Easton’s Forbidden Root brewing its own way

COLUMBUS, Ohio (COLUMBUS BUSINESS FIRST) — What constitutes a local brewery?

Forbidden Root’s Chicago ownership and its Easton Town Center polish give the impression of a “corporate” spot, but the reality in the brewhouse is different.

Head Brewer Nick Gabriel is a staff of one and in the two years since the restaurant and brewery opened, he’s produced dozens of beers that not only fill that tap list, but are being sent back to the mothership pub and restaurant in Chicago as well.

“Creativity is what they wanted and expected,” he said of the Forbidden Root ownership. “They’re hands off. They let us do our thing.”

That includes canning 54 different beers in the past two years and curating a 12-beer tap list that at any given time has 10 local-made brews.

“Sometimes it’s all 12,” Gabriel said.

Forbidden Root opened in Chicago in 2016 with a focus on putting a botantical twist on traditional beers best exemplified with its flagship Strawberry Basil Hefeweizen.

It opened at Easton in late 2019 and since has added a third location overall and second in Chicago with its Cultivate restaurant. With a trio of spaces, each has a brewing focus.

The original brewery continues the botanical mission while the new spot focuses on sours and aged beers. Gabriel’s specialty in Columbus has been IPAs.

That mix allows sharing between the three venues. The Chicago taproom has three of Gabriel’s IPAs on tap at the moment.

“I like making IPAs, especially hazy IPAs,” Gabriel said. “They’re less bitter, more fruity. I think those go very well with the food focus we have here. We’re a restaurant first and foremost.”

Gabriel’s previous job was head brewer for Four String Brewing, which has since closed. One of his jobs there was overseeing the brewery’s Solo Series of limited production beers, which previously scratched his itch for experimentation.

The Ohio High hazy is Forbidden Root’s local flagship. Made with Ohio-sourced malt from Origin Malt and hops from Hopyard29, it was intended to be a one-off.

“I’ve refined it over time,” he said. “But the first time I had it, I thought, ‘Wow this is good to go.’”

Strong sales have followed.

Though he experiments a lot with hops and IPAs, the dozens of creations include plenty of options for folks who aren’t interested in hoppy, including a porter with vanilla, almond, coconut and cacao, an American-style lager and an oak-aged pilsner.

There’s a maibock currently aging in its foeder that’s a collaboration beer made with Gemut Biergarten, whose ownership and brewing team also are Four String ex-pats.

Like many brewers, the push into packaging wasn’t the original plan, but came about because of the pandemic. Forbidden Root works with a mobile canning company for its local beers with labels that note “Forbidden Root Columbus, Ohio” in big lettering.

“The initial plan was, let’s get open, get beer on draft and see what’s left, what we can spare,” Gabriel said. “Instead that flip-flopped and we flexed into packaging way sooner than we planned. We have a nice balance now.”

Forbidden Root is distributed through Cavalier Distributing so some of the cans have made it into stores, though Gabriel estimates at least 75% is sold on site.

He hopes to see on-site sales grow, not just for business reasons but personal as well.

Forbidden Root opened at Easton a few months before the pandemic started and the brewery construction lagged the restaurant.

The first beer Gabriel brewed there went on tap March 12, 2020. The statewide shutdown of indoor dining and drinking came three days later and though business eventually returned, especially in the warmer months, Gabriel said they’ve yet to hit full operations.

“I’ve actually never been able to sit at the bar, elbow-to-elbow with customers and talk to them about the beer,” he said. “I’m looking forward to doing that.”

For more business headlines, go to ColumbusBusinessFirst.com.