Bad Tom Smith Brewing

Craft beer at its finest. A great locals hangout down by the river in Cincinnati. We attended a birthday party here and the venue was perfect. Street parking was available. Most folks stopped in prior to to of after leaving local restaurants such as Bella Luna or Terry’s Turf Club.
I thought there were a bit heavy on the IPA’s but they had a good selection of stouts and wheat beers as well.

We had been to Bad Toms a few times when it first opened, mostly we found they were always out of half the beers and the bartender was loaded. Well, we went back last night and they have made this place so much better! They moved the bar to where it should have been initially, near the taps. They’ve added an outdoor patio which is really nice, great atmosphere. They’ve added free peanuts and popcorn, too. This place will now be back in the rotation, great job, Bad Toms!

Great atmosphere, you can see the kettles brewing right in the tap room. Recently added an outdoor area seems like a lot of fun. Staff super friendly, comfortable environment, good beer!
They have a lot of merch you can purchase as well as board games to play which is always fun.

I love this place!
It reminds me of a converted mechanics shop. It is in a large garage and one side is for all the brewed beers and the other side has picnic tables to sit and enjoy the beers, play board games and listen to records choosen by the owner. The garage doors are open on a nice day as well.
We ordered a flight of 7 beers and I pretty much loved ALL of them. This is a rare thing to love all the beers but they were so smooth. The owner is awesome to talk to and really loves his beers.
**You know it also has to be awesome when it’s a blocks walk away from Terry’s Turf Club!**

This was the second stop on our 5 stop brewery crawl. And this was by far my favorite place. If I were to fancify my garage to be a cool hang out spot it would look like this place. They also have board games and a record player with plenty of records to choose from to play. We got tasters of all the beer and they were all so smooth and tasty. The parking situation is not the best but everything else is.

We stopped in here after dinner at Bella Luna one Friday night. The place was pretty empty– which was nice for our group of 6 since it is so small. The bartender was fantastic and the beers were great. We all got flights so we could try out as much as possible. The only negative was there were a lot of beers on the board that were out.
I will definitely be back in the summer to hang out– they have large garage doors that open up the place and it is a cool little building to sit and enjoy a beer.

My least favorite Cincinnati brewery so far, unfortunately. Beer was not very good at all, service was lacking, parking was simply a joke… this could be a one star review pretty easily but since I’m such a proponent of local breweries, I’m giving them a bonus start that maybe I went on an off night or something. I want to give them one more shot but then again, with so many other great options in town, I’m not sure that I will bother.

Probably my favorite environment for a chill brewery hang-​out. Yes, the parking is not amazing, but I’ve never had an issue finding a spot on the street within a short walk. I must admit, not my favorite beer selection compared to other breweries. The brown ale is by far my favorite and is not typically a style I go for, which I think says a lot. I love the record-​player and the board games they have in there. We have most often gone there later in the evening and the crowd is usually a little on the sparse side, but the benefit of this is it’s not loud and crowded. We went during a Saturday afternoon recently and it was MUCH busier. Bear in mind that a brew-​bus tour was there, good for business, not the best for non-​tour patrons, but great for the exposure for the brewery as I don’t think a ton of people know about this gem. Again, just a great atmosphere to have a low-​key drink and some good conversation with friends. If you haven’t been, GO! Play a record, break out some board games or Jenga.

The Good: Beer Selection, Friendly Staff
The Bad: Parking
Located on Eastern Avenue, in close vicinity to Bella Luna and Terry’s Turf Club, is Bad Tom Brewing taproom. My wife and I decided to try this place out on a weekend afternoon. It was an easy place to locate but there isn’t much on the exterior of the building to differentiate it from the other businesses along the street. When we arrived inside the bartender gave us a warm greeting and began to tell us all about the beers they had on tap. Since it was our first time there, we decided to get flights for all 7 beers they had on tap. Bad Tom offers you a variety of styles from rye, pale ales, stouts, and other seasonal options. We enjoyed the variety and tastes of our selections. The taproom has a lot of available seating between the picnic tables on the side of the room and the high-​top tables located in the center.
The only downside of this taproom is the parking. There are parking lots located around the building but the parking spots are reserved for the restaurants up the street. So the only option is to park on the street. This wasn’t an issue when we went since it was the middle of the afternoon on the weekend but I could see it being a factor during lunch and dinner rushes at the surrounding restaurants.
Overall we were satisfied with our visit and will probably be back in the future to sample more of their beers and seasonal selections.

Down the street from Bella Luna and Terry’s Turf Club is Bad Tom. It’s a small, simple space on the inside. And boring on the out. We almost passed it on our first trip here.
What they lack in curb appeal and cozy indoor atmospere, they certainly make up for with their beer. The staff was frieindly and chatted with us while we sampled and drank.
This isn’t your typical micro-​brewery. It has a local watering hole feel. And I’m fine with that.

