Photo by Rebecca Wagner.

As winter slowly melts away and Columbus ushers in springtime, Clintonville will soon be welcoming its first local brewery and brewpub. Lineage Brewing, headed by four Clintonville residents, is slated to open at the beginning of April.

Co-owners Mike and Jessica Byrne first started fleshing out the concept that eventually became Lineage Brewing about five years ago. At the time, Mike taught art at Columbus schools while Jessica worked in marketing. Mike began home brewing as a creative outlet, which quickly evolved into winning multiple home brew awards. Mike took the role of head brewer at nearby Buckeye Lake Brewery just east of Columbus, while Jessica earned her business brewing certification at Chicago’s Siebel Institute of Technology.

In mid-2012, the plan for Lineage Brewing was officially ready to go. The Byrnes partnered with co-owners Carey Hall and Jessica Page, and began the search for a location. 2971 N. High Street, a former car wash/pet wash/drive-through, proved to be the perfect location, and construction began on October 1, 2014. The open, industrial 3,000-ft. interior, designed and built by Tim Lai ArchitecT and Compton Construction, seats 60. The front patio, set to open in Spring, will seat another 20 guests. A unique feature of Lineage is the paneled plexiglass car wash door on the west wall. When warm weather finally reaches Columbus, they’ll have the ability to roll up the door, allowing the countertop and bar stool seats facing the door to enjoy the breeze.

Lineage is a seven-barrel brewery, with equipment salvaged from local and regional breweries (Four String Brewing Co. and Black Shirt Brewing, just to name a few). They’ll open serving five to six brews, none of which have official names yet. They plan on upping the final tap count to between eight and ten. Lineage won’t initially bottle and sell their beer, but it’s not out of the realm of possibility for the future. As for food, the kitchen will be serving appetizers and a variety of sweet and savory hand pies. Byrne emphasized that Lineage wants community feedback to be the main force dictating which beers become their flagship brews.

“Clintonville is a community that really supports locally-made products, which is what our brewing is all about,” said Jessica Byrne. “We’re a place for anybody who loves beer and wants to learn about beer… and if you don’t like beer, we’re willing to sit down and try to sway your mind.”

For more information, visit www.lineagebrew.com.