SHELBY — The King family envisioned its small business becoming a space for the community to gather when they opened a craft brewery last October.
Approaching its first anniversary, Black Fork Brewing (38 Mansfield Ave. in Shelby) has proved itself to be an inviting atmosphere for friends, families and visitors from around Ohio and beyond.
Brad King, who works more within the business and retail end of the brewery, said the way staff members interact with patrons has played a key role in developing a welcoming environment.
“People enjoy coming here because they enjoy the atmosphere — the atmosphere that they create, but also the atmosphere that we’ve tried to create,” he said.
“We want it to be a place where the community can come and gather.”
Gary King, owner of the family business and father to Brad, said Black Fork Brewing has been blessed with amazing employees.
“They have made life a whole lot easier for us,” he said. “People coming to work, people being on time and people being responsible has just been amazing.”
Recently added patio made possible by ‘community investment’
When the craft brewery opened in October 2023, the front patio — which spans the entire length of the building — was non-existent.
Gary decided to begin with a simple front porch in an attempt to stay within his budget From start to finish, the front patio was made possible by local contractors, he said.
Black Fork Brewing invested heavily in making the feature possible. After the budget was extinguished, Gary said multiple contractors involved with the patio made financial investments themselves.
“There’s been a lot of community investment into making this really nice,” he said.
The patio now offers fire pits and chairs for patrons to sit and enjoy their beverage comfortably outdoors.
Near the end of September, the outdoor space hosted a makers market for local artisans to sell handcrafted items. Live music is also performed on the patio occasionally.
Recipe for success
Being “budget conscious” has been key to the brewery’s current success. It will also be vital for prolonged sustainability into the future.
Brad said it isn’t uncommon to see small craft breweries close within one to two years of opening.
“We don’t want to fall victim to that,” he said. “While you have great, grand ideas and really fun things that we want to do, we have to be good stewards as we progress.”
The father and son agreed it’s been a learning year, but said there’s a lot more to learn also.
Something which has proved popular among Black Fork Brewing patrons is a broad spectrum of beer offered from its 12 main taps.
Andy King, Gary’s son and Brad’s brother, is the brewmaster.
“It’s not focused on IPAs. It’s not focused on sours or tarts,” Gary said. “We do a lot of traditional beer, but we also have some IPAs.”
Another top beverage among customers has been the brewery’s seltzer, which is made in-house. Patrons can choose to customize their drink from a wide variety of flavors.
Furthermore, openness to customer input and suggestions has helped business expand.
For non-beer drinking customers, Black Fork Brewery offers hard ciders, a select variety of bourbons and locally-made wine — which Brad said has helped move the brewery in a positive direction.
Customers can also place orders for Mama’s Pizza, next door to the brewery, while enjoying their drinks.
Celebration planned for Saturday
To celebrate its first year of business, Black Fork Brewing is inviting the community to visit the business, 38 Mansfield Ave., Saturday from 2 to 11 p.m.
The anniversary bash will include Pancho’s Tacos food truck, on-site from 2 to 8 p.m., as well as live music performed by Tom’s Kitchen Table from 6 to 9 p.m.
Life Is Sweet Cakery will also be at the Mansfield Avenue brewery offering a variety of treats.
Attendees will also have a chance to sign up for Black Fork Brewing’s brew crew — an annual membership which provides members with a mug and t-shirt.
“We just want to have a great celebration and thank everybody for all their support for the last year,” Gary said. “We look forward to many more to come we hope.”
Craft brewery community gives encouragement
Support from a variety of sources, including city leaders, encouragement from the community, their faith and each other, have helped the Kings push through the fears of opening a small business.
New customers from beyond Shelby have also revealed the support shown by the craft brewing community.
“Every week there’s somebody new,” Gary said. “Still, even a year later, there’s still new faces coming in from new parts of the state and other states.”
Black Fork Brewing is now seeking support during the upcoming November election.
The brewery is seeking the right to sell wine, mixed beverages and spirituous liquor on Sundays. Voters in Precinct 0810 in Shelby 2-B will make the decision.
“Currently, we’re only allowed to serve beer on Sundays,” Brad said. “We’re limited on what we can do, but there are means to modify those regulations.”
While collecting signatures to get the issue on the ballot, Gary said he largely experienced support from those he interacted with.
“Over two days we had more than the amount of signatures required,” he said.
