“When we saw this building and based on our needs and what we had, we were very excited and thought this was a perfect location,” said Third Eye Brewing co-founding and co-owner Tom Collins. “We also thought it was for us to take an existing building that sat vacant for quite a long time and actually breathe some life into it and turn it back into something cool.”
The 28,000-square-foot brewpub and brewery, a $4 million project, is unique as it has a large, arching façade not seen on any other building along Ohio 4 and South Erie Boulevard.
Third Eye had a VIP preview of the new establishment, including showing off the brewing area that features larger fermentation tanks that allow for more capacity to brew its craft beers. They could produce several thousand barrels of beer a year, which is anywhere from three to five times what they could produce prior to the expansion.
Mayor Pat Moeller said the Third Eye Brewing project is an expansion of its manufacturing businesses.
“It’s going to be a great addition to our city. It’s kind of a cool beer hall but it’s more than a beer hall. They’re manufacturing beer,” he said. “They’re making things in Hamilton, Ohio, that were made decades ago. We’re a city that can make a lot of things, including craft beer.”
They join other craft brewers, like Municipal Brew Works and Fretboard, as they are reinvigorating beer-making in Hamilton. Back in the 1800s and until Prohibition, beer-makers were abundant in Hamilton, including the Cincinnati Brewing Co. and Peter Schwab’s Pure Gold.
Collins said they wanted to locate their second location in Hamilton because the city “has such great stuff going on,” most notably Spooky Nook Sports Champion Mill.
“You’re starting to see a lot of businesses starting to rally and coming in,” he said. “We were like, ‘Yeah, we want to be a part of that.’”
As they are ready to open at noon on Friday, they are looking at what’s next, which would be adding more tanks to the brew house. They have a 30-barrel system that will allow them to do three or four times its current capacity, and when that barrel expansion happens, Third Eye will be able to brew more than 10,000 barrels a year.
“For us, there will be a lot of new people coming that may not be familiar with our (Sharonville) location, so we’re excited to bring what we call the Third Eye vibe to Hamilton,” he said. “We hope people see this as a great place to come and hang out, have a good time, eat some food, drink some beer, and enjoy.”
THIRD EYE 2023 AWARDS
Third Eye Brewing has received 13 medals this year and two Best Brewery honors. They include:
At the Great Amerian Beer Festival, they were named Brewery of the Year for a brewery producing 1,001 to 2,000 barrels. They received gold medals for their Double Astral and Chai Eye Captain beers and silver medals for their Gourd Darn It and Mounds of Importance (a collaboration with Narrow Path)
At the World Beer Cup, their Higher Purpose brew received a bronze medal and at the U.S. Open Beer Championship, they received a gold medal for the Dark Aura and three silvers for their Double Astral, Space Toast Continuum and Kelly’s Private Stash.
At the Ohio Craft Brewers Cup, they were named Best Southwest Ohio Brewery as they won gold for Higher Purpose, silvers for Untapped Potential and Inner Sight, and a bronze for Kelley’s Private Stash.
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