a concise (mostly accurate) history of day block brewing company
ALMOST EVERY CRAFT BREWERY WAS ONCE THE DREAM OF A HOMEBREWER Our story isn't much different, and when the opportunity came for us to turn a passion into a business, we grabbed it. Built in 1883 by Leonard Day, a local flour milling and lumber industry entrepreneur, our building was named after Day and his ownership of the entire city block surrounding it. In the 19th century, it was trendy to name the first building on the block after its owner- our very own vanity license plate, if you will. |
The entrepreneurial spirit of Day is ingrained in the building and has been from day one. Over the years, Day Block has housed a slew of interesting businesses: a hospital, a furniture store, an undertaker service and a plumbing supply store (also maybe a brothel, but we’re just going by public records here). Day’s innovative spirit is carried on today through our brewery’s owner, Jeff Hahn, who bought the building in 2005 to house his 3rd floor web and marketing agency, the 2nd floor Day Block Event Center and the computer graveyard in the basement.
AND THEN THERE WAS BEER
Jeff and his brother Chris spent a few years home brewing on a pilot system, sharing samples with their colleagues on “Beer Fridays.” When the restaurant leasing the first floor failed, the Hahn Brothers took the opportunity to make their dream a reality. They began research on brewpubs and decided to move forward with a brewpub and pizzeria concept. They also opted to hired a (real) brewer.
Moving into an older building proved difficult for installing everything that goes into creating a Brew House. All of the equipment had to come in through windows; the tanks in the basement had to be dropped in through a hole in the floor! Watch where you sit! Construction work was completed with the help of the Hahn Brothers, Dan the brewer, Joe the Head Chef, Stephenie the Front of House Manager and the rest of the Day Block staff (again, watch where you sit!).
Jeff named the brewery in honor of the people and history which came before them. Blood, sweat, tears (and now beers) have all been spilled in this historic building to make it what it is today. We honor that hard work in everything we do here. Frank’s Red Ale pays tribute to Frank’s Plumbing, which occupied the building for about forty years and our flagship IPA is named after Leonard Day himself. We haven’t come up with any brothel related names yet, but we’re open to suggestions! We also do whatever we can to honor the city and state that Leonard Day contributed to by continuously working with local farmers and businesses. We’ve invested a lot of time and energy to make this brewpub a reality. We hope that you-our customers, our neighbors and our friends-will continue to invest in good times with us! We appreciate your business. |  |
ABOUT OUR KITCHEN
Our mission is to cook for you; we create our unique, delicious food using the best ingredients available. As much as possible, we source our ingredients from local farmers and producers, using as many organic products as we can. We take pride in cooking from scratch and by hand. Every day we bake bread, pickle all sorts of stuff and ferment our own kimchi and sauerkraut. We make all our own sauces, salad dressings and spice blends. We even wash dishes when we’re done! Thanks for choosing to Invest In Good Times with us!
