Columbus just booked its third consecutive spot in USA Today's 10Best Readers' Choice rankings of America's best beer cities, coming in ninth for 2026 after top-10 finishes in 2024 and 2025. The area counts nearly 50 breweries as of spring 2026, and each fall the calendar fills with Oktoberfest events — including contests to see who can hold a full beer stein aloft the longest.
The beer culture runs deep here. German immigrants started settling in Columbus in the 19th century, and one of them, Louis Hoster, opened City Brewery in 1836 — the seed of what became the Brewery District. Five breweries operated there within a few decades. The originals are gone, but preserved buildings remain, including the L. Hoster Brewing Company complex on the National Register of Historic Places. Columbus Food Adventures runs a Brewery District Walking Tour each July through September that pairs pints with the neighbourhood's backstory.
The German thread continues in working breweries today. Hofbräuhaus Columbus in Grandview Yard operates under the supervision of Munich's Staatliches Hofbräuhaus, brews according to the German Purity Law, and uses recipes tied to the Duke of Bavaria — some more than 400 years old — alongside a biergarten and Bavarian food. In Olde Towne East, Gemüt Biergarten pours helles, pilsner and hefeweizen from a converted brick firehouse with stained-glass windows. Both sit on the Columbus Ale Trail, a passport-style route through the city's breweries; there's a Distillery Trail too if you want to mix things up.
September is the time to go. Schmidt's Columbus Oktoberfest, a free festival at the Ohio Expo Center in mid-September, packs two music stages, German food and beer, and the Gemütlichkeit Games — think keg tossing and lifting a 508-pound stone. About a week later, the Germania Oktoberfest takes over the Germania Singing & Sport Society's beer garden with keg tapping, dancing and a steinholding contest. Smaller neighbourhood events round things out: Tap the Keg Oktoberfest in German Village features local vendors and a special Wolf's Ridge brew, and both Hofbräuhaus and Gemüt host their own celebrations. A September weekend is enough to hit several in one trip.
For anyone who thought American beer tourism meant Denver or Portland, Columbus makes a strong, affordable case — a compact city where a historic German brewing quarter, a dense craft scene, and a packed festival season all sit within easy reach. Even the locals admit the city doesn't have beaches or mountains; beer became the thing Columbus does, and it does it well.