USA, OH: Wadsworth Brewing Co. to open in late summer in downtown Wadsworth

Isham Elementary School may have been razed several years ago, but a little piece of the school will live on in a new brewery opening downtown, Ohio.com reported on March 9.

Ernie Joy and Ericha Fryfogle-Joy, who are opening the Wadsworth Brewing Co. in late summer, plan to build their bar top out of the wooden slats removed from the Isham gymnasium.

They also will use the flooring — which they purchased through a bidding process — as trays to hold sampler glasses.

Those are a few of the ways that their two-barrel nanobrewery will pay homage to the Wadsworth community.

Joy and Fryfogle-Joy are renovating the building at 126 Main St. into a brewery and tasting room. Right now, the interior is a shell — albeit an attractive one with a well-worn wooden floor and exposed red brick on the walls.

The couple, who have lived in Wadsworth for more than 17 years, had been debating whether to open a brewery in the community for a while and finally asked themselves a simple question: “If somebody else does it, will we regret it?”

They both answered yes.

“We felt this town would be great for something like this,” said Joy, who has a shaved head, full black beard and tattoos.

Once opened, Wadsworth Brewing will be the second brewery in Medina County. The other is the award-winning Lager Heads, which operates both a production brewery and brewpub.

Wadsworth Brewing is part of a wave of new breweries opening in the Akron area, mirroring a trend around the country.

The Brewers Association, a Boulder, Colo.-based trade group, estimated in December that there are now 4,144 breweries in the United States, surpassing the historic high of 4,131 set in 1873.

Janie Parish, executive director of the Wadsworth Chamber of Commerce, said she’s looking forward to the brewery, noting that it should bring some nightlife and vibrancy downtown.

“For Wadsworth, this is an awesome boost in the arm,” she said.

Joy, 43, who works at a sign company, has been a homebrewer for about a decade and will make the transition to working at the brewery full time. Fryfogle-Joy, 44, is a sales manager for a home care and hospice company.

They are excited and nervous about the project.

Wadsworth Brewing plans to offer 10 beers on draft and growlers to go.

Joy and Fryfogle-Joy want to provide a variety of traditional styles — everything from a cream ale to a milk stout.

They also want to take a few risks, saying they’ve experimented as homebrewers with an elderberry kolsch, watermelon kolsch and pineapple hefeweizen.

There are no immediate plans to offer bottles or cans, or to distribute outside the brewery because of its small size.

While there will be no food offered, customers will be welcome to bring their own food to the tasting room. There also will be board games and cards available.

“We want to be family-friendly,” Fryfogle-Joy said.

The brewery will be open Wednesday through Sunday, although the specific hours aren’t set yet.
The beers are expected to bear names that are familiar to anyone from Wadsworth. They already are talking about a Blue Tip Match Blueberry Ale, a reference to the former Ohio Match Co.

There’s also likely to be a nod to city founder Elijah Wadsworth, Main Street and, of course, Isham Elementary.

Even though they looked around at other communities, Joy and Fryfogle-Joy said it made sense to open in downtown Wadsworth given their love of the city.

“We value the downtown,” Fryfogle-Joy said.

11 March, 2016