Jason Moore, owner and head brewer for Crooked Handle Brewing Company, talks about the plans for the new brewery currently under construction at the former Piqua Granite Memorial Company at the corner of South Main and Water Street in Piqua during a tour this week.
Mike Ullery | Miami Valley Today
By Haylee Pence
PIQUA — Downtown Piqua will be gaining a new brewery, Crooked Handle Brewing Company, in the late summer of 2022. The brewery will be located at 123 N. Main St. where the former Piqua Granite and Marble Company used to be.
This will be a second location for the Crooked Handle Brewing Company. The other location is in Springboro. The company is co-owned between two couples, Jason and Kristy Moore and Jeff, Jr., and Emily Pedro. The Piqua location will be where “most of the brewing” will take place, according to Jason. The 10,000-square-foot space will include the brewery, a beer hall, an event space, and an outdoor biergarten, which will overlook a newly-renovated Lock 9 Park. The place will also have a full kitchen serving a variety of foods, including their popular pizzas. The kitchen will be centrally located between the event space and beer hall to provide food to both spaces.
In the beer hall, the customers will be able to watch the brewing process through glass panels showcasing the brewery.
Piqua is the site of the new brewery because of the impending upgrades to the downtown/riverfront area. According to Piqua Area Chamber of Commerce President Kathy Sherman, the Piqua City Manager Paul Oberdorfer, along with other city officials, are “excited to see the new updates and atmosphere.” The upgrades to the area include “seven townhouses, three new single-family homes, a retail unit, all supported by off-street parking built into rear garages on the lot,” according to a resolution passed by the Piqua City Commissioners. Lock 9 Park will also undergo some upgrades, which will include adding walking paths, terrace seating, exposing lock walls, a splash pad, tree groves, and a performance area for concerts and other performances. The brewery will also be a tremendous asset to Piqua’s Designated Outdoor Refreshment Area (DORA), which, according to Jason, was “a condition of purchasing the lot” and creating the brewery.
The project managers recognize and plan to preserve the history of the building, which has been around since the early 1900s, according to the Crooked Handle Brewing Company website. The building has housed many businesses, including a car dealership, motorcycle shop, and the Piqua Granite and Marble Company. The project managers plan to preserve the history by displaying artworks representing the previous businesses and keeping key features of the building intact.
The renovations will feature a warehouse style and atmosphere. The outdoor biergarten will be accessible through garage doors, which have been a part of the building since the beginning. The space will be covered with a terrace.
According to Jason, there will be an online interface that customers can utilize to order drinks and food to streamline the process and help keep customers and staff safe since the pandemic.
Currently, the building is currently being stripped and emptied. After that part of the process, the renovations will come next. The brewery is set to open in late fall of this year.
“Big and exciting changes are coming to the downtown area, including the new Crooked Handle Brewing Company,” stated Sherman.
