New book taps into our region’s rich brewing past
When the weather is as sultry as it has been this summer, some of us seek solace in tasty glasses of beer. Tim Gaffney, a former writer for the Dayton Daily News, recently published a timely book; “Dayton Beer — a History of Brewing in the Miami Valley.”
We are currently witnessing a renaissance in the beer brewing industry in our region. In his book, Gaffney shows readers how our bustling microbreweries and brewpubs are delightful echoes of the brewing behemoths that flourished here over a century ago.
The author takes us back to the earliest days of brewing beer in our local area. Did you know that the first brewery in the Miami Valley began producing beer over 200 years ago in Xenia? That old school beer would not be very appetizing to our modern palates. It was probably dismal and a trifle sour, but hey, it was beer!
We find out how a brewing revolution took place with the introduction of new brewing techniques during the middle of the 19th century.
A German process known as lagering became the rage and the light, crisp, delicious lager beers that resulted became quite popular in Southwest Ohio.
With the passage of Ohio’s prohibition amendment in 1919 the state went dry. Nationwide prohibition was just around the corner. Brewing and consuming beer became illegal. The saloons and breweries closed their doors. By the time the law was finally reversed our many local brewers were long gone.
It has taken nearly a century to revive the beer business in our region and what a revival it has become. Breweries are popping up all over and Gaffney takes us on a tour of some of his favorites. We chug along with him to spots like Mother Stewart’s in Springfield, Moeller Brew Barn in Maria Stein, Star City in Miamisburg, Lock 27 in Dayton, and the Yellow Springs Brewery-such invigorating journeys, refreshing as well.
“Dayton Beer” is illustrated with period photos of the breweries that once kept our region bubbling along in frothy cascades of delicious lager beer. Many of the most successful brewers in Dayton were of German descent and Gaffney traces how some of them made their way from Germany to the Over the Rhine district of Cincinnati and ultimately, Dayton.
Gaffney has been out promoting his book. Recently he appeared as a guest on my radio program on WYSO. We had a beery good chat and afterward he signed and inscribed my copy of his book. He wrote: “To Vick, thanks for having me on the best radio show in the world!”
Marketing your own book can be arduous work — Gaffney appears to have devised an ingenious approach; he’s making appearances at brewpubs and breweries around our area to talk about this rich regional brewing history while quaffing a brew or two as he does so.
He’s calling this pub crawl series “History and a Pint.”
Vick Mickunas of Yellow Springs interviews authors every Saturday at 7 a.m. and on Sundays at 10:30 a.m. on WYSO-FM (91.3). For more information, visit www. wyso.org/programs/booknook. Contact him at vick@ vickmickunas.com.