brews & BOOS

Some Ohio breweries are so inviting that former patrons spend eternity there. Here are six haunting tales of supernatural happenings at Ohio breweries — and we’ve only cracked the lid on a few coffins.

By Kevin J. Gray

TThe Phoenix Brewing Company in Mansfield occupies the former Schroer Funeral Home and Mortuary. Carmone Macfarlane, head of creative, marketing and education, explains that eerie instances “began even before we opened with the discovery of two bones in the basement.” Though the bones were not human (and we’ll never know from what creature they came), they inspired the John Doe American wheat ale. Visitors report a number of strange phenomena, including taps on shoulders in otherwise empty rooms.

From an image resembling a deceased firefighter to equipment inexplicably malfunctioning, Hamilton’s Municipal Brew Works has seen a string of unexplained phenomena since they opened in the former Hamilton Fire Department Station 2. The company’s CFO, Dave Frey, experienced the most chilling happening. Jim Goodman, CEO and co-founder, describes Frey as “a numbers guy who doesn’t put a lot of faith into ghost stories.” That changed one evening while Frey was closing when he encountered an unsettling shadow in the back office, later believed to be a deceased firefighter coming back to report his own death.

The ghosts at Toledo-based Maumee Bay Brewing Company mess with staff. Michael Martin, brewery sales manager, tells of his encounter while closing the bar. “As I was washing the dishes, the cash register drawer kept popping open by itself, and you need to be logged into the system to open it manually. Once I finished up the dishes, I began to do my closeout on the computer when I felt this splash of water all over my back, and then a couple of glasses were knocked off the shelf and broke on the floor.” Fortunately, the playful spirits seem to be otherwise harmless.

Mother Stewart’s Brewing in Springfield offers a creepy triple play. The brewery, named after a haunting temperance leader, sits adjacent to the Springfield Burying Ground. This storied cemetery hosts a Boston Tea Party participant, Revolutionary War veterans and formerly enslaved people who fled the South. Undoubtedly, some of the caskets encasing the deceased were made in the space now occupied by the brewery. Kevin Loftis, co-founder, explains that the building was formerly the Springfield Metallic Casket Company, a manufacturer of metal caskets.

Spirits named Patrick, Watson and Samantha haunt Star City Brewing Company in Miamisburg. Owner Justin Kohnen explains, “Patrick hangs out behind the bar and in the hallway by our Mill Room.” Patrick takes a variety of shapes, including a middle-aged man in modern clothing. Watson, resembling Sherlock Holmes’ friend, appears in the brewhouse and Mill Room, both as a shadowy figure and “as a half body, middle-aged floating apparition in 19th century clothing and bowler hat.” He describes Samantha as having a “similar look to Samara from ‘The Ring,’ but not nearly as creepy.” Find her in a variety of spots around and outside of the brewery, or catch her giggles as she runs down the Peerless Room hallway.

Great Lakes Brewing Co. in Cleveland leans into the spooky story thirst with a Haunted History tour in the fall that, according to Marissa DeSantis, brand marketing manager, “digs deep into the stories of our historic brewpub buildings.” This past May, they began offering Halfway to Halloween tours. Eliot Ness, who is said to have dodged a bullet in the building, figures heavily in the tours. Veronica Bagley, gift shop and tours manager, notes that, “quite a few people seem to think that the bar has ‘spirits’ (no pun intended) attached to it.” Disembodied footsteps, shadowy figures and falling glasses are regular occurrences.