USA, OH: Bell Tower Brewing Company coming to Kent by September

The big garage door attached to the Bell Tower Brewing Company building in Kent was wide open on a sunny day in late May. A big truck was busy hauling big, stainless steel tanks into the space, the Record-Courier reported on June 3.

That space will be where all the magic happens. It will hold tanks, coolers and a whole host of other equipment needed to make beer in-house.

Jennifer Hermann and Ryan Tipton and a handful of others were on hand last week to help unload the equipment. Inside the former church building, drywall had recently been hung. Crews were in the process of putting on the finishing touches on electrical and plumbing. Tipton's mom was even on hand to help, sanding and varnishing a pair of 14-foot doors.

The opening of Bell Tower Brewery at 310 Park Ave. will be a big deal not just for beer enthusiasts, but also fans of historic architecture. Tipton said he believed the former church building, originally constructed in the 1850s, has been closed to the public since R.W. Martin and Sons Inc. purchased the property in the 1940s. It had ceased operation as a church about five to 10 years prior to that, Tipton said.

Bell Tower will be the third brewery in Kent. It also will be the sixth brewery in Ohio to be opened in a church, Hermann said.

“We're not trying to do anything crazy. It's a historic building and we wanted to keep the historic feel to it," he said. "Really, outside, the only things we're really changing is some signage and we're putting a patio.”

The patio will face toward the street and wrap around the north side of the building, stopping near where the main entrance will be. Going to the left leads into main dining space and bar area. Going to the right will take visitors to an overflow space and some party rooms that will be available for rent.

Small alcoves for booths are carved out underneath a mezzanine area that will accommodate additional, upstairs seating. Old church pews will be repurposed for seating on both floors. The spacious layout of the church also lends plenty of space for tables and chairs to be set up.

“We're in the process of making some tables out of the old beams from the basement," Tipton said. "We use that beautiful, old wood from 1858.”

The addition of the patio and mezzanine are far from the the first updates made to the former church, Tipton said. An addition was added on the north side of the building about 10 or 15 years after the church was built. The garage that will house the brewery was also added by previous owners. However, they don't distract from the historical elements that can be spotted while casually observing the building's masonry and architecture.

The Kent Historical Society was able to help Tipton tie the bricks of the building to Marvin Kent, the city's namesake.

“They uncovered to me that Marvin Kent... actually donated all of the original bricks to the main rectangular building," he said. "There's four-brick thick walls in this whole thing and he donated all of it."

Marvin Kent also had family who attended the church.

The basement is built on the bedrock of the river. You can still see where the stone was hewn out by hand, Tipton said. The original bell still works, too, and will continue to be maintained by the brewery. The previous owners took immaculate care of the property.

The interior will likely stay as it is now but with a new coat of paint, Tipton said. His wife, Bridget Tipton, is planning paint colors and other aspects of the interior design. Tipton and Hermann both speculated the design won't be a typical “industrial” look of many modern breweries. Bell Tower will look a bit "warmer" than that, Tipton explained.

The intent is to make Bell Tower Brewing Company look and feel like a cozy place to visit for food and drink. The brewery's team is striving to make the business a community-focused establishment.

The kitchen in the back of the house connects to the brewery. Hermann, head of brewing operations, joined the effort with more than 20 years of experience brewing beer. She has professionally brewed beer before, is a certified beer judge and certified cicerone.

“I'm not saying that to pump myself up," Hermann said. "I'm just saying that I know too much about beer."

Hermann explained why it was nearly impossible to narrow down what flavor profiles she likes the most. Though her taste in beer changes based on factors like weather and activity, she said she has a bias toward traditional brews -- pilsners and saisons, in particular. However, she is fond of how America has transformed the beer industry with new beer styles like the California common.

“I'm really excited about our opening beer list," Tipton said. "We're still kind of putting the finishing touches to it, but we're definitely going to have a heavy representation of lagers. Saisons, I think, are going to be another heavy representation.”

Though the food menu is also not yet finished, he added that one of its core concepts will be shareable plates. Instead of just getting one dish per person, a group of friends visiting Bell Tower could instead order three to four and share.

A handful of entrée options and a variety of sandwiches will still be available.

Keep an eye out on Park Avenue come August or September. Though everything was coming together steadily, Tipton still was not quite sure of a concrete opening date for the brand new brewery.

"Our target is the end of summer," he said.

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