Dayton Beer ramps up its profile with new brewery

Housed in a strip mall in suburban Kettering, the Dayton Beer Co. is downright tiny. There’s a microscopic bar. Limited seating. Paltry parking space. And confined brewing area.

But get ready to toss all those small synonyms out the window.

Dayton Beer is about to get big and raise its profile with a new brewery.

Dayton Beer is set to open a downtown Dayton location in mid-April with more than 8,000 square feet of space -- and that doesn’t even include a 1,000-square-foot patio.

Twelve-ounce cans and 22-ounce bombers will follow, along with plans to start distributing in Columbus and later Cincinnati.

“It’s stressful but exciting,” owner/brewer Pete Hilgeman said during a tour last week. “It’s nice to see it finally come together.”

He opened the community’s first craft brewery in years in 2012, starting as a nano operation and building up to the 15-barrel system that he planned to fire up this week.

The new production brewery and tasting room — located in former Weiler Welding space at the corner of East Second Street and Madison Street just a block from Fifth Third Field — is the polar opposite of the original brewery, which will remain as a pilot operation and tasting room.

In addition to ample space, the new site features 36 taps. Hilgeman won’t be able to fill all those with his own brews. He hopes to have six to 10 Dayton Beer brands available at any given time and then he’ll fill the rest exclusively with Ohio-made beers.

The brewery has large glass garage doors on each side. On the west side of the building, the doors go all the way up and open to the patio. On the east side, they open halfway.

Those doors provide plenty of natural light and when opened will allow a ton of fresh air to flow through the building.

The floor is sealed concrete, while the bar top and tables feature reclaimed cedar wood. Hilgeman also proudly showed off upscale bathrooms, which are housed in ... well ... what looks like a little house.

“The whole feel inside is supposed to be modern, rustic, German beer hall,” he said. “A little mix of new world, old world. We wanted it to have the neighborhood pub feel to it.”

The plan is to open to the public April 16. There likely will be a soft opening April 12, which also happens to be opening day for the Dayton Dragons. The tasting room will be open initially Tuesday through Sunday.

The 15-barrel O’Neill’s Bay Co. brewhouse and new fermenters and bright tanks will allow Dayton Beer to produce up to 6,500 barrels a year. Hilgeman hopes to make 2,000 in the first calendar year.

With the increased capacity, Dayton Beer will launch its chocolate coffee stout Java Man Cometh and Oregon Alley IPA in 12-ounce cans.

Hilgeman hopes to release those in May and will use a yet-to-be-determined mobile canning company. Two or three more beers are expected to be introduced in cans by the end of the year.

Meanwhile, Broken Empire Russian Imperial Stout and Area B Experimental IPA are slated for release in 22-ounce bombers.

Dayton Beer will start distributing outside Dayton in Columbus and then move onto Cincinnati. The ultimate goal is to go statewide and beyond, Hilgeman said.

The new brewery is smack in the middle of an area of downtown that’s being redeveloped. There are townhomes, apartments and condos being built all around.

“This whole area, in a year or two, you’re not going to recognize it,” Hilgeman said. “Luckily we’re right in the middle of it. I’m not that old but I’ve never seen so much momentum in Dayton. Downtown is really renovating itself.”

Another benefit is that Dayton Beer is within walking distance of Warped Wing Brewing Co. and Toxic Brew Co.

The craft beer community has gone crazy since Dayton Beer first opened. There are now 12 breweries in the city and suburbs.

“It’s been wild,” Hilgeman said. “Dayton has embraced it a lot. It’s cool to see. There’s so much more that we can do to make it bigger and better. Hopefully this brewery fits in that process.”