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Double Barrel Brewery plans to blast into the Cincinnati and Kentucky beer markets early next year – both with special tap handles that look like the butt of a shotgun and its signature beer. The production brewery plans to push Bad Tom Ale, a beer named after Thomas “Bad Tom” Smith, a not-so-nice fella who was the last man publicly hanged in Kentucky in the late 1800s. Bad Tom Smith is the great-great-uncle of Sean Smith, one of the three brewery owners. Bad Tom Ale is a hoppy Irish red. “It's very drinkable,” co-founder Greg Brown said. “It's something that's not too hoppy and people who aren't beer connoisseurs will be able to pour a pint and enjoy it, but it should satisfy the most experienced beer drinker as well”

Co-owner and brewer Charles Boucher also is making a yet-to-be-named India pale ale. Boucher, Brown and Smith, who were all homebrewers before launching their own brewery, are experimenting with other recipes, too. (So far, they have all kept their day jobs. Brown is in advertising. Boucher is in engineering and Smith works at an insurance company.)

Double Barrel – which will focus on draft beer and not bottle initially -- is opening in a warehouse on Eastern Avenue in Cincinnati near Terry’s Turf Club, a local institution. The brewery will have a tasting room open on Saturdays and for parties and special events. “We're not in the market to make food. We enjoy food with beer but we don't know how to cook," Brown said with a laugh.

The original plan was to start with a small seven-barrel system. But, Brown said, they just happened to find a welding company that custom-made equipment inexpensively. So Double Barrel will be off and running with a 30-barrel brewhouse. It also has a large tank set aside for lagers, Brown said. The website is under construction, but you can check out the Double Barrel Facebook page by clicking here.