Hocking College student-brewed beers to hit shelves in Columbus this spring

Come spring, Columbus beer fans will be able to get their hands on new brews from Starbrick Brewery, owned and managed by Hocking College. 

Eric Hedin is an instructor at Hocking College who runs the brew lab at Hocking College as well as Black Diamond Distillery, a New Straitsville outfit also owned and managed by the college. 

He said blond ale Hawk’s Lite (named for the college’s mascot) and Starbrick IPA, created in partnership with Shawnee-based Black Diamond Tavern, are expected to hit shelves this spring. 

“I would like to have a few more beers than just the two,” Hedin said. 

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He said he’d like to build up the offerings with a stout and wheat beer option as well. The students’ experimental brews are available on campus and, if received well, could become flagship beers. 

Hedin said students last year began brewing in the brew lab. The distillery, which the college bought about three years ago, produces Paw Paw Moonshine, Bloody Butcher Moonshine (named for a corn grown in the area for hundreds of years), and New Straitsville Black Diamond Distillery Rum. 

Both the distillery and the brewery are part of the college’s Fermentation Science program, a two-year degree program focused on brewing, distilling, viticulture, and fermented foods. 

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