DELAWARE, Ohio — The idea of starting a brewery on his family’s farm had been on Nick Sheets’ mind for decades.
After quitting his job with a global packaging manufacturer last year, it was full steam ahead on Henmick Farm & Brewery.
“My sister, my brother, my aunt are all owners of the farm. And I pitched this to them, about doing it. It’s been in my head for decades. But life is timing and circumstance, and the timing and circumstance are right to make this jump,” Sheets said.
So Sheets enlisted the help of brewer Zack Cline. The two tested, developed and brewed 10 different varieties of craft beer over a three-year period.
In the meantime, a tap room and outdoor recreation space were added, as well as a community space, built with timber that dates back 150 plus years.
It’s a fitting tribute to his great grandfather, Luther, a man he never knew who purchased the land for the 265-acre farm more than 100 years ago.
“We wanted people to come enjoy and have just an awe factor, and so I wanted a big old barn to have on site, and so this one is from the 1860s,” Sheets said.
And while Sheets, a graduate of Ohio Northern and Buckeye Valley High School, said his farming days are behind him, he still manages the land through tenant farmers.
The husband and father of two said he can’t wait to share his new venture with new generations in and around central Ohio.
“I’m emotionally attached to this land,” he said. “I think if some people say, ‘Just sell it, right, you’re better off just sell the land.’ But I can’t do that. It’s in my blood — it sounds cliché, but when I walk around I see my grandfather, the stuff he did, my father. So part of our story is how do we reinvent this small family farm into something maybe that’s something that we can keep in the family for another 100 years.”
Henmick Farm & Brewery is located at 4380 North Old State Rd. in Delaware and opened for the first time on July 16.
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