Cincinnati was built on beer. But to the rest of the country, we're newcomers to the craft

What do we have to do to win respect?

Liz Engel, WCPO contributor

CINCINNATI — When it comes to craft beer, Cincinnatians sure think they know their stuff. It's a city built upon brewing, they say. It's our l egacy, they say.

But on a national level, we're arguably still a fly-over city, even though in recent years our cups — or, in this case, growlers — ove rfloweth.

The greater metropolitan area now includes nearly three dozen craft beer ma kers. Nine Giant Brewing recently opened in Pleasant Ridge, and two others — Woodburn Brewery (East Walnut Hills) and Queen City Brewery (Blue Ash) — are coming online soon. Others are pouring — pun in tended — millions into expansions that promise more — and b etter-tasting — brew.

So exactly when will the rest of the country will take notice?

Who's to say it hasn't?

SmartAsset named Cincinnati the No. 10 "best city for beer drinkers" in a M arch poll. Fortune’s recent list, "10 under-the-radar cities" in th e craft world, gave the Queen City a nod based on the fact the number of br eweries in Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky has "tripled" over the last fiv e years. Rhinegeist, arguably one of the fastest-growing craft breweries in the entire country, was second in a USA Today poll of "best new breweries" nationwide. The Over-the-Rhine beermaker, mind you, celebrated only its th ird anniversary this past Saturday.

But that logic only goes so far. Most lists have a common theme. We're "new ." "Under the radar." "Up-and-coming." In other words, far from unseating t op picks like Portland, San Diego and Denver.

Bobby Slattery, founding partner and director of operations at 50 West, sai d he pays no mind to such lists. He's busy concocting events like July 9's Punch Out festival. (More on that later.)

Maybe that's a good thing. Many polls, including this 2015 Thrillist articl e from writer Andy Kryza, don't include Cincinnati at all. That's not all t hat unusual — nor all that offensive — minus the fact that Cleveland, our arch-nemesis to the north, made this list. WCPO reached out to Andy and — short of questioning his allegiance to the Browns ? ?? asked, "Why?!"

Kryza said Cincinnati is "definitely" on his radar as a "growing city" for beer, but it also seems — at least in his West Coast opinion (he li ves in Portland) — "to be pretty self-contained."

It's tough to find our beer outside of Buckeye borders, he lamented.

WCPO Insiders can read on to find out why our craft beer has such a small f ootprint outside of Ohio and what one local brewery has planned next month that is sure to draw attention to our corner of the world.