'Beerpreneur' Hops on Opportunity to Open Brewery in Dearborn

Dearborn will soon have more to cheer – or say “cheers” – about:  Dearborn Brewing should open this summer. When it does, John Rucinski’s dream will come true.

Rucinski told The Press & Guide that he has been making his own beer for a decade and has been toying with the idea of turning it into a commercial enterprise for “a while.”

Rucinski, 43, is a Dearborn High School graduate and is currently working at Nissan North America in Farmington Hills. One of his managers is a home brewer and he thought it sounded like a fun hobby He made his first batch of beer in 2000.

“It didn’t turn out so well,” he admitted.

But he invested in better equipment, practiced the art of brewing and advanced to the point that judges at competitions took notice, including those at the 2003 National Homebrew Competition who gave him a bronze medal.

He took the Siebel Brewing Institute course on brewery planning and now he’s ready to commercialize his hobby in 2,450-square-foot space at 21930 Michigan Ave.

He hopes the venture will be successful enough that he can quit his day job.

“This isn’t something I'm going into to toy around,” he told the newspaper. “This is going to be a my real job.”

Locating in Dearborn is a nod to his hometown.