Braxton Brewing Covington

Finally, here I am at Braxton in Covington! Man it seems like it took me forever to finally make it to this brewery. I have loved Braxton from afar for a long time now, never making it to the actual brewery. Their Tropic Flare NEIPA has been a go-to for me for a long time. So on my “pre” birthday, Mrs. Bacchanalian and I decided to get the deed done and finally go to this wonderful brewery. Braxton has several locations to choose from (Braxton Labs, Braxton Cincinnati, Braxton Barrel House and Braxton Covington). We choose the original for our first adventure (Braxton Covington). Unfortunately because of Covid nonsense we could not see both the main room and the roof top. We had to choose a room, so we choose the main room. Mrs. Bacchanalian described the main room as “Brooklyn Industrial.” Not entirely sure what that means, but for me it was spacious and clean with a garage/industrial feel.

Braxton serves somewhat different beers at all of their locations, so you may want to look at their tap list on line before choosing which local you want to visit. You can not really go wrong with any of their selections, so really it is more a matter of location mainly. Braxton Labs (the next location for me to visit) is located in the back of the Party Source in Bellevue, KY and specializes in more experimental style beers (right up my alley, but not Mrs. Bacchanalian). We were very satisfied with what we had to choose from at the Covington local.

Braxton does not make any food themselves, however there is food available from next door at Parlor on Seventh. You can look up their menu at https://www.parloronseventh.com/ We can only hope that this restaurant fairs better than the last one in the same spot (Alto Pizza). We did not sample any of the fair while there this go around.

My main goal for this visit was to sample as many of Braxton’s brews as possible (I had a designated driver). I purposely did not have a Tropical Flare since this is a beer that I have already reviewed and one that I will have at home often. I sampled four from the tap and another three from the can. First up was Storm Cream Ale (ABV 4.8%). The beer is a clear amber. Not much aroma from any of the samples, my guess is the glasses they use are not best for aroma. This beer is a bit piney but not much else for me. Not my favorite. My next sample was one I had been looking forward to trying, Braxton Labs Double Vanilla Milkshake IPA (ABV7%). The beer is a dense, hazy yellow with a slight vanilla nose. Creamy and thick with a nice mouthfeel. I enjoyed this beer but it was not the POW! I was hoping for. I may try this one from a can to see if it comes out better than this first sampling. Next up was the Scooter Blood Orange Radler (ABV 4%). A somewhat hazy orange color with a floral, citrusy nose. Huge blood orange flavors. Very citrusy with a zing to it. Kinda like drinking an orange soda. I enjoyed this one. The last from the tap for me was the Braxton Labs Half Stack (ABV 6.5%). I do not always try stouts as I feel most have an overly burnt malt taste that I do not enjoy, however the description of this brew got me wanting to give it a try. The beer was very dark but thin. You could smell the chocolate chip pancakes. Thin mouthfeel. More like syrup with batter. Even though the ABV is fairly low it seemed higher to me. Not my favorite.

Samples from the tap.

For me (and I think Mrs. Bacchanalian as well, the stars of the show were the Smoothie Sours that we tried from the can. We sampled three: Tropical with pineapple, pink guava and mango; Peach Mojito with double peach and mint; and Tsunami with pineapple, lime, peach and coconut. All of these smoothie sours are only 4.8% ABV. They all have a very dense and thick body. More like a fruit puree. None of them were really sour. More tart than sour. I would have a very hard time saying which one was my absolute favorite. They were all three very tasty and easy to drink. We actually purchased several of the other flavors to go.

Smoothie Sour Series is so good!

All in all our visit to Braxton Covington was excellent. The beers were great. Atmosphere good. Food (?). Will we go back…Yes! First, however will be to try their other locations. Braxton Labs is next for me.