Dayton Beer Company plans major expansion
Event space, rooftop bar among additions coming to craft brewery.
The craft brewery in Downtown Dayton adding a craft distillery, a cocktail and coffee bar, private event space and a rooftop bar.
The Dayton Beer Company in downtown Dayton on Monday announced a significant expansion that will add a craft distillery, a cocktail and coffee bar, private event space and a rooftop bar to the existing craft brewery, taproom and kitchen.
“We look forward to growing not only our physical operations and presence here at DBC, but the Webster Station neighborhood, the newly announced Canal Entertainment District, and Downtown Dayton as a whole,” Dayton Beer Company founder Peter Hilgeman said.
The 7,500-square-foot “Dayton Barrel Works Artisan Distillery” will produce a variety of spirits, including bourbon, vodka, gin, and a rotating list of
experimental spirits, Hilgeman said. Included as part of the new distillery will be a cocktail/coffee bar called “The Local Option,” which will specialize in craft cocktails, fine wines and a house coffee brand, the brewery founder said.
The distillery and bar could open as early as the first quarter of 2020.
The latest expansion also will include a second floor private event space that will boost the taproom footprint by 3,500 square feet.
The elevator-accessible space will feature an open floor plan that will cater to mid-size weddings, corporate events, in-house events, and other private gatherings.
A new 2,000-square-food rooftop bar, open to the pub- lic and adjacent to the private-event space, will offer views of downtown, Hilgeman said.
“This newest round of expansion is estimated to bring an additional 15 to 30 jobs to our growing company over the next three years,” he said. “Our relationship with Jim Weiler of 2nd Street Holdings and Brian Weaver of ALT Architects has been instrumental in this latest phase of expansion, and it will completely fill all the remaining available square footage in our Webster Station campus.”
Dayton Beer Company opened in 2012 as a micro- brewery and tasting room at 912 E. Dorothy Lane in Ketter- ing before launching its much larger production brew- ery and tap room in downtown Dayton in April 2015. In August 2016, the down- town brewery expanded to add food service to its brewery and tap room. In October 2017, it added its Lost Tunnel second label. The Kettering tap room shut down in 2017.
Hilgeman said the expan- sion 41 Madison St. “allows us to get to the final vision I had for the brewery over eight years ago, to be more than just a place that makes beer. That said, I will always appreciate and love our orig- inal location and the people who patronized it are and were incredible; I’ve made lifelong friendships through that brewery.”
Hilgeman said he did not want to release an estimate the cost of the expansion.
“However, this is a major, major investment in downtown and our Webster Station neighborhood, and we are very happy and honored to do so,” he said. “We’ve invested millions in downtown since we opened and will continue to do so for the foreseeable future.”