In 2004, the Christian Moerlein brand was purchased by Greater Cincinnati resident Greg Hardman. Over a period of five years, Hardman also acquired Hudepohl, Hudy Delight, Hudy 14-K, Burger, and Little Kings, the best-known of the Cincinnati brands. He purchased not only those, but 65 other long-forgotten brand names, such as Top Hat, Hauck, and Windisch-Muhlhauser, bringing many of the historical Cincinnati Brands under the same roof. Since the purchase, Christian Moerlein has reintroduced several classic Cincinnati brands including
Hudepohl and
Burger. In 2010, Hardman purchased the former Husman Potato Chip factory at 1621 Moore Street. The location is just blocks from the original site of Christian Moerlein brewery in
Over-the-Rhine. The first beer brewed in the new location was the 1861 Porter, which was made available on New Year's Eve 2010, in recognition of the 150th anniversary of Cincinnati's longest continuously running bar, Arnold's Bar and Grill. A Christian Moerlein Lager House restaurant was opened on the
Banks development in February 2012. This sits along the new Riverfront Park in Downtown Cincinnati and adjacent to
Great American Ball Park, home of the
Cincinnati Reds. The site is two stories tall and has multiple
beer gardens. Approximately 500 seats are inside and an additional 600 can be seated outside. A large beer garden adjoins an outdoor event lawn on the new Riverfront Park. The building serves as a restaurant and a working microbrewery. Food featured on the menu replicates 19th-century German cuisine prominent in Over-the-Rhine's historic beginnings. The site provides live entertainment. In 2013 the Christian Moerlein production brewery opened to full operations. It is in the site of the historic Kauffman Brewery and a former Husman Potato Chip factory. The brewery had the capacity to brew 15,000 barrels in its first year (2013) with plenty of additional space to add capacity. Since Greg Hardman's ownership of Christian Moerlein Brewing Co., they have acquired all remaining brands of the Hudepohl-Schoenling Brewing Company, and Moerlein is the first American craft brewery of the current era to gather a city's heritage beer brands under one ownership. The current Hudepohl-Schoenling Brewing Company is a subsidiary of the Christian Moerlein Brewing Co. Two of the modern company's breweries are located close to the route of the new
Cincinnati Streetcar. In 2015 Brad Thomas, a member of the
Southwest Ohio Regional Transit Authority board, convinced four different brewers with breweries near the streetcar's route to each brew a new specialty beer to honor the delivery of the first five vehicles. The two Christian Moerlein brews were the
Christian Moerlein Tap Room and the
Moerlein Lager House.
Produced beers The following is a non-exhaustive list of beers produced and canned under the Hardman-led era of Christian Moerlein. Since the 2021 rebrand, it was announced that a variety of the former beers would still be kept available at the Moerlein Lager House. A great variety of more rotated beers was frequently featured at the Lager House, which has its own brewing facilities.
Annual • Barbarossa • Bay of Bengal • Big Hazy • Exposition Vienna Style Lager • OTR Ale • Original Lager • Power Stoutage • Third Wave IPA
Seasonal • Emancipator Doppelbock • Fifth & Vine Oktoberfest • Glier's Goetta Lager • Christkindl Ale • Saengerfest Lager • Strawberry Banana Pig ==Rebrand & ownership change==