Holy Moley! Brewery settles into quiet burg as 3-year anniversary approaches (photos)
Holy Moley Brewing Co. opened almost three years ago.
DENNISON, Ohio – Gary McCullough worked a variety of jobs for Timken Co. over 30 years. When he started his brewery, he knew he was retiring to something.
“This is my retirement gig,” he said, “and I am working way harder than I did.”
January will mark three years for Holy Moley Brewing Co. in the village of Dennison south of Dover. It’s McCullough’s first professional brewing gig. Holy Moley also makes wine.
Sidewalk plates are positioned along Grant Street.
He spent 25-plus years as a home brewer, learning the craft and sharing his beer.
“Early on I knew this is what I wanted to do when I retire,” he said. “I love the craft-beer folks, I love taste in my beers. Thirty years ago there weren’t craft-beer bars in Ohio. All the bar scenes were smoky, full of cigarette smoke. I just knew I had a passion for the beer itself and then the process and the social aspect. I thought, ‘Man, when I retire this would be perfect.’ ”
Four televisions hang over the bar.
He likes open spaces and mulled having a brewery in a firehouse. When he approached a realtor she told him, “All I can think of is this old church.”
“I knew instantly this was the place,” he said.
The building dates to 1897 and has “very good bones,” said McCullough, who said a hospital owned it for a while. The folks he bought it from wanted to open it as a church again, but one passed away and it went up for sale.
“Everybody along the way contributed to the upkeep of it,” said McCullough, who received a thumb’s up from council.
Dennison is about 90 miles south of downtown Cleveland.
Since he was going to operate in a dry town he had to petition through house-to-house canvassing for permission to sell wines on Sundays.
Drinking in an old church? A tiny puritanical faction raised concern, he said, but the community overall was supportive.
“Very little pushback,” he said. “There’s a small percentage that’s very loud.”
Holy Moley, whose tap handles are tasteful crosses, drew some opposition. He even keeps an old letter – unsigned, of course - from a person who scolded McCullough for serving beer in a church.
Ironically, McCullough is ordained to marry people. He said that might come in handy if he begins renting out the space.
Holy Moley Brewing Co. is on Grant Street and opened almost three years ago. Parking spots line the street.
Stained glass windows are high in the sanctuary, giving it a peaceful and unique vibe. The basement is conducive for production. And he saw marketing options.
Intricate stained glass windows have been retained in the former church.
“I like the idea of having cartoon characters for merchandising and marketing,” he said. “I love the idea of having something old with character so it’s not just great beer. It’s an experience.”
The name fits on dual levels: Moles became the symbolic character – as in mole holes – along with “holy” for the reverence of the building’s past.
Dennison sits almost midway between Pittsburgh and Columbus. Years ago, trains steamed their way through, creating a bit of a booming industry. It was a rail and military town, with gambling and brothels.
“So we decided to pay homage to the rail industry,” he said.
Most of the beers are rail-themed. Top seller is Jerkwater, a Pale Ale and intended for those who say, “Give me something that tastes like Budweiser,” McCullough said.
The term “jerkwater” has a few origins. “In poor communities, jerkwater towns didn’t have a water tower. They had troughs inside the rails. Train would slow down and pick up water in these troughs. The trains never stopped, and the town never prospered. So that’s where the term ‘jerkwater’ came from,” he said.
An elevated stage area is under massive stained glass windows facing Grant Street.
Dennison might be a sleepy burg, but it’s not jerkwater. And now it has a brewery, so life can’t be all that bad. McCullough uses a tiny two-barrel system that formerly served as the small-batch equipment for the now-defunct Shale Brewing Co. in North Canton.
On a recent early afternoon, light streamed through the stained glass windows.
With such a small system, 12 taps max out Holy Moley. There’s no distribution, but they sell crowlers. Shane Theuret is McCullough’s right-hand man / production assistant in the brewhouse, which is in the church basement. That space once would have been considered a fellowship hall with a stage, McCullough said.
“This is my last brewery. We’re not going anywhere. It’s not out of the question we expand here with a bigger brewhouse,” he said.
The brewery maxes out at 12 taps and usually keeps eight or nine going.
They try to keep eight or nine beers on all the time, and Drunkn’ Punkn’ – a tasty and subtle pumpkin ale – was a recent popular seasonal seller, Theuret said.
Clientele is composed of a heavy mix of tourism, travelers and ages. About 70 percent of business comes from New Philadelphia about 10 miles up the road, and surrounding areas, with some from Columbus, Cleveland and Pittsburgh, McCullough said. A lot of locals are used to going to Elks, Eagles and Moose clubs, he added.
Holy Moley also is a winery, producing eight or nine wines as well as slushies.
If McCullough alters his liquor license he said he might hold Bourbon tastings and Sunday brunch with mimosas. And he is looking to open a kitchen by spring with sandwich platters, charcuterie and gourmet flatbreads.
Dennison sits in Tuscarawas County.
“This is a pizza town, so we don’t want to have pizzas available,” he said.
Those plans are coming as Dennison considers enacting a DORA – Designated Outdoor Refreshment Area.
“We have to spend a lot of energy trying to draw traffic to this small town. It just doesn’t come by itself. I feel like the kitchen will be a slice of that pie, hopefully generate more traffic just because we’ll have food, get people to stick around longer and drink more beer,” McCullough said.
Six-pack of facts about Holy Moley Brewing Co.
Location: It’s at 306 Grant St., Dennison (Tuscarawas County)
Parking: Street.
Miles from downtown Cleveland: 94.
Nearest breweries: Pilot Brewhouse in New Philadelphia (8 miles), Hoodletown Brewing Co. in Dover (13 miles).
Games: The brewery has four televisions over the bar, keeps board games, offers Queen of Hearts and has video games. “I’d love to have a retro arcade,” McCullough said.
Mug club: It costs $100 for 365 days from the day you sign up. You get 20-ounce pours, 20-ounce travel mug (normally pints are served), t-shirt, invitation to the annual free party with food and entertainment. Year one is the mug, year two is you get your name on a plaque on the wall. Happy hours for mug-club members are offered, too.
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