Awesome beer. The Red Rye was the best. Worst parking ever! Really! Two huge empty parking lots and we needed to park on the street ½ block away? SO weird! We wouldn’t want to park in the lot next to the business for fear that the employee of another business .25 miles away that may or may not show up that day might not have their personal parking space available. I liked the beer a lot, but probably won’t return because life is too short for weird parking drama.

We’ve been to Bad Tom a handful of times now. Street parking is the only downside, though never been that much of problem. It really depends on how busy Terry’s and Bella Luna are. Bad Tom has strong beers, typically most are about 6% and up. The bartenders and brewers are great fun. They’ve happily explained all the beers to us, showed us how to work the record player and told the crazy story behind the name. There’s also a free popcorn machine and often a big old black lab named Sam, who will do anything for a piece of your popcorn. They also have plenty of games to play including the world’s greatest: Cards Against Humanity.
We hosted a birthday party there with 9 people and they easily accommodated us, even gave us a Cincy Savers for $ 10 off to Ramundo’s Pizza that delivers directly the brewery. They also gave the person whose birthday it was a free beer.
If you want a small micro-​brewery that’s basically a corner bar that brews beer and where you can interact with the brewers then go to Bad Tom.

We recently went on a brew tour of Cincinnati and this was the last stop on our trip. I won’t say who the tour was through as it was an awesome experience and I don’t want anything negative associated with them to come from this review. As soon as we walked in I got the vibe we were an inconvenience. «Oh, you’re with the brew tour» was the first comment we heard from who I assume is one of their employees (although he just sat at the bar the entire time eating take out food so I could be wrong). The beer was ok. Not something to write home about but that isn’t my complaint. When leaving, the turd ball employee/​friend of the establishment made an extremely lude comment to me and was just overall a complete dick.
My advice to the owner. get rid of your jerk employees, don’t allow your family to sit there and get drunk all night with his buddies, don’t sample your product until your closed for the night, and take care of your customers. No matter who they are. You won’t have a business for long if this doesn’t happen. I know you’ll never have ours ever again.

The beer is great, but that’s not the best part. The staff is amazing. We grabbed a drink last week and I didn’t realize that I left my credit card there. They told me I could stop by the house anytime and grab it. I was busy for over a week but they responded right away and we finally planned on another time a week later to grab it. Just had to stop in another time and hang with Sam the black lab and grab a few more local brews. Thanks guys for being so awesome!

Editing review after visiting again in Feb 2016. I don’t know how this place is going to stay in business. Terry’s and Bella Luna are packed but this place was empty. Tried a flight of all of their beers, couldn’t get passed a sip of each, they are awful.

Came here on a beer tour with an open mind since I’d never really heard of this brewery before. First off, when it’s 15 degrees outside, don’t leave your Bay door open so it’s so cold inside it’s almost unbearable. Secondly there equipment looked very cheap and unclean. It’s a cool concept and for a brewery but their presentation and over all look of the business was bad. The silver lining is that the people were very nice.

First tried Bad Tom during the Lunkin Beer Fest over the summer and enjoyed it, so I jumped at the chance to try the real deal. We had a group from Girls Pint Out here, and the service was friendly, the beer was delicious, and it was refreshingly not crowded for a Thursday night — a seemingly rare find when looking for a brewery hangout.
I had a flight and loved every beer I tried. That’s a rarity. Beers especially worth noting: The Brown Ale (a refreshing take on a beer type that everyone makes), Brother Clement (a Belgian wheat with a bite), and the Black Kettle, a stout with hints of vanilla and cinnamon — perfect for fall weather.
My only gripe is the parking situation (street only), but everything else having to do with the brewery was a great experience.

This may be one of my new favorite breweries in the city. It’s tiny, unassuming, and the beer is delicious! And tha tstaff is a lot of fun too.
This place is across the street and then the parking lot for Bella Luna, in what looks almost like a large garage. When you walk in theres a large menu board to the right, a large ‘U’-shaped bar in front of you and picnic tables lining the frech glass doors that you can see and smell the beer brewing behind. They have a flight of all 6 beers on tap or you can get pints for $ 5. It’s a semi tiny space and it smells like the grains brewing, but if it gets too hot they open the large garage door and its perfect.
The staff is super nice and friendly and will caht with you if you like. We got the run down of the name and the beers from who i believe is one of the owners. Their beers are a little different, but good different! It’s totally worth a drive or a stop in to check them out! And if you’re hungry they’ve got a few menus you can order from and pick up or possibly get dilivered.

Fun new brewery in Cincy.
This was a nice second stop on a day of brewery hoping. It is small and easy to miss when driving. They don’t have a big sign yet. It looks like an old warehouse. You know your in a brewery as soon as you walk in by the smell ho grain. There is a bar and picnic tables to sit at. At the moment they have 6 beers on tap. Not the best beers i have had but are good. The owner was the one working the bar and was very nice and even told us how they got the name. We will make sure we get back here again