Call it fate or luck or kismet, but whatever you want to call it, Ryan and I seemed destined to explore together this crazy idea that Kent needed a brewery. Our story is as much about our search for the right location as it is about our shared vision.
Ryan and I believe that beer has the power to bring people together, to connect them and to foster relationships. We share a vision that Kent is poised to nurture a neighborhood brewery that supports its community and is a place where friends and family can gather to celebrate life.
2011 – I first met Ryan when he attended an all-grain brewing demonstration I held in my driveway, courtesy of Label Peelers. He had a quiet charm about him that eases conversation and had an obvious excitement to discover more about brewing beer. (Yes. My business partner is a homebrewer too!) As I was on my way to Cleveland to start a brewing gig the following week, we didn’t make plans to immediately connect again. My idea of a Kent brewery was still in phase 1 – learn the commercial side of brewing. Before leaving, it “clicked” with Ryan that I was Kenn Hermann’s daughter. My Dad was the reason why my family landed in Kent in 1980. He was hired by an Akron church to create a campus ministry program at KSU (Radix. Greek for “root”). He was a perpetual scholar who loved to engage in and encourage critical thinking in young adults. Ryan had been inspired by Dad’s teachings presented over a number of lectures at the Vineyard Church in Downtown Kent. To meet someone that was so influenced by my Dad, outside of the young adult groups that I knew as a young girl, made an impression upon me that I haven’t forgotten. I love that my Dad is part of the story of Ryan and I meeting. And, I often wonder what my Dad would think about establishing a brewery in a building that was corner-stoned in 1858 as the First Congregational Church of Kent. (For that matter, ANY church.)
2013 – While living in Cleveland and working at Market Garden, I met Anne Moneypenny who was on the Board of Directors at Kent’s Chamber of Commerce. After learning of my desire to bring fresh, local beer to Kent, she invited me to speak at a Chamber luncheon. I was pleased with the opportunity to introduce myself to the Chamber as a brewer, with ambitions to come back to Kent to open a brewery. As guests entered the meeting, I served a homebrewed keg of one of my favorite styles of beer, California Common. I was intent on emphasizing why Kent’s freshest, most local selection of beer was being brewed in a driveway for private consumption and not in a brewery to be shared with the community. I was definitely hoping to spark a conversation with a like mind that saw as much potential for a Kent brewery as I did. At the end of my beer talk…ring ring…”Hi Jennifer. This is Ryan and I was just at your Chamber talk and wanted to meet with you.” Well, sometimes, there is no time like the present. We met at 101 and shared a few beers over a fervent discussion about what we would need to pull together to bring Kent fresh, local beer. We left our meeting filled with anticipation, but we were unprepared to continue the conversation until a date much further in the future.
2016 – This was my year reckoning. I was emerging from a deep despair about my personal ambitions flailing and the dissolution of yet another business partnership. This ultimately prompted my desire to reconnect with Ryan. So, we met at Ray’s to see if we could pick up on a conversation with the same vigor we had had many years prior. I was hoping for the same ease of conversation and I wasn’t disappointed. We seemed to compliment each other’s strengths very well. We had distinct goals of what our primary roles would be in our business design. He wanted to run the business and I wanted to brew beer. We made a commitment to one another that night to do everything we could to make our vision of a brewery in Kent a reality.
2017 – Ryan and I started creating our business plan and sourcing funds to build a brewery. Wow. That was a long time ago! Our slow movement was compounded by our desire to be within walking distance of Downtown. We resolved to search diligently for a location that fit this requirement, even if that meant waiting for the right opportunity to present itself. We toured every establishment available and continued to do so for a couple of years. We looked at spaces too big, too small, too dilapidated and too expensive. We were very patient with ourselves to take location seriously. Our idea was to create a comfortable communal space where people could gather and share just like we imagined the neighborhood breweries of pre-prohibition provided. It was the instigation that precipitated our long wait.
2018 – We found the perfect space for a smaller sized brewery in the heart of Kent with natural surroundings. The space was very raw, but had architectural features and history that were very exciting. We were ecstatic about the possibilities of this location! But, it wasn’t to be. Although this miss created much anxiety and halted the pep in our step, we were convinced that we were poised to pursue the next opportunity armed with a full artillery that now included a third partner, Bridget, Ryan’s wife. A passionate student of architecture and design, she was a natural fit into our planning process. We three forged on having learned some tough lessons while also realizing that if we remained as diligent in our search as we had decided to be early on, our time would be sure to end in triumph. This is what we truly believed. If we had nothing else, we had faith in our perseverance and persistence. To give up now was not an option.
Bell Tower Brewing Co.
2019 – 2020 – We found it! Oops. Wait. Hold on…We were so very close to closing on a deal in the heart of a burgeoning section of Downtown Kent when we were presented the opportunity to tour a building originally designed as a church. By way of a friend of a friend introduction, we met Shawn Martin and shared with him our vision of a neighborhood brewery. His building, the original site of R.W. Martin, was beautiful with gorgeous architectural elements that were literally awe-some. There was an attached garage that was built as a gymnasium for the church which seemed ideal to house a brewery. (I joke that it was definitely built to house a brewery.) We knew the building was out of our reach… until it wasn’t. A sale agreement was reached with a few contingencies. But the one contingency that was never ever discussed was a global pandemic. So, we had to continue to play the waiting game, but this time believing that we were finally in the right place at the right time.
Sometimes in life, you get lucky and meet people like Ryan and Bridget that share your values and goals and believe in you. It’s a bonus if they make you feel like a million bucks…and like your beer.