From left, Hank Roe, project manager for DER Development Company, LLC, and Dan Lynch and Joe Brenner, founders of the Little Miami Brewing Company, explain their plans for the brewery’s Milford location during a meeting with residents on Oct. 3, 2016, in the Milford City Council Chambers.

From left, Hank Roe, project manager for DER Development Company, LLC, and Dan Lynch and Joe Brenner, founders of the Little Miami Brewing Company, explain their plans for the brewery’s Milford location during a meeting with residents on Oct. 3, 2016, in the Milford City Council Chambers.
By Kelly Cantwell
Editor

The city of Milford may be the next local community to boast a microbrewery if plans are approved.

Dan Lynch, of Loveland, and Joe Brenner, of Maderia, plan to open the Little Miami Brewing Company at 208 Mill Street in downtown Milford next year. Lynch and Brenner, who are brothers-in-law and beer enthusiasts, started planning the brewery about a year and a half ago.

“It was kind of a dream a few years back,” Brenner said.

The brewery will serve as many as 16 ales, lagers, porters, stouts and season beers at one of the only breweries in the area with a river view. The building will fit in with the style of the buildings in downtown Milford, according to a press release.

Lynch and Brenner are renting the space, because they loved the property but it was only available to rent.

The owners, as well as a representative from the company that owns the property, met with community members in the Milford City Council Chambers on Oct. 3.

“This is a small batch brewery. Five hundred to 700 barrels is extremely small…Most of the beer produced, if not all, will be sold in the taproom,” Lynch said.

The two plan to bring in small one or two-person bands that play acoustic music, creating a “low key” atmosphere, Lynch said.

He plans to be open from 4-10 p.m. Monday through Thursday, noon to 11 p.m. or midnight on Friday and Saturday and noon to 9 p.m. on Sunday.

“Our intention is to be good neighbors,” Lynch said. This is the first time either have run a brewery.

They plan to hire a friend of Brenner’s to be the head brewmaster. He has more than 25 years of experience and has won awards for his beer.

“His beer’s awesome,” Lynch said.

They intend to have a small menu of about five food items, such as artisan pizza and appetizers. Some meeting attendees expressed concerns about the brewery taking business away from local restaurants.

“People will come to this brewery taproom for the beer,” Lynch said.

The brewery will have a 93-person occupancy and is on four acres, two of which will be used for the brewery. The remaining two acres could accommodate future plans, said Hank Roe, project manager for DER Development Company, LLC, the company that owns the property.

There will be at least 32 parking spots at the location, in addition to a bike rack, as the company hopes to attract those using the Little Miami Scenic Trail. Roe does not believe the brewery will noticeably increase traffic.

“Microbreweries…seem to be popping up everywhere. Every little community, town, neighborhood seems to be getting one or had one already with the exception of Milford and a handful of others. I think there’s a place for one in Milford and I think this is a great spot,” Roe said.

The company hopes to begin construction in early spring and finish in October 2017. This is a more than $1 million investment, Roe said.

“I think it’s a wonderful edition to an already vibrant, historic district. I think it’s really going to parlay the efforts for having fine dining and evening experiences,” Roe said, adding that he believes it will attract people using the Little Miami Scenic Trail.

Mayor Laurie Howland is excited about the possibility of the city getting a microbrewery, something she has heard residents say they want to see in Milford.

“I think it’s amazing the opportunity the city will have to have a microbrewery on Main Street,” Howland said.

She believes the microbrewery might spark an interest from other companies to locate in Milford. In addition, it will likely bring in new visitors.

“It’s always exciting when you have outside interests that are willing to invest in the city,” Howland said.

The next step is for the planning commission to approve the conditional use application the company applied for. The commission was scheduled to meet Nov. 9.