Yellow Springs Brewery

305 North Walnut St.

Yellow Springs, OH 45387

937.767.0222

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Yellow Springs is sort of an oddball as far as outlying Dayton towns go. This Greene County hamlet is known for its eccentricities, handmade crafts and for a great deal of progressive thinking, from sustainable energy to an almost psychedelic main street of colorful shops and locally made goods.  In that context, Yellow Springs Brewery is a perfect fit for the town, a taproom that keeps things local and interesting but producing beers that appeal to a wide set of audiences. It’s one of the earliest breweries to open in Dayton ans it also sports the largest variety of brews.

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The taproom has about half a dozen beers on a rotating basis, but there is quite a variety of drinks already circulating, and the brewery puts its brews out to local bars to sell, too. Among my favorites:

• Captain Stardust Saison: This is the most popular of the beers on tap. It’s got a very aggressive citrus flavor, almost like grapefruit, and a strong finish. My personal favorite.
• Springer American Cream Ale: True to the cream ale style, this one has a very light body and a very pleasant aroma. Definitely the first one you’ll want to drink.
• Roundabout Dunkelweizen: A little bit more full in the body, this beer has a very mild flavor and is slightly bitter.
• Zoetic Citra Pale Ale: While it’s a pale ale, I would contend it’s a pretty hoppy pale ale. Sort of on the line between pale ale and IPA. The citrus is a strong element in the beer.
• Breaking Edge IPA: I would contend this one is less hoppy that the Zoetic Citra, but it’s still got a bitter aftertaste that elevates the hop flavor well.
• Kerfuffle English Mild: It’s a dark beer, but it’s still got a light body. Hints of smokiness dominate the palette on the beer, but it still ends on a pleasant note.
• Boat Show: One of the sweeter IPAs on the repertoire for Yellow Springs. This one has a hoppy, citrusy taste but a light body. Good for light drinking.
• Handsome brown ale: A sturdier brown ale, with just a hint of smokiness to it, I love this in the fall. A nice introduction to the mid-range of beers.
• Nutty Professor Twinky: This snack cake is made with the Kerfuffle English Mild baked into its cake. The peanut butter cream filling is notably heavier and less sweet. Wonderful.

I like the atmosphere of the taproom; the spot is pretty crowded especially on weekends so if you come with a group you might want to expect to stand. But the beers are still good, and the folks running Yellow Springs Brewery are  clearly passionate. In all, it’s a definite must-go to the taproom at least once, and you definitely ought to give them a try if you spot one of their brews on another bar in town.

Recommendations

• Like most of the other taprooms in town, this one does not serve food, but it does have a lot of food trucks out to visit in the afternoons, so you can expect a lot of the local-food movement types to frequent this spot.
• There are brewery tours on weekends, Saturdays at 4 p.m., where brewery workers will walk you through their process. It’s a lot of fun.
• The beers from Yellow Springs are available in a lot of bars locally. In the Yellow Springs taproom there is a guide as to where you can find the beers.