When you can get your first look inside this new craft brewery

Things appear to be speeding right along for one of the area's newest breweries. Devil Wind Brewing in Xenia just announced its open house event for Friday, Aug. 4 from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m.

Co-owner David Hatfield is a confirmed beer geek, traveling to breweries across the region to attend beer-release parties and other events.

“I’ve been a craft beer fan for 25 years,” Hatfield said. “I’ve always wanted to be a part of it.”

>> PHOTOS: See the progress on the Dayton-area’s newest brewery

He’ll soon get his wish. There’s plenty of sweat-equity still to be paid, but Hatfield and three fellow beer-enthusiast partners — Douglas Lane, Michael Van Kirk and Perry Wyatt — are hard at work.

After a lot of hard work, we finally got the place cleaned up just enough to have friends over! Come by and say 'hi'!

Posted by Devil Wind Brewing on Thursday, July 27, 2017

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The 3,000-square-foot brewery is located at 130 S. Detroit St. in downtown Xenia, a short distance from the bike path, which Hatfield said will be a real plus. They had been looking for months, and briefly thought they had found a location in Huber Heights, before finding the Xenia space, Hatfield said.

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The space will seat as many as 100, and plans call for distributing Devil Wind beers in kegs to local establishments “fairly soon after we open,” Van Kirk said. The brewery will bring in food trucks and encourage carry-out from local restaurants, the founders said. Its liquor license will allow it to serve wine as well as beer, Lane said.

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The brewery’s name was derived from historical reports that the Shawnee Indians that inhabited Greene County referred to the Xenia area as “Land of the Devil Wind.”

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There’s still plenty of work to be done on the interior, but, “We’re saying late 2017 (to open), depending on equipment installation and permits,” Hatfield said.

“Everything has gone smoothly so far.”

Devil Wind will become the second brewery to operate in Xenia during this century. The Miami Trail Brewery opened in Xenia in the late 1990s and shut down by 2002, and was, during its time, the only craft brewery in the Dayton area.

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