Nocterra Brewing’s new taproom and restaurant, years in the making, is finally open next to the Scioto Audubon Metro Park! The 5000-square-foot space features a full kitchen, main dining room, space for barrel-aging, and a mezzanine level with a secondary bar.
The main taproom and bar features garage doors that open onto a 50-seat, dog-friendly patio that faces the park.
The long bar features Nocterra’s familiar moth branding. Off to the right you’ll see the espresso machine – very soon they’ll open early for coffee service, pouring Jennings Java roasts.
Nocterra is opening with 20 house beers on tap, ranging from lagers to IPAs, saisons to wheat beers, sours to barrel-aged stouts.
Since it was my inaugural visit to the brewery, I opted for 10 ounces of their Beta Flash New England IPA.
Heading up the kitchen is chef Chris Alexa, who brings his experience with 101 Beer Kitchen and Boston’s Trillium Brewing.
Chef Chris has pulled together a menu that goes beyond the brewpub staples.
We started out with an order of the ancho chicarrons, very crispy and nicely seasoned.
The potato and cheese croquettes were another winner, served with a guajillo aioli. We ordered a second round of them!
Don’t skip out on the Indo cauliflower.
Or the wonderfully seasoned labneh with sun-dried tomatoes, sumac, za’tar, crushed pistachios.
Or the lentil hummus with paprika, toasted sesame, and a black garlic Aleppo scallion oil.
The asada tacos had a good flavor, although the blue corn tortillas were a little tough, and I think it needed a touch more acid or cream to round it out.
The Korean fried chicken sandwich is terrific, using a chicken thigh and flavoring it with gochujang, kimchi aioli, and pickled slaw.
And even if you prefer a more traditional burger with your beer, the Nocterra burger is a more-than-worthy entry.
I finished off with a five-ounce pour of the Trail Break lager. I appreciate that you can order beers in 5-, 10-, or 16-ounce drafts.
The mezzanine level features even more seating, plus a full bar with 20 taps of beer. It should be noted that Nocterra also offers seltzers, ciders, non-alcoholic beers from Special Effects, cocktails, and wine.
In keeping with their outdoors theme, Nocterra’s space is connected to Bloc Garten rock climbing gym. There’s an entrance from the main dining room into the gym, and windows on the mezzanine let you look inside it, too.
This massive new space also allows Nocterra to expand its barrel-aging program. They needed to prioritize space at their original Powell brewery for fermentation tanks, but now they’re able to shift barrels to Audubon. Expect to see the rows of barrels grow over the months and years.
In addition to neighboring Bloc Garten, Nocterra’s new location sits across from the Scioto Audubon Metro Park, with easy access to bike trails, the climbing wall, and nature center.
Nocterra’s Audubon location is open:
- Monday-Thursday, 7 a.m. to 11 p.m
- Friday-Saturday, 7 a.m. to midnight
- Sunday, 7 a.m. to 10 p.m.
Nocterra Brewing Audubon
516 Maier Place
Columbus, OH 43215
(614) 896-8000
Web: nocterrabrewing.com/audubon-taproom-kitchen
FB: Nocterra Brewing at Audubon
IG: @nocterraaudubon
