Breweries and Wineries

Licking County is home to a number of local breweries and wineries

Early History

Licking County has a long history of brewing. Early accounts of the area's history made frequent mention of liquor consumption (primarily whiskey) and the production and consumption of ale and lager would not become part of the industry and social life until the arrival of German immigrants to the region in the 1830s. The earliest record of commercial beer production in licking county was in 1844 with the brewery founded by Michael Morath, an immigrant from southern Germany. Morath arrived in Newark Ohio in 1832. He became a successful brewer and property owner in the growing town. Morath opened his first brewery in the southern part of Newak, south of the canal.