Southeast Ohio Breweries: Athens and Hocking Hills Planning
This article reflects its publication date, not a live venue check. Confirm hours, food, pet policies and taproom locations with official sources. For reviewed trail rules and practical questions, see our planning guides and regional hubs.
Planning headline and snippet updated 2026-10-09; the dated original feature body is retained and is not a current venue audit.
Reviewed planning update
Are Athens and Hocking Hills the same brewery area?
No. Treat Athens, Logan and Lancaster as separate stops when choosing lodging and transport. The visitor resource lists Little Fish in Athens, Double Edge in Lancaster and Brewery33 in the Hocking Hills area; it is not a walkable brewery trail.
How should I combine an outdoor day with a brewery visit?
Finish hiking before drinking, check current park guidance and weather independently, and arrange a sober return to your accommodation. The tourism directory is useful for finding businesses, not for guaranteeing trail conditions, kitchen service or pet access.
Source: Explore Hocking Hills: breweries and visitor resources. Reviewed . Rules and venue service can change.
If you tell an Ohio craft beer enthusiast that you're making a pilgrimage to Jackie O's in Athens, they'll probably ask if they can come. Athens is a two-hour drive southeast of Columbus on winding roads — but Jackie O's is worth every mile of it.
Jackie O's: Ohio's Most Acclaimed Brewery
Art Oestrike opened Jackie O's Pub & Brewery in 2005, originally as a straightforward college-town bar with a small brewing operation. Over the following decade, it evolved into something entirely different: one of the most respected wild ale and farmhouse breweries in the country.
The secret is in Jackie O's Cellar Series — an ongoing program of barrel-aged farmhouse ales, spontaneously fermented sours, and mixed-fermentation beers that draw comparisons to Belgian producers like Cantillon and 3 Fonteinen. Their Wood Fired Stout won gold at the Great American Beer Festival. Their Razz Wheat, Firefly Amber, and Mystic Mamma IPA have devoted followings across the state.
But Jackie O's also understands its college-town roots. The taproom on Court Street in Athens is warm, unpretentious, and genuinely welcoming to every kind of drinker — from Ohio University students to beer pilgrims who drove two hours for a Cellar Series pour.
The Athens Brewing Scene
Jackie O's anchors a small but compelling Athens brewery scene. Casa Nueva Cantina, a worker-owned restaurant since 1985, added a small brewing operation and remains a beloved Athens institution. For a town its size, Athens supports a remarkable level of craft beverage culture — driven in large part by Ohio University's student population and the outdoor recreation culture of southeast Ohio.
Hocking Hills: The Perfect Pairing
Twenty miles northwest of Athens, the Hocking Hills region offers some of Ohio's most dramatic natural scenery: sandstone gorges, waterfalls, rock shelters, and old-growth hemlocks that somehow survive in the Appalachian foothills. Old Man's Cave, Ash Cave, and Cedar Falls are among the most visited natural attractions in Ohio.
After a morning hiking Hocking Hills, a stop at Jackie O's for the evening session is a near-perfect Ohio experience. The drive between Hocking Hills and Athens takes 30-40 minutes through rolling farmland and small river valleys — beautiful in every season.
The Southeast Ohio Brewery Road Trip
A two-day southeast Ohio brewery itinerary might look like this:
Day 1: Drive from Columbus to Hocking Hills (1.5 hours). Morning hike at Old Man's Cave and Ash Cave. Afternoon drive to Athens via Route 56. Evening at Jackie O's — order the Mystic Mamma IPA and ask what's pouring from the Cellar Series.
Day 2: Morning coffee and farmers market in Athens. Afternoon drive back through Chillicothe — stop at Kinship Brewing for a pint overlooking the Scioto River. Return to Columbus via Route 23.
When to Go
Jackie O's seasonal releases drive significant visitor traffic. The annual Dark Arts festival (typically October) features a focused program of barrel-aged and mixed-fermentation releases. Fall is also peak season for Hocking Hills, when the hardwood forest turns gold and rust across the gorge walls.
Southeast Ohio rewards the traveler who slows down. The breweries here aren't just places to drink beer — they're part of a living community with deep roots in the Appalachian foothills. Jackie O's, in particular, feels like a place that belongs exactly where it is.