Maple Lawn brews in Pomeroy

Until just recently, the most significant connection of Meigs County, Ohio, to the American craft beer movement was being the childhood home of Brooklyn Brewery founder Steve Hindy. Now, with the opening of Maple Lawn Brewery in Pomeroy, Meigs County can claim its own unique foothold on the craft beer universe.

Pomeroy sits along the Ohio River in the Appalachian hill country of southeastern Ohio. It’s a small river town that has had its share of challenges over the past few decades with changing industries, below-average per-capita incomes, and even serious river flooding.

The new brewery downtown is a definite sign of determination to build a brighter future for this town.

Local guys commit to change town’s beer scene

The driving force behind the new brewery is Hank Cleland. Not only is he the head brewer, but he, along with several friends, is a co-owner.

Cleland started homebrewing several years ago, and his  buddies really liked his beer. They kept telling him he should open a brewery. So last year, Cleland and a couple of those friends decided to invest their cash to do just that. Maple Lawn Brewery hit the ground running in May 2016.

The partners are all local guys either from Meigs County or just across the river in Mason and Jackson counties of West Virginia. They well know the area and the tastes of the people who live there. They understand that it is a definite challenge opening a craft brewery in a small town where most every beer drinker still sips the from the fountain of the big three.

Having a wide range important

The partner’s first priority was to develop some lighter, easier drinking beers that would appeal to the Bud-Miller-Coors light-beer drinkers.

“You’ve got to get the non-craft beer drinkers into the craft beer world,” said Cleland. “You have to have something light and easy to drink for them to get them started. Their taste will change over time.”

That’s the challenge of opening a brewery in a small town. You can’t just rely on the experienced craft beer drinkers in the market. There are simply not enough of them to make a go of it economically. Cleland wants to attract a wider range of customers.

Making lighter sessionable brews, however, is not all Cleland does. He also wants to have some more challenging beers that will please the regular craft beer drinker.

All but one of the beers we sampled at the brewery were from the first batch Cleland had made of that style on his brewing system. With each brewing day, he says he is learning more. He plans to tweak the brewing process to adjust each of the beers to exactly the way he envisions them.

Having a degree in chemistry, Cleland understands well the importance of experimentation and continuous improvement.

“It’s a big learning curve,” he said. “Each batch will improve, and get more the way I want them.”

An improvement process of this type is what all good brewers do. Even the best breweries in the world attempt to continuously improve their beers by making small adjustments over time.

Maple Lawn Brewery beer styles

Two Maple Lawn beers people are talking about, and that exemplify the range of light to craft, are are Court Street Wheat and Hanky Panky IPA . Hanky Panky is an American IPA featuring Columbus and Cascade hops in the kettle and then dry hopped with Citra. It is aimed at more experienced craft beer drinkers. Court Street Wheat is a good example of one that appeals to the light beer drinkers. An American wheat style with a touch of flower and spice from an active yeast fermentation, Court St. is light but flavorful.

“My philosophy is I make what people want to drink,” he said. “If it doesn’t really fit into a beer style, then so be it, as long as it has a good taste and is well received.”

While he is initially emphasizing standard styles that Pomeroy area residents know, his brewing interests extend to things that are a bit out of the ordinary. As an example of that, he had Chief Cornstalk Crolsch, a non-traditional smoked Kolsch-style beer, in the fermenter.

“I used a little bit of smoked malt,” he says, “so it’s going to have a little smoked flavor that won’t be too overpowering.”

There was also the Pink Panty Ale, which is a light blond ale with strawberries added. No, he is not afraid to leap from the ordinary.

Some of the other Maple Lawn core beers you should expect to find are Maple Lawn Ale, Pomeroy Pale Ale, and Sugar Run Stout.

A unique spring water source

Undoubtedly, the most unique thing about Maple Lawn Brewery is how it sources its water. It does not use Pomeroy city water for brewing. All the brewing water comes from a spring about 10 miles away in Hemlock, Ohio, at the location of the old Maple Lawn poultry farm. The farm is also the source of the brewery’s name.

On the farm property is a cave in a sandstone rock formation with a pure natural spring.

“We collect it at the spring, put it in a tote. and bring it to the brewery 300 gallons at a time,” Cleland explains.

“I wouldn’t make beer with anything else,” he said. “because to me it’s a fantastic water for the beer. It’s a low pH, which is really good for your mash.”

Maple Lawn Brewery set up

Maple Lawn operates a 5-barrel brewhouse and several 300-gallon plastic fermenters. The brewhouse was manufactured by Systech Stainless Works of Canton, Ohio. Cleland sees the plastic fermenters as an interim step and plans to replace them with stainless steel tanks as soon as business permits.

“We got it open as affordably as we could,” he said of the brewery.

 Old wood reused at Maple Lawn

In another homage to the old poultry farm, the brewery’s taproom table tops and bar top were constructed from wood reclaimed from the Maple Lawn farm turkey pen. It makes a nice touch.

Looking around the taproom you will see old farm photographs and other relics that remind you of the area’s heritage. Maple Lawn Brewery is building a future strongly rooted in the area’s history, but with processes and a business plan focused on the future.

It’s a nice addition to Pomeroy, one the town hopefully will get to appreciate for many years to come.

For additional information

Brewery Facebook page link