History Extra is a weekly pictorial history feature showcasing the Miami Valley’s rich heritage. If you have a unique set of historic photos found in your parents’ or grandparents’ attic that depicts the past in the Miami Valley contact Lisa Powell at (937) 225-2229 or at Lisa.Powell@coxinc.com
DAYTON AREA BREWERIES
Carillon Brewing Company, 1000 Carillon Blvd., Dayton
Dayton Beer Company, 912 E. Dorothy Lane, Kettering
Dayton Beer Company, 41 Madison St., Dayton
Eudora Brewing Company, 4716 Wilmington Pike, Kettering
Fifth Street Brewpub, 1600 E. Fifth St., Dayton
Hairless Hare Brewery, 38 W. National Road, Vandalia
Lock 27 Brewpub, 35 N. Main St., Centerville
Lucky Star Brewery, 219 S. Second St., Miamisburg
Star City Brewing Company, 319 S. Second St., Miamisburg
Toxic Brew Company, 431 E. Fifth St., Dayton
Warped Wing Brewing Company, 26 Wyandot St., Dayton
Yellow Springs Brewery, 305 N. Walnut St., Yellow Springs
The Dayton area is seeing a renaissance in micro brewing, but a look back shows us a rich tradition of brewing history in the Gem City, when it was one of the country’s largest producers of beer. Dayton breweries, at one time, outnumbered those in Cincinnati.
In fact, beer was a source of Dayton’s early public health as the process of boiling water and other ingredients provided a beverage that was cleaner than water when cholera and many other diseases were rampant. So today, we can raise a toast to beer for keeping Dayton’s growing population thriving in a time when the water supply was drawn from the same source as the sewer.
Colonel Newcom’s Inn and Tavern was the location of the first microbrewery in 1810 built in the area of Main and Monument, and as the city grew so did breweries — to as many as 22 around town. Yet, Prohibition dealt a heavy blow to many, and only a few survived. Soon came major national brands from Milwaukee and St. Louis bringing heavy advertising. As a result, brewing in Dayton was gone by 1961.
Early Irish and English immigrants brought recipes for pale ale, porter and stouts into production at a few small breweries prior to 1850, but these small businesses saw limited success. The warm temperatures required for fermentation made for relatively quick fermentation, but they did not ship well beyond a few canal stops. Not until refrigeration was invented, and the railways were built, did beer production start to boom.
A turning point came when the first German lager brewery by the Schiml brothers opened at Wayne Avenue and Hickory on Dec. 13, 1852. Their initial success was a precursor to aggressive growth of the local brewing scene. German Lager, although fermented at cool temperatures and longer production time, became the most popular style with its clean light flavors, bright, clear effervescent presentation, enticing in tall pilsner glasses. Cloudy, yeasty ales served in ceramic mugs became less desirable in comparison as Northern European immigrants brought the necessary yeast strains along with the skill of industrial lager brewing to the city of Dayton.
Today, there is no better place to see the entire history of local brewing come full circle than at Dayton History’s Carillon Brewing Company, which is barely a year old. The 1850s-era brewery is as authentic as possible and provides the visitor with the many aromas of an open fire, heirloom barley being mashed, and wort and hops being boiled. Workers toil in the brewery in period costumes, and the ale is fermented in oak barrels. The finished products are fundamentally a taste of local history. The flavors inherent in their coriander spiced ale, porter, and Irish red ale attempt to replicate what was being served then. A few contemporary beers are offered, usually from a microbrewery by local distributor Heidleberg.
Carillon Brewmaster Tanya Brock not only brews by 1850s’ ale methods today, but has a vast knowledge of the history of local and national brewing. Her perspective that “Beer is Food” shows that women did the brewing in the early Dayton home which provided the important sanitary, caloric and nutritional requirements with a low alcohol beverage often consumed throughout the day - even using potatoes when necessary.
But as the Industrial Revolution began, beer production became a successful industry providing a vastly improved quality to consumers. It virtually faded from the home kitchen.
Brock points to Dayton’s success in brewing coming from many factors: access to lots of water for production, the Miami-Erie Canal, railroads, access to National Road, and even the Barney and Smith Car Works growing the working force.
“All these factors helped grow a thirsty working class,” Brock said.
By 1900, there was production of more than 3 million gallons per year locally. But the temperance movement was closing in and Dayton breweries collaborated to eliminate problem saloons. This idea seemed to work and could have avoided Prohibition altogether. Because breweries were in control of both the production and distribution of beer, they could virtually cut off supply to a saloon that was a problem, resulting in a shut-down.
Today, there is another revolution spawning an explosion of local breweries. Lower State regulatory fees were the first catalyst, and now it has come back around to consumers wanting locally produced beer where they can meet the brewers, watch the production, and see it building their local economy Brock says.
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