In the fall of 2014, Chad and I went to a Village Council meeting out of curiosity and a desire to get involved in the Dimondale community. We started asking questions about some of the buildings that were for sale downtown, like the old hardware store. Denise Parisian, the Village Manager, told us about a building we didn't even realize was for sale. The owners hadn't even put it on the market or advertised it yet. One thing led to another, and we ended up buying the old flower shop. A brewery was in our minds from the beginning, but we didn't know enough about the zoning or microbrewery licensing and laws, so we figured maybe we could start a coffee shop if the brewery idea didn't pan out.
It took us two months to come up with a name for the place. I don't even want to admit how many stupid names we went through, but I'll tell you some of them because they are kind of funny:
- Toadstool Brewhouse
- Fieldstone Brewery
- Ishkabibble Brewhouse
The even funnier part is that most of the names we came up with were already taken. Either an actual brewery or a homebrewer has already staked their claim to them online. Other names had potential issues, like Scout's Brewery. Our dog's name is Scout, and we liked the imagery of tents and camping, but we thought the Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts of America probably would not appreciate having an implied association with a brewery.
One night, we were brainstorming, and Chad was thinking out-loud, "Dimondale, Dime, Dimes... Dimes! She's a dime... good times at Dimes... I like it!" And the name stuck. We filed the LLC paperwork with the state, and started filling out our microbrewery license application in the winter of 2015.