Mike Dewey is the co-owner and brewer at Mt. Carmel Brewing Co. outside of Cincinnati. Dewey, who once worked in the construction industry, and his wife Kathleen started the brewery in the basement of their white farmhouse in a residential neighborhood. Eventually, Mt. Carmel became so successful that they built a brewhouse onto the back of the house to meet increased demand.

Question: Why did you become a brewer?

Answer: As a lifelong resident of Cincinnati, I was not privileged to have a plethora of choices when it comes to local craft beer. My goal as a homebrewer was to duplicate the craft beer that once was here in Cincinnati after most of our local microbreweries had closed their doors. I became friends with a local brewer that served the brewery industry for 27 years on a much larger scale working for breweries such as Sam Adams. He was my mentor and the only reason I had the confidence to jump into the brewery business. We worked together until he thought I was ready to go it alone.

Q: What sets Mt. Carmel Brewing apart in the crowded beer industry?

A: Our humble American-dream beginnings that so many people want to see still possible in today’s environment. With that comes our expertise, use of only high quality ingredients, and having a company full of people who share the exact same passion as Kathleen and I when it comes to what we all work so hard on day to day. Nobody here at MCBC gets paid enough for what they do!

Q: Everyone assumes being a brewer is a great job - you get to work with beer. What would surprise people who did your job for a day?

A: Simply put, I drank more beer before I was owner of a brewery. As a manufacturer of beer, you find yourself repeating everything you have taught yourself and others to do every day until you think it’s Groundhog Day. You need to be vigilant in keeping the creative mind set that you have limitless potential to create. That’s the entrepreneurial spirit.

Q: What’s your favorite beer that you brew and why?

A: I mostly enjoy our seasonal. Every season that comes around I feel the same way I did the first time I had it. I don’t really have a favorite, it’s more so what mood I’m in. It could never be the same beer for every occasion for me.

Q: Which beer – any beer in the world – do you wish that you created/invented/brewed and why?

A: There are too many too list and MCBC has a long way to go before we are satisfied with our portfolio. We are busting at the seams with ideas and have just now begun to unleash our potential with our “Snap Shot” series of offerings. This is what we have been itching to do since we began almost seven years ago. It seems our audience is equally as ready with our initial offering selling out fast.