Columbus, OHBeer Halls and Biergartens

Columbus Monthly describes a beer hall setting inside an 1890s firehouse, with stained glass windows, custom built communal tables and a beer garden and patio out the side. G.A. Benton's review lists a half dozen house beers running from pilsner, helles and kolsch to dunkel and a seasonal marzenbier, at $6 a half liter or $9 to $11 for a liter stein. Order the paprika schnitzel at $16 and the Kebapi at three for $7, and take the stein outside.

Columbus Monthly puts the Columbus Brewing beer hall in a late 1800s brick building in the Trolley District that once repaired trolleys, and calls the space grand, with ample bar seating, leather booths and a huge patio. Order Bodhi, the brewery's signature imperial IPA, which the magazine singles out by name. The brick hall runs year round while the patio keeps warm weather hours, so the indoor room is the one to aim for once the season turns.

Columbus Monthly tells first timers to brush up on German beer hall etiquette before a night at Hofbrauhaus Columbus, the Munich brewpub's Grandview Yard outpost. Beer is served by the liter, and the shared 16 foot tables leave little room for shyness. A brass band plays seven nights a week, and marketing director Matt Papp says guests are encouraged to stand on the bench and sing along. Order a liter with the house beer cheese, which Papp says people try to buy by the gallon. The hall runs year round; the biergarten keeps warm weather hours.

Columbus Monthly calls the one room Franklinton taproom a neighborhood anchor after 12 years, with expansive beer gardens that turn into ice rinks in the winter, a music stage and food trucks including Ray Ray's Hog Pit and Buck City Sammies. Order an Oh, Sure IPA, the beer the magazine names, and stay for whatever community event is running, up to and including beer keg curling. The gardens run outdoors in warm weather and as rinks once the cold sets in.