Put-In-Bay Brewery and Distillery

Name: Put-In-Bay Brewery and Distillery
Address: 441 Catawba Ave, Put-in-Bay, Ohio, 43456, United States
Telephone: +1 419-285-4677

Unclaimed

Place Categories: Breweries DistilleriesPlace Tags: Beer Rum Vodka

Opened in 1996, we are proudly the island’s first brewery, and in 2013 we became the island’s first legal distillery! We are also proudly housed in a building that boasts over a hundred years of history. The property originally belonged to one of the island’s wealthiest and most influential citizens Valentine Doller, who served as the community’s third Mayor (1880-1889). The nearby Victorian mansion down the street is known as the Doller Home.
On this site around 1898, “Bennie” Rosenfeld constructed a small wooden building for his dry goods store. It was destroyed by fire a few years later. Afterwards, the property was purchased by the Rittman family and a new building was constructed. Over the next several decades it would be expanded and serve a variety of functions.
The first portion housed Mr. Rittman’s store where islanders could buy fresh meat and groceries. He also opened a garage to directly compete with the gas station next door. Eventually, the building was purchased by Put-In-Bay township for use as the island’s fire station. Where you sit today, the trucks awaited their call-to-duty.
Through a 1995 auction, the property was acquired by Carl and Chris Krueger. Carl and long time friend Scott Jackson worked around the clock in the Spring of 1996 on the Brewery installation. Since their May 1996 opening, brewery has been expanded with a back enclosure, and in 2012, the open air patio was completed. In 2013, The Brewery added a beautiful new still to our impressive collection of copper. We are proud to add: “island’s first distillery” to our history.