USA, OH: Star City Brewing Company opens in Miamisburg

Star City Brewing Company, a new production brewery and tasting room in Miamisburg, opened on November 15 in a historical building along the Miami River, according to Akron Beacon Journal.

Partners Brian Yavorsky and Brian and Justin Kohnen - three homebrewers with computer programming backgrounds - have converted the former Peerless Pantry/Peerless Mill Inn restaurant into their brewery. The 14,000-square-foot building, which had served as a saw mill in the 1800s, features five stone fire places and seating for nearly 400.

The brewery, which has a 3 1/2-barrel brewing system, will launch with four beers: a blonde ale, a hefeweizen, India pale ale and oatmeal stout.

"The area we’re in is a lot of light beer drinkers. Not a lot of craft enthusiasts around here," Yavorsky said. "We want to convert them so we started with a lot of light fare."

Star City will sell only draft beer at first, including offering growlers. There are plans to self-distribute to bars and restaurants. And eventually the partners would like to bottle their beer.

The former Peerless Pantry building had sat vacant for years and had been vandalized so the partners had to invest a lot of money into fixing up the structure itself. That meant money going to the building, as opposed to a larger brewhouse.

"We started relatively small with our brew equipment ...," Yavorsky said. "One of the first things that we will do as we open and have cash flow and become successful is upgrade our system.”

Star City takes its name from Miamisburg's nickname: "Ohio's Star City." Yavorsky said the partners are happy to be in the community, which only about 10 miles from downtown Dayton.

He added that another brewery, Lucky Star Brewery, has plans to open next year just down the street in Miamisburg.

Star City is the latest brewery to open in the Dayton area. Eudora Brewing also opened on November 15. They join places such as Yellow Springs, Toxic Brew and Dayton Beer. Many others also hope to open within the next year.

20 November, 2013