HAMILTON, Ohio — Hamilton's Municipal Brew Works cut the ribbon Saturday at the grand opening of its second location.
The brewery opened a location within the Spooky Nook Sports Complex conference center, Champion Mill.
Municipal held a grand opening and ribbon cutting at 2 p.m. Saturday at Champion Mill with Hamilton's mayor, city manager, the chamber of commerce, friends and family. The grand opening also had live music from Pat Murphy and food from MADD Mark's Food Truck.
Municipal is the first Hamilton business to open its doors within the Spooky Nook development.
"I think this is just a culmination of a lot of things that happened over the years in Hamilton," said Jim Goodman, owner and founder of Municipal Brew Works. "Hamilton is now kind of a powder keg of excitement ready to explode with the opening of Spooky Nook, and being be the first place opening locally here is a big thing for us."
The new 5,500-square-foot location for Municipal Brew Works is twice the size of its original location — which is located in the historic Fredrick Mueller building in downtown Hamilton. The brewery opened in 2016, and has grown to have as many as 20 in-house brewed beers or seltzers at a time. The brewery also is a venue for events, and it has a rotating list of guest food trucks and local eateries to enjoy.
"When we were on our path, we had this seven year plan that we kind of hit in year two," Goodman said. "Then the question was, 'well now what do we do?' and Spooky Nook became a viable option." We said this is going to be great because it's going to allow us to brew a lot of different beers, be more innovative."
The Champion Mill location features 24 taps, with a seven barrel system and 15 barrel fermenters. The brewery is intending to focus on small-batch production within the space, and Goodman said it could allow for them to explore types of beer that haven't yet experimented with.
Goodman attributed the success of the brewery and opening the second location to the patrons and community, and the fact that Hamilton is "an oasis of community involvement."
He also said he's so thankful to the original brewery on High Street, and this new location won't change the fun, dog- and kid-friendly brewery that locals enjoy. Goodman said he sees the Spooky Nook location as a way to target those coming into town for sports tournaments and more.
"They're going to come in, and we're going to give them a little taste of what Hamilton has to offer," he said.
The Spooky Nook Sports Complex conference center and hotel opened its doors to the public in May 2022. The massive development features 19 meeting rooms, 28 basketball courts, 46 volleyball courts, a fitness center and a 233-room hotel on property.
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