Fibonacci Brewing Co. is a cozy neighborhood nanobrewery in Mt. Healthy, Ohio (near Cincinnati). It’s also an urban farm, winery and even an Airbnb. The operation (named after Italian mathematician Leonardo Pisano) sources the majority of its beer ingredients through its farm, local farms or nearby foraging. It is housed in a former florist shop that has a nice patio and drive-thru (both crucial these days). Of course, currently, Fibonacci Brewing is working with half a roof. The brewery was hit by a tornado in early April during the first wave of the pandemic.
“The tornado path came straight through the street the brewery is on,” wrote Betty Bollas, president and co-owner of Fibonacci Brewing. “We lost our sign, had gutters ripped off our farmhouse. The brewery roof was damaged, and we had a lot of tree damage. The roof is still on. The building was temporarily repaired until the company can come out to replace it. They are working with their schedule to have us on a Monday so they can do it when we are closed, and it won’t further affect our business.”
It ended up being $20,000 in property damages right during the first fallout of the pandemic, but the brewery, winery and urban farm have persevered. Without power, running on a generator, and without a street sign for six weeks, customers continued to find the drive-thru and Fibonacci kept delivering orders throughout Hamilton County every day of the week. The brewery celebrated its fifth anniversary recently with a patio party.
“The party was big for us, but small compared to most breweries and we had plenty of outdoor space for social distancing,” said Bollas. “We had live music in the beer garden, and some people even brought their own chairs. It was a true community event under the stars and tree canopies in the beer garden that evening. Our core customers mean everything to our business. They are absolutely the ones who have kept our business running over the last four months and since the beginning. They have kept us going and kept our spirits up in the midst of everything.”
Fibonacci is big on community. Admirably during the last few months, Fibonacci has still worked to help the local community by brewing beers to support hospitality professionals and women in beer. The business is also supporting its local community non-profits like the Alliance food pantry and after school program. Along with the urban farm, which currently produces honey, fresh eggs, shiitake and oyster mushrooms, various herbs, nut bushes and fruit, Fibonacci runs the Mount Healthy Farmers’ Market, providing access to healthy, fresh, seasonal, locally-grown produce to the Cincinnati suburb. Fibonacci has continued to host its monthly farmers markets to assist with food insecurity needs in Mount Healthy where there is a food desert, and they are able to offer SNAP and Produce Perks benefits.
“Although the brewery is located in Mount Healthy, we also live in Mount Healthy so we have intimate knowledge of the community needs and have immersed ourselves in learning and where we live and how we can help,” said Bollas. “Our business is key in helping Mount Healthy repair because it is the community center. This is where people have had celebrations, met friends and neighbors, gotten engaged and more. If we can make it through, then they know they can. As it related to the tornado, it wasn’t just our business affected, but the entire neighborhood. There was a lot of damage and people were there to help each other however they could.
“Next for us is onsite food, which we’re hoping can happen next year at this point. We will continue to expand our apiary, add more chickens, grow more ingredients for our beer and give back to our community whenever we can. We have some plans for the future that will be pretty amazing once they can be fully implemented.”
Sounds encouraging. Now, let’s enjoy some photos of this beautiful brewery and urban farm in its natural state:
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