New craft brewery eyes Dayton’s South Park

A new brewery called Branch & Bone Artisan Ales is in the works at 905 Wayne Ave. in Dayton, part of a second wave of breweries gearing up to join an already expanding local craft brewery scene.

“We are proud to share with you that we are opening a brewery in the historic South Park District,” Branch & Bone co-founder Brett Smith posted on a Facebook page for local craft-beer enthusiasts. “We have been members of the local beer community for a long time, and nothing pleases us more than to be opening this brewery in our gem of a city.”

The new brewery will be built in space that previously housed P&D Body Shop, and it would be the seventh brewery to open in or near downtown Dayton, which now boasts Toxic Brew, Warped Wing, Dayton Beer Company, Lock 27, Fifth Street Brewpub and Carillon breweries. Lock 27’s second location opened to the public Tuesday adjacent to Fifth Third Field, home to the Dayton Dragons.

Five years ago, none of those craft breweries existed. Now there are more than 15 across the region.

Despite naysayers who suggested the Dayton area would never be able to support so many breweries, no Dayton-area craft brewery has shut down, and nearly all have expanded, some significantly. Within the past week, Lock 27 entered the wholesale market for the first time, placing draft beer in more than a half-dozen local pubs, and Toxic Brew released its first packaged beers in 16-ounce cans.

And there are more breweries on the way, including Devil Wind in Xenia.

“We will feature a wide variety of beer in our taproom at all times. Our beer will often feature local ingredients including ones foraged from our local flora. A large focus and our passion is funky, alternative fermentation,” the owners said. “We cannot wait to host you in our taproom and share these creations with our friends, family, and local community.”