USA, MD: Three childhood friends to launch Bayheads Brewing Co. in Chesapeake City on March 17

For Charlie Copeland, Bill Dix and Jason Zang, the opening of Bayheads Brewing Co. in Chesapeake City on St. Patrick’s Day seemed apropos, the Cecil Whig reported on March 14.

The childhood friends and partners in the county’s newest craft brewpub wanted to bring their dream of running a business to their home of southern Cecil County, and what better time to do it than one of Chesapeake City’s biggest parties of the year.

“We’ve had a lot of people peeking their heads in to find out more over the last few months,” Copeland said. “So we’re excited to finally open the doors to everyone.”

The idea for Bayheads Brewing was spurred on by a trip a few years ago by Dix to Portland, Ore., where he said he visited numerous different craft breweries that were all thriving in one city. When he came back and told his friends about the plethora of options out west, they looked at breweries around their home and found the closest one was 50 miles away.

“When Charlie and I were growing up, we always wanted to run a business together,” Dix said. “We all wanted to do something for ourselves, and we figured it would good to start something for the locals.”

On Nov. 6, 2016, the trio met and decided that they were going to invest in their dream. Over the next year, they acquired equipment and a lease at the space at 2525 Augustine Herman Hwy Suite D in the South Village shopping center, obtained their federal and state brewing licenses and cleared regulations at the county. They’ve spent countless nights and weekends completing renovations to the space and testing their beer recipes.

In their day jobs, Dix is an accountant for a Pennsylvania insurance agency, Copeland is a web developer at a Delaware firm and Zang works as a real estate agent at Coldwell Banker Chesapeake — he recently resigned from the Cecil County Office of Economic Development where he served as economic development coordinator in order to devote more time at the brewery.

“My coworkers were pretty excited to find out I was opening a brewery,” Copeland said with a laugh.

Each of the partners have experimented with home brewing over the last several years. In buying a six-barrel brewing system from Colorado Brewing Systems and flying out to Denver to receive training on its operation, however, they graduated a bit in their production scale.

According to Dix, however, all of that wasn’t even the most difficult task.

“Coming up with the name might have been the hardest part of starting the business. It was a lot of trial and error and we were throwing around a lot of names, trying to think of something that someone wasn’t already using,” he said. “With us living at the top of the Chesapeake Bay, Bayheads just fit.”

Since that time, the partners have visited most of the established craft breweries in the area to get a better sense of the industry.

“We’ve reached out to a number to talk about the industry, including Eastern Shore Brewing in St. Michaels and Boxcar Brewing Company in West Chester, Pa.,” Copeland said, noting that Eastern Shore Brewing was particularly helpful in giving the newcomers some tips. “They want the brewing community to do well.”

Although craft brewing is growing in popularity — in 2016, American small and independent brewers represented a 12.6 percent share of the domestic beer market volume, more than double the volume five years earlier, according to the Brewers Association — it is still dwarfed by large commercial brewers like Anheuser-Busch InBev or SABMiller. Copeland noted that although they may compete with other craft breweries in the area for customers, the success of all depends upon customers having good experiences at any craft brewery.

With that in mind, all of the partners say they are excited for more breweries to open in the county soon.

While Firetower Farm Brewery in Colora opened about a year ago, it doesn’t have a permanent point of sale like Bayheads will have in Chesapeake City, offering its beer intermittently at special events or farmers markets. Following on Bayheads’ heels will be at least three more craft breweries in the county, Valhalla Brewing in Cherry Hill and Elk River Brewing and Maryland Beer Company, both in Elkton.

With his background in market analysis, Zang said that that their decision to locate in Chesapeake City was both strategic and emotional.

“I think Chesapeake City has a lot to offer, being right on the canal, having bed and breakfasts, well-known restaurants and recreational opportunities,” he explained. “That fits into the culture of someone who visits craft breweries. They like to explore and do things.”

“But it also made sense for us to be in a community that we’re familiar with and one that we wanted to give back to,” he added.

Despite being the first with a storefront location, the partners said they aren’t feeling any pressure in representing craft breweries in the county.

“We’ve had some soft openings that went really well and we got great feedback,” Zang said. “I wouldn’t say we’re nervous, but rather excited to get open.”

Bayheads will have up to nine beers on tap at any given time, ranging from an India pale ale to a blond ale or red ale, among others. While they will keep certain classic styles on tap at all times, Dix said they enjoy experimenting and will likely try more adventurous recipes each season. Takeout service will also be available via reusable growlers, which can be purchased at the taproom or brought from home.

“This isn’t a place you’d come to for a green beer, it’s where you’ll get an Irish stout or an Irish red ale,” Copeland said of their opening day selection.

For now, the trio and their wives or girlfriends will be operating the brewpub, which will feature only its beers along with limited barroom snacks and no food service.

It will open at 11 a.m. Saturday, March 17 with a ribbon cutting and close at 9 p.m. On Sunday, March 18, it will be open from noon to 6 p.m.

Starting March 22, Bayheads will begin its normal hours of operation: 5 to 9 p.m. Thursdays, 5 to 10 p.m. Fridays, 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Saturdays and 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Sundays.

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