Local home-brew shop seeks actual craft-brewery license to up its game

A local home-brewing shop has applied to the Ohio Division of Liquor Control for a craft-brewery license that the shop’s founder says will help boost his company’s profile and its business.

HBYOB Home Brew Your Own Beer opened three years ago at 123 N. Springboro Pike in Miamisburg, near the Ohio 741/Ohio 725 interchange. It sells home-brewing equipment and ingredients, and recipes for how to brew various types of beers. But it couldn't offer its customers a taste of any of those types of beers they might be considering brewing at home, according to HBYOB's founder and owner, Joey Brumley.

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“It would be nice for people to be able to try samples of the various recipes,” Brumley said. “But you need a license to be able to do that.”

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Credit: Contributed

Credit: Contributed

A craft-brewery license “will allow us to host brewing classes, from start to finish, on how to brew your own beer,” Brumley said.

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“I would be using the license as more of a marketing tool than anything else,” the home-brewing businesss owner said. “I’m not looking to use it to compete with any other craft breweries. We’ll be doing this on a small scale, using the home-brewing equipment we have in the store.”

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Many of his customers, Brumley said, aspire to have their own brewery someday. He has a different motivation.

“I opened this store because I love home-brewing,” Brumley said. “I love the hobby of it, I love the fun. I love making beer.”

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