ESP Brewing Co. finds home west of Cleveland, nearing 4-year anniversary (photos)

AMHERST, Ohio – Larry Esper’s previous work experience had nothing to do with beer. But it all positioned him to open a brewery.
Esper, from Lorain County, was a welder-fitter who built everything from skyscrapers to prisons. He also poured a lot of concrete. In a later-in-life career change, he became a medical laboratory scientist – or MT, medical technologist. He worked at MetroHealth for more than a decade.
“You learn a lot about fungus and yeast, and you know a lot about chemistry,” he said, while his welding background taught him metallurgy and how to deal with pumps and pressures.
All of that experience laid the background indirectly for opening ESP Brewing Co. in Amherst, just south of the Ohio Turnpike. The brewery – which Esper owns with his wife Michele, her mom and two other investors – is coming up on its fourth anniversary on Tuesday, March 17. The Espers are content with their comfortable little niche west of Cleveland.
“This is how we feel about ESP Brewing Co.,” he said. “We’re going to keep it small because we want to keep it all. We don’t really put our beer in the market because we don’t have it. We would like to have it here where people can come here and enjoy it. We’ll sell kegs to people and some bars if they really want it. But I’m not going to go out and sell anything; I don’t have time. We’re a mom-and-pop shop.”
He added: “It’s kind of my American dream.”
Esper had been contract brewing – ESP’s LLC was created in 2018 – and mulled other locations for his own brewhouse. He looked at vacant land and about 30 buildings, but a red flag or two kept cropping up: Asbestos, septic issues, bad neighborhoods, industrial locations.
“It just wasn’t the right feel for me,” he said.
But when he came across a lot extremely close to Interstate 90 he said to his wife: “You know, I could build my own building.”
So during Covid, he dug footers, poured the floor, put up beams. He did everything but electrical and HVAC, whose installation is restricted by state law. Building from scratch with no landlord and no boss gave him freedom.
“Everything you see I built myself,” he said. “It’s a labor of love.”
He spotted a Facebook post about someone offering a 40-foot mahogany bar in Canton from an old speakeasy. The owner told him, “If you want it, you’ve got to take it all.”
He stripped and sanded the wood and used it for the bar, shelving and flight paddles. It’s all part of the sense of pride that Esper has in the brewery. And ESP has become a bit of a destination.
“People come from all over the nation,” he said.
There’s a reason for that. ESP is part of Harvest Hosts, which offers overnight stays with no camping fees – self-contained “boondocking,” as Esper put it. The brewery is on Harvest Hosts’ map for travelers and campers. No tents, electricity or propane are offered, but it’s a safe place to stay.
The Espers think it’s a good deal, figuring they are located 400 yards from the interstate so their brewpub “pops up right away on GPS,” he said.
People will stay in their spacious lot, which Esper extended in the back, and then continue on their journey. Often they stay again on the return trip. Travelers get free space; they give ESP business.
And their business is beer. Their slogan is “We know what you’re thinking about drinking.” They even mulled a third eye as part of a logo, but thought that was “a little weird.” (There’s another reason for the name, but you’ll have to ask him.)
When Esper was with MetroHealth, he commuted to Cleveland. After work he explored breweries, becoming a regular at Great Lakes, Nano Brew, Market Garden, Bookhouse and other places. He got to taste different beers and know brewery owners. He started contract brewing, then opened ESP on a five-barrel system. And he doesn’t shy from making a multitude of styles.
ESP’s flagships are McCrooky’s Gold Red Ale and Chicky Blonde Ale, which is named for his late sister. Recently, they were two of 14 beers on tap.
A holiday seasonal, SamX, also sold well, he said. Inspired by Samuel Adams’ Old Fezziwig, it’s Xmas spelled backward.
A Mexican-inspired beer in the spring also does well. He made a test batch of Ube Stout, which sold well and will be a Halloween beer called “Don’t Ube Afraid.” Ube is a versatile Filipino purple yam.
Hometown is ESP’s lightest beer, so named because the owners are all from the region. A coffee stout is made with Nicaraguan coffee beans. Esper also brewed Gobbler, a unique Thanksgiving sipper finished with rosemary and thyme.
“Gobbler is a very different beer,” he said. “It smells good, and it tastes good.”
Esper, whose personal taste runs to wheat beers and who also makes wine, once met a guy in a homebrew club who gave him some syrup to fool around with in a batch.
The result: Smoked Maple Porter.
The fellow showed up at the next club gathering and opened his truck.
“He says, ‘There’s 12 gallons in there,” Esper recalled. “‘Take as much as you want. I never want to run out of that beer again in my life.’”
ESP’s canning device can accommodate a not-so-blistering pace of three cans a minute. They offer 12- and 16-ounce cans plus 32-ounce jugs.
Before the taproom filled with people and the fermenters brimmed with beer, Esper created a growler club. They sold 200 in a year, with the last one raffled off. Esper saw firsthand the community’s welcoming spirit.
It doesn’t hurt that a shopping area and some homes are going in nearby, though business was down this summer because of some area construction, which “kind of slowed our roll.” But people are returning, he said. The ultimate goal isn’t to expand across the state, just serve that local community and welcome visitors.
“We want to enjoy our guests and our friends,” he said.
Six-pack of facts about ESP Brewing Co.
Location: 8055 Leavitt Road, Amherst. Miles from Cleveland: 32.
Nearest breweries: Ghost Tree Brewing Co. is 2 miles to the northwest. Haven Brewing is 6 miles to the south.
Food: They serve paninis, pizza, a Frito bowl (“like a walking taco but a little bigger,” Esper said), hot dogs and brats. But, Michelle added, “No fryers.” Larry said fried food would leave residue on stainless equipment: “We don’t want a restaurant feel; we want a brewery feel.”
Trails: ESP is part of several brewery trails, including TagaBrew Trail, Destination Cleveland’s Cleveland Brewery Passport and the Bobcat Trail. The latter is linked by Ohio University alumni, such as Larry. It has about 40 breweries and requires the master brewer or brewery owner to be an OU alumnus. Ghost Tree and ESP are the furthest west in the Cleveland Brewery Passport. Esper said he initially was told ESP was a hair over the boundary limit for the passport. He lobbied ESP’s case, and the limit was extended.
Music: Michelle books bands on a regular basis.