Microbrews to come to the Hillsdale area
The years haven’t worn well for the old Boyd Hotel on Hillsdale Street. Once an important hub in a bustling town, the gorgeous building at various times housed a hotel, a candy store, and even — according to rumor — a brothel. Today, most dismiss the bleached bricks and peeling paint as a relic of a faded past.
For Allen resident Roy Finch, however, the Boyd Hotel is an opportunity for a bright future.
Finch is the co-owner of Happy Pants, an LLC he founded with Hillsdale resident Cinda Conant to transform the derelict hotel into the Hillsdale Brewing Company, a restaurant that will double as Hillsdale’s first microbrewery, which they hope to open in early 2016.
“It’s gonna be a full kitchen, with pizzas and deli-style sandwiches, soups, salads, whatever we come up with,” Finch said. “We’ll plan on having at least eight beers on tap that are all made in house — stouts, porters, browns, pales — and we’ll have specialties that we’ll rotate.”
Also on board with the plan is Kevin Conant, co-owner of the Here’s To You Pub & Grub, who will serve as the Hillsdale Brewing Company’s general manager. Finch, himself a rookie restaurateur, said that Conant’s prior experience in the industry will be invaluable in getting them smoothly off the ground.
Finch said that he is excited to put one of Hillsdale’s most interesting buildings to work again.
“The city of Hillsdale’s been behind us one hundred percent,” Finch said. “They’re excited to have something done to this building—they don’t want it to crumble and fall apart—and they also know how the microbrewery industry is booming and how a large amount of people from outside the area will come to these places just to be there.”
Accordingly, the city of Hillsdale has chipped in for the project, matching funds for the renovation through a pair of beautification grants.
Microbrewing, a relatively recent phenomenon that hearkens back to the days when alcohol was a purely local affair, is an oddly fitting use for the historic hotel, a fact not lost on the owners.
“Everybody in Hillsdale knows this building,” Finch said. “You want to maintain it on the outside as historically as you can. We love the big bay windows, the original tile flooring; we wouldn’t want to get rid of them.”
The architecture, too, is ideal for restaurant use, with broad open rooms ideal for brewing, seating, and even live entertainment.
Finch and Conant had originally planned to be open for business by spring 2015, but legal delays forced them to put their ideas on hold for about eight months.
“I probably started our Facebook page a little prematurely,” Finch said.
When the opening day comes, the brewery promises to do brisk business. In the meantime, Finch and Conant are sharpening their artisanal skills.
“We make a small batch every week, usually about four gallons of beer,” Finch said. “We’ve probably made about a hundred batches or so. We have a lot of solid recipes; a lot of people that we’ve handed them out to have really enjoyed them.”
A steady influx of students and professors from Hillsdale College probably won’t hurt either.
“It’s cool to see this thing come back,” senior Matt Sauer said. “It promotes beer drinking in a responsible and respectful sense when we go to these people who have made it themselves, when it’s part of their tradition, it’s only here, and you’re participating in it. It’s a community thing.”
“I’m excited,” Visiting Assistant Professor of History Miles Smith said. “Having another place to eat and grab a beer is good for the town. I’m pretty stoked.”
There’s a lot of work to do before the old hotel will open its doors to the public again. But whether you’re interested in history, architecture, companionship, or just good craft beer, the Hillsdale Brewing Company should have something for everyone to get excited about.