Dayton, Ohio 45409
(937) 910-0722
Carillon Brewing Company
Carillon Brewing Co. offers visitors a glimpse into 1850s-era Dayton through the authentically prepared food and drink of the times. It is the nation’s only production brewery in a museum, and the only U.S. brewery replicating the historic brewing process.
Gas copper lamps light the walkway outside Carillon Brewing Co., and beyond the large white oak corridor doors—sash-sawn in period fashion with hand-forged hinges and handles—the smell of charcoal and wood fire fills the air. On a brick furnace 14 feet above a bustling crowd, costumed interpreters draw water from a handmade copper kettle before beginning the process of mashing and lautering.
Nearby, malt is milled by hand; oven-fresh spent grain bread is baked; a volunteer mends his trousers with thread and needle; a growler of ale is filled; and a costumed wait-staff presents German, Irish, and English offerings that pay homage to Dayton’s early settlers.
American Oak barrels line the lower floor of Carillon Brewing Co., each one capped by an artful and educational panel detailing the history and science of brewing. In sourcing city directories, canal records, farmers’ reports, and the like, Carillon Historical Park carefully analyzed the influences of breweries on the city’s evolution during the latter half of the 1800s.
Ours is a story of a developing Midwestern city in a growing nation. It’s a tale that spans agriculture, industry, science, immigration, civilization, progress, culture and more. And all of it is told through beer and food.