He said it’s hard to blame one specific thing for the closure, but confirmed they were on a downward trend.
The brewery had planned to close after business on Saturday, but due to lack of employees its last day of operation was Friday.
“A lot of good times were had in that building,” Moeller said. “Our staff worked hard to help people celebrate.”
Moeller Brew Barn opened at 214 W. Main St. in Aug. 2019. The brewery was one-of-a-kind featuring stained glass windows, high cathedral ceilings and pews repurposed as seating — paying homage to the building originally being home to First Lutheran Church.
The Troy brewery was Moeller Brew Barn’s second location. The brewery had opened its flagship location in Maria Stein, south of Celina in Mercer County, in May 2015. The Maria Stein location remains open, as well as the downtown Dayton brewery.
The Dayton brewery is located across the street from right field at Day Air Ballpark. Moeller said the brewery has had a good summer with the Dayton Dragons in town and hopes the momentum will continue in the fall and winter months.
“You can’t just be a brewery and expect your seats to be filled,” Moeller said. “You have to be able to execute and give people a good experience. There’s quite a few breweries out there that are doing a good job and being successful. There are others like ours that are having a tough time. It’s different than back in 2016 when breweries were super popular and everyone wanted to visit them.”
Moeller said the brewery and restaurant industry is “very difficult” to navigate. In September 2023, the Monroe location on Ohio 63 closed shortly after celebrating a one-year anniversary. In an interview then with the Journal-news, Moeller said it didn’t have the sales revenue expected.
Moeller Brew Barn is known for having a wide variety of beers from lagers, blondes and ales to IPAs, wheats, stouts and porters. Fruit beers have been popular over the summer with favorites such as the Blackberry Prairie Wheat or the Orange Peel Krush. The brewery is offering a specialty Oktoberfest beer at this time. It will soon release a new red rye IPA in honor of Family Weekend at the University of Dayton and the Dayton Flyers’ basketball season.
“We want to have something for everyone — for people to come as they are,” Moeller said.
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