February 2011 Featured Brewery
Location: Athens, Ohio
Founded: 2005
Distribution: Brewery Only
Contact: 740.592.9686
Website: www.jackieos.com
Slogan: “Jackie O’s Pub and Brewery prides itself in creating neo-traditional handcrafted artisan ales. Inside each pint, a fusion of American craft brewing creativity and historically sound techniques await your palate. A marriage of exploration and tradition guaranteed to cure whatever ales you!”
Bacchanal
Athens, Ohio is not only home to the University of Ohio, but it’s also home to what many beer geeks will call one of the country’s most exciting up-and-coming breweries called Jackie-O’s Pub & Brewery. Jackie-O’s originally started as a small Irish bar called O’Hooley’s but added brewpub capabilities in 1996. This equipment is still used to brew their beers today.
Brad Clark
Brad Clark has been in his current role as brewer since the name change from O’Hooley’s to Jackie-O’s took effect back in 2005. He is now known for creating some experimental and full-flavored ales that sometimes feature the addition of wild yeast, bacteria, and/or barrel-aging.
In looking at Jackie-O’s collection of brews on Beeradvocate you can see that they have created a pretty large number of beers. They say there are a couple that could be considered signature beers like the OPA (Ohio Pale Ale) and the Razz Wheat, but there are also some experimental bottled beers that have created a lot of interest in the trading world like the Bourbon Barrel-aged Dark Apparition, Oil of Aphrodite, and Joe the Plum.
Tap Handles
Unfortunately for most of us, the distribution is very limited at this point – and when I say limited I mean like only available at the brew pub itself limited. Unless you live in Athens (or within driving distance) you’ll have to trade for one of these beers. Limited or not, this is a brewery that is garnering a lot of attention in the beer geek community and they’re showing just exactly how quickly word can spread when you create great beers.
Popular Beers:
Bourbon Barrel-Aged Dark Apparition
Oil of Aphrodite
Joe the Plum
Ohio Pale Ale
Let us know your thoughts by rating and commenting on this video.
Posted by builderofcoalitions on February 8, 2011 at 11:11 PM
Hey, my sister went there (and I nearly played football there). Too bad it’s out of the way from my parent’s home in western Ohio.
Posted by Louie on February 9, 2011 at 1:44 AM
Very cool feature. By the way, you misspelled Jackie-O’s as “Jacskie-O’s” in the first paragraph – I hate to point out stuff like this, but if I don’t you’ll think no one thoroughly read the page.
Posted by thehopry on February 9, 2011 at 7:01 AM
No worries. I need an editor sometimes so thank you. It has been corrected.
Posted by Louie on February 9, 2011 at 12:12 PM
For how much you write for the site, you very rarely make any mistakes.
I will say it’s like seeing someone has a piece of spinach stuck between their teeth and not telling them, though. They get home after a whole day of smiling and talking and look in the mirror and go “WTF! Why did no one tell me!?” Except in this case, it was a pretty microscopic piece of spinach and I probably could have safely not said anything, but I digress.
Keep up the great work – - after a year, you are already the Jedi Master of beer reviews.
Posted by thehopry on February 9, 2011 at 1:05 PM
Hahahaha…I thought I was Steve McQueen.
Posted by KevSal on February 9, 2011 at 2:37 AM
id love to try one of their beers at one point. they just had a big release on 3 beers i believe, all of which sold out within hours. now that speaks volumes about this brewpub
Posted by thehopry on February 9, 2011 at 9:44 AM
That’s pretty insane. I noticed after looking at eBay this morning (out of curiosity) that someone is selling these bottles for $200 – Holy crap!
Posted by loveservebeer on February 9, 2011 at 3:01 AM
Awesome! I wasn’t expecting to see a post on one of my favorite bars from college! I was an OU student back when this place was O’Hooley’s. Unfortunately, I wasn’t really into good beer back then, so I didn’t understand how great this place was. Thanks for the post.
Also, I know that Jackie O’s hosts a state-wide craft beer fair ever summer in Athens. They’re not only a great brewpub, but they are doing a lot to promote the craft beer in Ohio.
Posted by thehopry on February 9, 2011 at 7:24 AM
Very cool.
When I posted this I honestly didn’t know how many people would be familiar with the brewery. Good to know you were familiar with the place.
If you ever go back to visit and get a chance to go, leave more comments here and let us know how it was.
Posted by loveservebeer on February 9, 2011 at 7:50 AM
It just so happens my wife and I are flying back to the States next month. We’re planning a trip down to Athens, and I’m sure a stop at Jackie-O’s will be on the schedule. I’ll let you know how it goes.
Posted by Steve M. on February 9, 2011 at 10:15 AM
Yes, this is a great brewpub to showcase. I teach at Ohio University and have been going here for a few years now. In nearby Lancaster, Ohio, there is an up-and-coming brewer of organic Belgian ales: Rockmill Brewery (http://www.rockmillbrewery.com/about.php). Mark, I know you like the Belgians, so you might want to give one of these a try (witbier, saison, tripel, dubbel)…
Posted by thehopry on February 9, 2011 at 1:08 PM
You are spot on – I do love the Belgians. Is their distribution pretty limited? Not seeing where they can be purchased.
Posted by Steve M. on February 9, 2011 at 6:48 PM
I just checked and yes, it is (unfortunately) limited. Just in Ohio for now. Sorry…