CLEVELAND, Ohio - If you believe in ghosts, there's probably a good chance sometime this summer that thirsty apparitions will be sauntering through an old building in Ohio City.

If they do, they probably will be bellying up to the bar. And they might be surprised at what they sip. Their tastes run to lagers, you see.

Vaughn Stewart and Luke Brevoort could not have chosen a more appropriate place for Bookhouse Brewing.

The building where their brewery will be located once was Jacob Baehr Brewery, operated by Jacob and Magdalena Baehr. Mennonites, the couple "had a strict moral code - who they would hire and who they would serve," Stewart said. After Jacob died, Magdalena ran the brewery while raising eight kids. She was known as "Cleveland's widowed brewer."

They were part of a golden age of breweries, when a proliferation of German immigrants flooded U.S. cities and began making beer the way they knew how, which meant mostly lagers. In 1901, Magdalena sold the brewery but stayed on as brewer under the ownership of Cleveland & Sandusky Brewing Co.

It's fair to say Stewart and Brevoort are not only adding to the growing Ohio brewery district, they are continuing in Cleveland's rich brewing history.

The building dates to the 1860s, and tin sheathing on the wall pre-dates the 1920s, Stewart said. They found horsehair in parts of the masonry. Wood-fired stove chutes are still notched in the wall.

The place is a little less than 3,500 square feet plus a basement that will be refurbished and shows promise as a potential rathskeller, they said. There's history down there, too.

Cutting through the floor is a trench once used for drainage of melted ice chunks. Stewart estimates a massive squared rough-cut beam is original, which means the tree it came from probably was planted around the 1760s. An bricked-over archway led to what was a stable. Berea sandstone walls form the foundation.

The building was "cobbled together as they expanded," Brevoort said.

And now it's expanding into a brewery again. Construction looks to start in May with a summer opening planned. The owners spent a recent day at City Hall working on permits and paperwork.

Occupancy will be 99 with seating for 87, they said.

"One of the things that attracted us to the space is we can do a little now and a little more along the way," Stewart said.

"The goal," Brevoort added, "is to be a neighborhood hub."

When they open, Bookhouse will add to what has become a brewery district that forms a giant backward C on a map. Go around the corner and west about 1,000 feet on Detroit Avenue and you will land in Hingetown, home of Saucy Brew Works. About a quarter-mile to the south of Bookhouse is Bad Tom Smith Brewing, followed by Nano Brew, Market Garden Brewery and Great Lakes Brewing Co. Turn to the west on Lorain Avenue and you'll hit Hansa Brewery and Platform Beer Co.

Stewart and Brevoort aim to have 14 tap lines, most flowing with house-made beers. They aim to craft cider, cold-brewed coffee and soda, and offer wine and guest taps.

"We've decided to focus on making great beer from the start," said Stewart, who most recently worked at Portside Brewery after a stint at Arcadia Ales in Michigan. He met Brevoort when both worked in college radio at Ohio University. They graduated a year apart, 2007 for Stewart and 2008 for Brevoort.

"We're going to do things differently because there's a lot of beer in town," Stewart said. What they serve will go after "introductory drinkers and craft-beer geeks" equally. Brevoort described the beers they will make as both "experimental and approachable."

The pair has two other investors. What they don't have are other full-time jobs. This is it for them now.

"We've got supportive wives and families," Stewart said. And while neither is from Cleveland, their wives are (Stewart was born in Michigan, and Brevoort is from Columbus.) As Brevoort said: "I could not imagine being away from a lake."

Six-pack of facts on Bookhouse Brewing

* The brewery is at 1526 W. 25th Street between Church and Aust avenues. It's about a block from Massimo da Milano, which closed at the end of 2017.

* The name draws on conceptual themes: Book representing thoughtfulness, house meaning communal. And that's about as noble a goal as a neighborhood brewery can have.

* The owners considered locations on Lorain Avenue and in the Gordon Square neighborhood but fell in love with the ancient structure on West 25th. They plan a small stage for acoustic music and will bring in food.

* Part of the inspiration for their diamond-shaped logo comes from the Guardian Building, a national historic landmark in downtown Detroit.

* Ironically, Brevoort's eye-opening "craft gateway beer" was Edmund Fitzgerald Porter from Great Lakes Brewing Co., in the same neighborhood as Bookhouse.

* They already have several beers in the planning stages, including a Gose, Scottish-style Stout, Dark Ale, hybrid lager, classic Belgian ale and India Pale Ale.