USA, OH: Heavier Than Air Brewing Co. may open as early as this spring in Centerville

A new brewery could open as early as this spring in the Normandy Square Shopping Center on Ohio 725 east of the Dayton Mall in Centerville, Ohio, the Dayton Daily News reported on January 9.

Heavier Than Air Brewing Co. at 497 Miamisburg-Centerville Road will be overseen by brothers and Centerville natives Nick and Chris Tarkany, with an assist from two of Nick’s sons, Ben and Nick Jr. The idea came from Ben.

“My youngest son Ben got me into homebrewing 10 years ago,” Nick Tarkany said. Nick and his brother Chris “have always wanted to make something, and we both love making beer,” Nick said.

Chris Tarkany said that 30 years ago, he wrote a class paper on why craft beers were going to become successful — “and that was when all we had was Anchor Steam.”

The unexpected death of an older brother acted as a catalyst for the two younger brothers to chase their dream of operating a brewery.

“You only live once,” Nick Tarkany said. Looking at his younger brother, he added: “We are not spectators in life. We’re participants.”

The co-founders are deeply involved in the buildout of the 2,000-square-foot space, two doors down from a new Submarine House bar and grill. Heavier Than Air will seat about 40 and will employ about five.

“We’re shooting for an early spring opening,” Nick Tarkany said.

Heavier Than Air will have a aviation theme, because the Tarkany family has strong aviation ties going back to Orville Wright in the early 1940s, Tarkany said.

The new brewery’s plans call for serving other Dayton-area breweries’ beers in addition to its own, and for offering its beers to area bars and restaurants, Nick Tarkany said. Canning their beers for retail sales in the future is a possbility, he said.

“We will start modest and build from there,” Nick Tarkany said.

The brewery will offer a limited food menu, and will allow customers to carry in food, he said.

The house-made beer offerings will focus on ales — the founders mentioned an IPA, Irish Red, Golden Ale, Stout and Porter destined for the tap room beer menu.

“We’re expecting our brewing equipment in about a month, and we’ll move forward from there,” Tarkany said.

More than a dozen breweries have opened in the greater Dayton region in the past five years, most recently in Springfield and Middletown. None has closed, and nearly all have expanded in some form, as the popularity of craft beer and interest in locally brewed beer have skyrocketed and stayed strong.

10 January, 2017