Brewery takes next step

Bascule gets permit to sell beer

A local brewery with plans in Lorain has its official stamp of approval to sell beer.

On June 28, Bascule Brewery and Public House LLC received its state and federal license to brew and sell beer at its headquarters, which remains a work in progress at 1397 Colorado Ave. in Lorain.

“A big day,” said Chris Kambouris, brewery co-founder with Fred Lozano Jr.

The license does not mean Bascule Brewery can throw open the doors of its tasting room, Kambouris said.

But the good news is that brewing and selling beer will help finance the renovations that continue inside, he said.

“The doors aren’t open yet, but at least now they can finally start to enjoy the product,” Kambouris said. “The more product I can move, that will all mean for a faster opening.”

Bascule Brewery is making beer and soon will open with regular hours to fill growlers, which are bottles that beer connoisseurs can take home, Kambouris said.

The owners also hope to get out with a more visible presence at area festivals and events.

Although the tasting room is not open, Bascule Brewery has built a fan base through social media.

The brewer has 2,271 followers on Facebook. On June 28, Kambouris’ posts about the license prompted 20 positive comments on the brewery’s page and more than 100 comments of congratulations and more than 450 likes on his personal page.

It appears Bascule Brewery and Public House could be the first brewery to get a license to make and sell beer in Lorain in about a century.

In 1904, the Cleveland and Sandusky Brewing Co. built its only new brewery in Lorain, the geographic center of its sales area. It remained active until 1918, due to Ohio’s statewide prohibition passed that year to go into effect in 1919, according to the history in “Breweries of Cleveland,” author Carl H. Miller’s history of the subject.

ERIC BONZAR—THE MORNING JOURNAL Chris Kambouris, shown in March, brewmaster and co-owner of Bascule Brewery and Public House, 1397 Colorado Ave., in Lorain, has been brewing beer since 2012. He and business partner Fred Lozano Jr. are working to bring their vision of an industrial...

ERIC BONZAR—THE MORNING JOURNAL As an homage to the second largest bascule bridge in the United States, Bascule Brewery and Public House co-owners Chris Kambouris and Fred Lozano Jr. have given their joint-venture the namesake of the Lorain landmark which carries route U.S. 6 over...