Dayton Beer

© 2019 Timothy R. Gaffney If you’re a tinkerer, crafter, engineer or manufacturer—if you like to make stuff with your hands—the Make it Dayton Festival is for you. Held at Dayton History’s Carillon Historical Park on Saturday, Oct. 5, it will be a gathering of tinkerers, crafters, engineers and hobbyists who reflect Dayton’s heritage of invention and manufacturing. One of the things Dayton has a long history of making—over more than two centuries—is beer. I’ll share some of that history from 3 to 5 p.m. in Carillon Brewing’s Bier Hall . Copies of my book Dayton Beer will be for sale in the park’s gift shop and in Carillon Brewing itself, and I’ll be happy to sign them.  Named for its iconic musical bell tower, Carillon Historical Park is a 65-acre, open-air museum that preserves and interprets stories of Dayton’s inventions and inventors. Among its most historic exhibits are George Newcom’s Tavern, Dayton’s first permanent building, and the restored 1905 Wright Fly...

© 2019 Timothy R. Gaffney One of the brewpubs that piqued my interest in the Dayton region's brewing history was Lock 27 Brewing . The name is an obscure reference to an important part of the Miami Valley's history—one that influenced the development of the region's brewing industry in the 19th century. Lock 27 has two locations: its original one at  1035 South Main Street  in Centerville, and one at Dayton Dragons Plaza downtown, where I'll be Wednesday evening, Sept. 18. It was one of several local brewpubs I noticed that drew on local history to brand themselves or their products, and consequently led to my writing Dayton Beer: A History of Brewing in the Miami Valley . "Lock 27" is a nod to the Miami and Erie Canal , which was once the transportation artery that connected the Miami Valley to Cincinnati and Toledo. Lock 27 South of the Miami & Erie Canal When I interviewed him for my book, founder and owner Steve Barnh...