Beer Starts Flowing at Dearborn Brewing This Week

Craft beer nerds rejoice. A new metro area tap room, Dearborn Brewing, starts pouring this Friday on Michigan Avenue. The city's first microbrewery received its final inspections today. Dearborn Brewing will have four beers on tap to start: a cream ale, amber ale, IPA, and a brown ale. John and wife Sheila Rucinski started out as hobbyist homebrewers, but say they're adapting quickly to the larger seven-barrel system. "We're really trying to keep things as simple as we can," John adds.

The building, located a stones throw from the Dearborn Historical Museum, is simply outfitted with the brewing system in the window, a bar and a few tables and bar stools for patrons. Two TVs will hang behind the bar next to the tap list of $5 pints scrawled out in chalk on the wall. Growler fills will be available. While Dearborn Brewing won't offer food, John says he and Sheila have been diligently collecting takeout menus from nearby restaurants and plan to have them available in a binder for customers.

Brew kettles are set up in the front window of Dearborn Brewing, the city's first microbrewery. [Photo: Brenna Houck]

Although the producing beer for the tap room is their top priority, the Rucinskis haven't ruled out the possibility of expanding to wholesale production and may add two more taps in the future. For now John says he's glad to be opening after numerous construction delays.

Dearborn Brewing's grand opening hours are 3 p.m. to midnight Friday through Sunday. Beginning next week the tap room will open 3 p.m. to midnight Friday through Saturday and 3 p.m. to 10 p.m. Sunday through Thursday.