Little Fish announces plans to open second location in Dayton

Yesterday I received a press release from Jimmy Stockwell, co-owner of Little Fish Brewing, announcing plans to open a second location in Dayton. Founded in 2015 by Stockwell and longtime friend Sean White, the Athens brewery has enjoyed considerable critical acclaim for their farmhouse ales and barrel aged sours. Notable awards include medals from the 2016 World Beer Cup (Gold, Barrel aged Woodthrush), the 2018 World Beer Cup (Bronze, Petit Poisson), and most recently a bronze from the 2020 Great American Beer Festival (Silver, Cleft). They’ve also championed the use of ingredients grown and/or sourced in Ohio, perhaps more so that any other brewery in Ohio.

Anyone who has had the good fortunate of visiting Little Fish at their Athens location knows they are about more than just sour beers and wild ales. The menu board typically sports a variety of excellent beers across many styles – from IPAs to milk stouts to lagers. I’m also a big fan of the food at Little Fish, which like the beer is centered around local, farm fresh ingredients. These are things you don’t experience from a trip to your local bottle shop, so I would say this announcement is great news for the people of Dayton and Southwest Ohio in general. Although judging from the photos below it looks like there is quite a bit of work to do before welcoming customers (construction to begin in spring 2021).

Interestingly this is the second announcement of a highly regarded Athens brewery branching out to another part of the state. Earlier in 2020 Jackie O’s announced they would opening a second location in Columbus, on 4th street in the site formerly occupied by Elevator brewing.

The full press release is copied below.

Athens, Ohio-based brewery Little Fish Brewing Company announced today that it has signed a letter of intent with the Windsor Companies to develop a second location in downtown Dayton. Construction is projected to begin in spring of 2021.

The Windsor Companies acquired the buildings at 112 Webster Station, formerly known as Midwest Tools, along with a few surrounding properties in September 2020. The brewery is the first tenant to sign on to the project, which is within walking distance of downtown, Day Air Ballpark, the Riverscape and the Fire Blocks District.

“Downtown is really growing into an exciting hub for small and independent restaurants and bars, shopping, entertainment and living,” said Carli Dexter of The Windsor Companies. “We couldn’t be more excited that Little Fish is going to be a part of that.”

The future Little Fish location will be dedicated to the production of wood- and barrel-aged sour beers. Patrons will be able to enjoy these, as well as other Little Fish beers from the Athens location at the taproom and beer garden. Also featured will be a farm-to-table kitchen developed by Little Fish’s Executive Chef, Becky Clark.

Stockwell and White are no strangers to the Dayton area. Little Fish distributes beer here to local craft beer centric bars, breweries, and bottle shops.

“Dayton is growing, and we very much look forward to being part of its future,” said Jimmy Stockwell, Co-Founder of Little Fish. “We’re excited to become part of the vibrant restaurant and brewery scene and to bring a piece of the spirit of Athens to this strong Community.”