As he got older, he would take homecoming and prom dates to the Peerless Mill Inn for dinner.
Credit: Natalie Jones
Credit: Natalie Jones
Today, Star City Brewing Company is located in the former space of the Peerless Mill Inn at 319 S. Second St. The brewery was recently listed for sale and a couple of Small’s friends sent him the listing.
He reached out to the realtor and was able to look at the brewery that same day. The following day, he submitted an offer.
“I saw it as a project — something that we could take on and make it better,“ Small said.
What to expect with change in ownership
Since purchasing the brewery on Oct. 31, Small and his team have deep cleaned the 15,000-square-foot space. This includes scrubbing the 1828 flooring in the main brewery room.
His daughter, Shawna Ayers, and her husband, have renovated two of the four restrooms. The other two restrooms are nearing completion.
Credit: Natalie Jones
Credit: Natalie Jones
Small has hired Brandon Warmoth of Carlisle as general manager.
“My intent was not to run a restaurant,” Small said. “I like the idea of owning one, but I don’t know the first thing about the restaurant/bar business.”
Warmoth has worked in the restaurant industry his entire life with his first job being at the Dairy Queen in Carlisle. He may also be a familiar face to those in the Miamisburg community from his 12-year stint as a bartender at Bullwinkle’s Top Hat Bistro. He has spent the last seven years as an inspector at Thaler Defense Systems.
“I, same as Chris, remember this place from my childhood. We would come for Sunday brunch and sit in here. It was always nice. Great ambience and great food,” Warmoth said. “We want to bring that back and have a great place that people can come and meet and have proms, homecomings, retirement parties and whatever else they want to have.”
They are planning to add food to the brewery.
“We’re thinking probably by next Christmas we would like to have food,” Warmoth said. “We’ve talked about steaks. We’ve talked about raw bars. We’ve talked about a couple different options, but nothing really set in stone yet.”
They’re working with several local restaurant owners to make sure their food menu will compliment the other establishments.
As for the beer, the brewery continues to use the same recipes with plans to have other breweries on tap. Small said they have already talked to some local brewery owners about swapping beers.
The brewery also makes its own cream soda, seltzer and wine. Domestic beers are available on tap and in bottles.
In the future, they hope to expand distribution and bottle/can their own beers.
Credit: Natalie Jones
Credit: Natalie Jones
Creating a ‘Cheers’ atmosphere
When customers come to the brewery, they want them to feel important and welcomed.
“We want to lean towards a ‘Cheers’ atmosphere where everybody knows your name and you can come in and have a great time,” Warmoth said.
Star City Brewing Company is a partner with Bricky’s Comedy Club, which brings live entertainment to guests on Friday and Saturday nights. This partnership will continue.
Small also has plans to add live music indoors and outdoors. He’s invested in sound equipment that will be installed this month. The brewery’s first concert is 8 p.m. Jan. 3 featuring Höt Dög Emergency.
Other additions to the brewery include a golf simulator in the Peerless Room and several TVs for guests to watch sports.
Credit: Natalie Jones
Credit: Natalie Jones
Returning to its roots
Small is expecting to invest about $1 million into the brewery with many local companies completing the work.
“Chris is a doer for sure. He’s not just talk,” Warmoth said. “He talks about it and then he does it.”
The brewery should have a new roof by the end of the month with other plans to renovate the outside of the brewery.
Along with renovations and new additions, Small is planning to change the name of the brewery to Peerless Mill Inn & Brewery.
“I just think there’s too much confusion between the Lucky Star and the Star City,” Small said. “Everybody still... calls it the Peerless Mill, so I think it was kind of really a no brainer to bring back the old name.”
Small has enjoyed hearing the community share memories of the space as the Peerless Mill Inn.
“I haven’t run into one person yet that doesn’t have a story about this place,” he added.
Credit: Natalie Jones
Credit: Natalie Jones
Meet the owner
Small is a 1979 Jefferson Twp. High School graduate who has lived in Centerville for the last eight years.
He retired about seven years ago from owning American Testing Services in Moraine for nearly two decades.
The company features an array of equipment which detects and identifies flaws in devices and structures — including roller coasters. Before retiring, he made the company into an employee stock ownership program (ESOP).
In his retirement, he has focused his efforts on his family’s organic vegetable garden in Preble County and was on the HOA board for his place in Siesta Key, Fla. He also owns commercial real estate properties.
His favorite part of owning the brewery has been seeing the progress they’ve made so far.
“A lot of things that we planned have come about faster,” Small said. “I’ve had really good help.”
“This place has incredible history,” Ayers said. ”No matter what business was in here, they did a lot for the town and they really appreciated the locals. I think they can expect the same from these guys."
MORE DETAILS
Star City Brewing Company is open 4-10 p.m. Monday through Thursday, 4-11 p.m. Friday, 1-11 p.m. Saturday and 1-6 p.m. Sunday.
The brewery hosts euchre on Tuesday, trivia on Wednesday and singo on Thursday. There’s also two, steel-tip dart leagues that meet at the brewery.
With the change in ownership, the brewery has kept the original employees but have plans to hire. Those interested should stop by the brewery or email a resume to brandon@starcitybrewing.com.
The brewery also features three rooms available for private events. Rentals cost $200-$350 for the first two hours.
For more information, visit starcitybrewing.com or the brewery’s Facebook or Instagram pages (@StarCityBrewingCompany).
Natalie Jones writes about food and dining in Southwest Ohio with an emphasis on the Dayton region. She may be reached at natalie.jones@coxinc.com.
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