1 bills.
Brendon Cull remembers Rhinegeist’s humble origin story. He first tried one of their beers — an Uncle — back when Bonder and Goulding were running taps through coolers at parties to build the brewery’s brand.
“It’s hard to believe that it has only been 10 years because Rhinegeist feels as much a part of Cincinnati as Skyline or Graeter’s,” said Cull, president and CEO of the Cincinnati USA Regional Chamber.
In some ways, the growth of Rhinegeist mirrored the ongoing changes in OTR. A culturally rich area, the neighborhood had experienced decades of disinvestment before a surge of development dollars around the same period that the brewery opened.
During those early days, Rhinegeist served as a “hub” in a still-developing part of OTR north of Liberty Street, Bankovich said. It hosted an indoor wiffle ball league in its main taproom area and looked for unique ways to draw people down to the area.
Bankovich, a longtime beer industry veteran, recalled bringing his kids to the brewery in 2018 to check out the 50-foot-long skeleton of a galeamopus, a dinosaur that roamed the earth roughly 150 million years ago. It was a partnership with the Cincinnati Museum Center.
“It’s important to us,” Bankovich said about being a neighborhood ambassador.
Since joining the company last year, Bankovich, has met numerous beer pilgrims who are visiting from out of town. The Queen City is the second-best beer city in the U.S., according to a recent list from a real estate website.
Companies of Rhinegeist’s size can provide significant trickle-down benefits to whatever region they call home, said Mike Sullivan, senior director of capital markets for Cushman and Wakefield, a global real estate services firm.
He said those types of businesses can have even greater impacts on areas, like northern OTR, that haven’t seen much development prior to their arrival.
Rhinegeist is responsible for bringing a lot of activity to a part of the neighborhood that probably wouldn’t have seen it otherwise, Sullivan said. He labeled Rhinegeist and Findlay Market “anchor tenants” who’ve helped attract shops, restaurants and residences to the area.
“They're a large and valued part of OTR, for sure,” said Sullivan, who’s also board chair of the Over-the-Rhine Chamber of Commerce.
Cull credited Rhinegeist and other locally owned breweries with leading a resurgence of the region’s brewing culture. Through their community involvement and economic investments in neighborhoods, they have provided momentum to the city’s renaissance, he said.
“It’s a uniquely Cincinnati story, and one all of us should be very proud of,” he added.
Proud to be 'Made in Cincy'
Since 2013, Rhinegeist has continued to grow. Its roster of beers now includes a variety of year-round, seasonal and experimental offerings. They’ve also ventured into other hard beverages, including ciders and spiked teas. One of their new innovations is its RGBevs brand, a line of full-flavored hard craft beverages.
Rhinegeist, which was originally only available in Greater Cincinnati, is now available throughout Ohio, Kentucky and nine other states. It is now the 23rd largest craft brewery, by volume, in the United States, according to the Brewers Association.
For perspective, Rhinegeist produced 2,000 barrels of beer its first year in operation. That annual production grew to 106,000 barrels in 2022.
When it began, the brewery had a 20-barrel brew house. To meet demand, they had to expand into an adjacent building to increase operations to a 60-barrel system.
They’ve also added a couple hundred employees over the years and built a second home a few blocks down the road in Camp Washington. The Spring Grove facility also serves as its warehouse and distribution center.
Bankovich takes pride that despite Rhinegeist’s rapid growth, its roots remain firmly planted in OTR. All Rhinegeist beer is brewed in Cincinnati, Bankovich said.
“Our logo says Cincy Made for a reason,” he added.
The brewery’s commitment to Cincinnati extends beyond just making beer. Over the years, Rhinegeist has become a strong supporter of the region’s nonprofits and community groups.
Through its “Beer for Humans” charitable outreach program, it works with 300 organizations each year. Focuses range from entrepreneurship training to eliminating food insecurity to various environmental initiatives. They also hold pint nights each Wednesday in their taproom that benefit local nonprofit groups.
The brewery also partnered with the Cincy Reigns organization on a special beer brand to raise money to support name, image, likeness (NIL) deals for University of Cincinnati athletes. They plan to hold a release party for Cincy Light on June 30 and July 1 to mark UC’s formal admittance into the Big 12 Conference.
The 10th anniversary milestone is an important time to show gratitude to all the employees and supporters who’ve contributed to Rhinegeist’s success. But it also represents a chance to build excitement for what lies ahead.
“We can’t wait to share with you what’s next,” Bankovich said.