USA, OH: North High Brewing to close original Columbus location

The countdown is on to grab one last pint at North High Brewing’s original location in Columbus’ Short North, the Columbus Underground reported on December 15.

The brewery at 1288 N. High St. will celebrate 10 years then say goodbye on Wednesday, December 28.

Owner Gavin Meyers says it was a difficult decision to leave the Short North, but the closure represents a new direction for the still-growing brewery.

There were a number of factors that influenced the decision to close. Meyers says the location had seen a big downturn in business starting with the High Street revitalization project in 2018. After construction, there was COVID.

Situated between Fifth and King avenues, the location is a bit of an island between Short North and campus, Meyers says. The address also didn’t have a patio or any outdoor space – a big plus in a COVID/post-COVID world.

The industry itself has seen some big shifts over the last decade as well.

“Back in the day we were the seventh brewery to open in Central Ohio,” Meyers says. “Now there’s 70.”

And a significant part of that growth has been in the outerbelt reaches of Central Ohio. Meyers says a lot of the businesses that customers were coming to visit in the Short North started opening in the suburbs. People didn’t have to travel from the ‘burbs to get good beer anymore.

So when North High Brewing had the opportunity to open on the Old Dublin side of Bridge Park in 2020, they took it.

“That really kind of became the new direction for us,” Meyers says.

Moving forward, North High will be focused on more suburban, family-friendly brewpubs with plenty of outdoor space.

Meyers says it has been a total flip of their business model. During the first half of their existence, food sales made up 5-7% of business. Now they sell more food than alcohol.

Much of North High’s growth has been in tandem with community and coworking space COhatch. COhatch Founders Matt Davis and Ryan Fogelman reached out to North High in 2019 about the Dublin location and the two businesses have been working together ever since.

“They’ve just been an absolute dream to work with,” Meyers says.

After Short North closes, North High will have eight remaining locations – Dublin, Springfield and two spots each in Cincinnati, Cleveland and Indianapolis. (In addition to their brewing facility on Cleveland Avenue and some small batch brewing happening out of Amato’s in Marion.)

That total will be back up to nine, though.

“Our new flagship location is going to be our Westerville store,” Meyers says.

Opening behind COhatch’s new Westerville location at 233 S. State St., North High will put its new business model into practice – suburban location, family-friendly menu, lots of outdoor space. Meyers says the patio will be a playground for kids and adults, and backs up to the bike trail, a fun stop for the active craft beer enthusiast.

With a larger kitchen than the Dublin location will come a larger menu. They’ll carry over about 60% of the offerings – burgers, salads, chicken sandwiches – to Westerville and fill the remainder with some more elevated dishes. That will include steaks from a local farmer that raises cattle that are fed the spent grains from North High’s brewing process – a true full circle moment.

The Westerville location is slated for a June / July 2023 opening.

16 December, 2022