If you ask Jay Demagall what he’s doing this spring, he’ll tell you: opening a brewery. He’s part of a group that has come together in recent years to open craft beer breweries in Ohio City and Tremont, a neighborhood whose brewing history stretches back to the 19th century.
Four City Brewing Company is set to open later this month at L+M Development Partners’ mixed-use project near the Orange train station. It will operate a 4,600-square-foot facility within the building and join a retail mix that also includes a dance studio, coffee company, meadery and cycle-touring business.
When the brewery is open, it’ll be a spot for locals and tourists to sample craft beers in a neighborhood ripe with breweries. It’s a sign of how craft beer has emerged as an economic driver in a city where beer is still a major industry, and where new breweries have become a fixture in neighborhoods around the city.
But while the city is a beer lover’s dream, it’s not necessarily a brewer’s paradise. In the past, breweries have often been a source of social problems and controversy.
The brewer’s problems began in the early 1900s when a number of employees were injured, including an employee who was burned when he fell into a boiling vat and another who was killed by the beer. When Prohibition was repealed in 1933, Forest City was one of the first brewers to begin production again, but it struggled as new companies took over and began producing more diversified beverages.
It was an early example of what would become known as the “third tier” of brewers, which were the brewers that made a wide variety of beverages and contracted for a small amount of beer to other makers. The brewer was able to sell some of its brands, but it had less success selling its own beer in the post-Prohibition period than a brewer like G. Heileman had in the 1850s.
A decade later, the brewer’s business changed, but it was still a strong force in Cleveland’s brewing market. It remained an important contract brewer, working for companies across North America to produce various kinds of beer.
After being bought out by Carling Brewing in 1944, the company consolidated its facilities and closed the brewery on Union Avenue. By the time of its sale, City Brewery had become one of the biggest contract brewers in the country and was the largest employer in Cleveland at the time, with a workforce of 1,200 workers.
While many breweries have since closed, several remain in the area, including Great Lakes Brewing Co. and the Platform Beer Co., both of which are within a mile of Forest City.
As for the future, Demagall says he plans to offer a mix of beers from all over the world. He’s going for a balanced approach, experimenting with new styles and flavors, but also trying to stay true to the neighborhood. For example, he wants to brew a summer blonde ale in honor of Hotaling, who played the role of pitcher for the Duck Islanders during baseball’s Golden Era. He’s also thinking about naming some of the beers after other people from the Duck Island and Tremont neighborhoods, such as Corey Miller and Furbelly McGinty.
