USA: The BarrelHouse Brewing Co., a popular Over-the-Rhine venue for music, beer and food, has been sold. "We reached a deal to sell the brewery to an Indiana businessman and return the lease to the Art Academy" says former BarrelHouse co-owner Mike Cromer. The new owner will move out the brewery of its long-time home at 12th and Jackson streets.

The brewery, restaurant and entertainment venue is on the ground floor of one of the two buildings that are being transformed into the new home for the Art Academy of Cincinnati. The Academy is spending $13 million to renovate the building, a project considered a key to the rebirth of one of the city's toughest neighborhoods.

One of the BarrelHouse owners, Mike Cromer, said the restaurant, bar and brewery will close after a "Farewell to 12th Street" party today. The BarrelHouse beer brand is being acquired by interests related to Heritage Brewing Co., a microbrewery that set up shop in the Central Light building on Liberty Street in the West End last year. Its brewing equipment has been operating for months, but it has yet to sell any beer for public consumption.

Heritage applied for a brewery license from the Ohio Department of Commerce under the name Melanie Brewery Co. of Portage, Ind. Owner Nick Sever said at the time that it would be producing craft-style beers, similar to what BarrelHouse makes.

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