West Chester and a Show About New Zealanders

Hi All,

It has been a minute since I have had an opportunity to sit down and write for our blog. First and foremost, I want to discuss West Chester.

We initially anticipated opening our doors up there in July of this year. We thought it was going to be an easy change over. Our plan was to remove the old brewing equipment, paint, and bring in additional seating.

As we worked and cleaned, we discovered more and more things that needed to be repaired or replaced. We also were new to Ohio’s commercial construction processes. I grew up in Ohio and my dad owned a building company and, later on, a remodel/repair business. I worked for him from time to time in both businesses and have a good understanding of the construction process, at least on the residential side. Most of my work with him was down in Clermont and Adams counties, though we did do some work in Butler County, specifically in Hamilton. Long story short, I thought I knew and understood what I needed to do. I also met some great people with West Chester Township and asked what I needed to do to get our doors open. I applied for and was approved for 2 permits with West Chester and met with the Butler County Health Department. In Kentucky, we are required to carry a food permit for our glassware, plus there were questions I had regarding certain things I discovered.

Prior to us taking occupancy, our landlord put in a windowed garage door to easily remove the brewing equipment and to eventually grow the patio space. He also put in a doorway between the taproom space and the restaurant space. He also put up signs for both Bender’s and Alexandria Brewing Company. At that point, we hadn’t met with West Chester, but it got us on their radar. The signage was put up without a permit. We were able to get that squared away when I first began talking with the Township. In the meantime, the paint on the ceiling started flaking off. The wrong type of paint was used by the old tenant and it went from bad to worse quickly.

We made the decision to put in a drop ceiling to catch the paint as it falls and keep it from landing in guests’ glassware and food. That took time. There was a lot of prep work required, specifically installing drywall to level and carry the new ceiling. We anticipated the work to be finished by November 1st. It was not. We just passed on our inspection with West Chester, but the construction crew is still cleaning up their mess. Most of it is done, but as of yesterday, we still had giant globs of drywall mud all over the backroom.

After our inspection from West Chester, I was told to call Butler County to get a Certificate of Occupancy. I did that and was informed I did not get the required permit from Butler County. I had to apply for the same permit I had to with West Chester, Tenant Finish / Remodel. I did that last week. Once we get our permit approved through Butler County, we will be able to be inspected for our Certificate of Occupancy and be allowed to open with the township and the county. We were inspected by Ohio Department of Commerce Liquor Control last week. We were approved through them and expect our license any day from them. While my fingers are crossed for 12/01/2025, I am thinking we will be closer to 12/10-12/2025. We will put it out on social media as soon as we know for sure.

Bender’s Pub Grub will not open with us and we will be in a “soft opening” state until they are ready to go. West Chester Township announced a 14-month moratorium the day before Bender’s put their application for their permit. West Chester is revisiting and rolling back parts of the moratorium, but not until 12/02/2025. We will know more about Bender’s by then. That said, until they can open, we will have small, prepackaged food options available at the bar and we hope to bring in food trucks. We also will allow delivery and delivery services from other restaurants until Bender’s can open. Hopefully, that will be before the end of December.

Sorry for the long-winded explanation. I just want you to know how difficult this whole process has been.

The other thing I really wanted to bring up is our beer Murray-Ca. We have had guests, bloggers, podcasters, and the TTB not get the joke of this beer. Let’s start with the purposes. This beer was made to raise money and awareness for a charity, Soldiers’ Angels through their Hops for Heroes campaign. I don’t mention it much, but I am fairly certain it is mentioned on our website, I am a disabled veteran. I have buddies that are still in, one of which is my good friend Eric. Eric is now the Command Sergeant Major for a Army Reserve unit in Memphis, TN. He also responds to things he is excited about with “’Merica.” Those who know me, know I am a big fan of Flight of the Conchords, a show about a New Zealand Band trying to make it in New York. There is a character named Murray, who may be the funniest character in the show, at least according to me. Since this beer is benefitting Soldiers’ Angels, we named it Murray-Ca, pronounced “’Murrayca” as in “‘Murrica”, “’Merrica,” or “America: without the first A. This is combining Murray with America in a New Zealand Pilsner, no reference to California. Hopefully, this clears things up. More Murray can be found HERE.

That’s all I have for you. I hope you all have a great Thanksgiving (we will be closed). If you made it this far, I appreciate you reading it, and, as always, I appreciate your support.

Cheers,

Andy Reynolds – CEO/Head Brewer