I don’t often write about non-Cincy beer… because it’s just too much to cover. My time is consumed trying to just keep with our city’s beer scene, that I can’t even imagine branching out (yet) in the way that I would want to do it – but with that being said… sometimes, I just can’t help myself when news is too good to not talk about, and today is definitely one of those days. Little Fish is making a big move, and one that I’m so, so happy to see – they’re expanding into Dayton with a brewpub.

I’ll wait a second while you stop your happy squealing noises. Let’s talk bout what Little Fish is.

Little Fish? Who Are They?

If you listen to Cincy Brewcast (which I hope that you do) you should at least be a little familiar with these folks – because they’ve been on the show a few times. They are a brewery out in Athens, and easily one of my favorite non-Cincinnati breweries. Easily. They opened their doors back in 2015, and have pushing some really awesome boundaries, especially in the realm of wood-aged, wild-fermented sour beer and a farm-to-table mindset that absolutely blows me away every time I go there.

The brewery owns who they are. They are more in touch with their personality than 80% of the breweries that I have sat down in, and they do it in a way that feels natural, feels good and makes you want to be a lifelong fan. That fandom gets a lot easier now for those of us in Southwest Ohio.

The Expansion

This new location will take the things that you love about Little Fish, and bring them into a new city – but it sounds like it will hold true to who they are their core still.

The project’s construction will begin in the spring of 2021 and is part of a large scale renovation of the former Midwest Tools property (along with some of the surrounding properties, too). The brewery is the first tenant to sign on, but they’ll certainly bring a lot of excitement to the already exciting development.

Within walking distance of downtown, the Dayton Air Ballpark, the Riverscape and the Fire Blocks District, the new brewpub will of course focus heavily on a farm-to-table concept, with a kitchen developed by Little Fish’s Executive Chef, Becky Clark. The beer will feature all the familiar Little Fish favorites brewed in Athens, but will have a heavy focus there on the production of wood and barrel aged sour beers.

What This Means For The Community

Besides the obvious addition of another great brewery to the region – it puts us into a really insane category of areas that feature some really incredible places in regards to wood and barrel-aged, traditional, sour beer. There are a few spots around this region that in my opinion are world-class, and beer fans will take notice of that.

You can’t ignore that medal that Little Fish has brought home in the category, and when you couple it up with some of their neighbors… we’ve got a pocket of something incredible happening here. This is good for everyone.

You’ll hear a lot more from me in regards to Little Fish… it’s impossible not to talk about them. They’re great people, and doing really spectacular things. It’s time to start getting even more excited about beer.