(12-27-22) Dennis O’Hagan’s job is to travel the country playing guitar, drinking craft beer, and writing about it… And it’s working out quite well, despite hurricanes and even a global pandemic. Now he’s prepping a documentary/reality show based on his adventures which combines the brewery visits, live music, and the humorous shenanigans that occur on the road between breweries, and his national tour will make a stop New Year’s Eve in Celina, to play a show at Brew Nation/Lake Rat Brewery (108 S Main St, Celina, OH,).

O’Hagan, 51 walked away from a successful career in tech and embarked in 2018 on a national tour playing his music in craft breweries throughout the U.S., drinking their beers as he played, and then blogging about the breweries, their product, and his traveling adventures after each show.  He has so far played more than 500 breweries in more than 40 states, while sharing his thoughts on his travels and thousands of pints of beer along the way.



Continuing to ride a wave of increasing demand, Dennis O’Hagan’s Great Brewery Tour grew even bigger in 2022, and will enter its sixth year in 2023. To meet the increasing demand, O’Hagan brought his musician son Brad Wehlitz, 25, (who also fronts acclaimed Cincinnati based indie band Freak Mythology) into the fold, and they now share the stage as a duo, changed the tour’s name to Dennis & Brad’s Great Brewery Tour, and incorporate both of their talents as multi-instrumentalists to greatly expand the sonic scope of the shows… as the two switch off on acoustic guitars, bass, percussion, lapsteel, mandolin, bouzouki, harmonica, and rich vocal harmonies.  Stylistically, the band’s music incorporates an eclectic mix of their own music, classic and college rock, and traditional Americana and Celtic influences to form a fun, upbeat acoustic sound they refer to as folkpunk. 

The two have been approached by several entities in recent years about taking their story to the screen.  There were originally plans to shoot a pilot in New Orleans in April 2020, but then Covid happened.  

“We thought it might have died on the vine, but interest has remained really high, and we recently  shot the pilot episode, and are currently  scouting good locations to film future episodes  while we’re out on tour.”      

The show will focus on two primary themes: first, following Dennis and Brad and a crew of misfits and artists as they keep alive the great American tradition of hopping a train, joining the circus, and taking the great road trip.  Forging their own path all over the country, finding adventure and mischief as they chase their passions for playing live music and discovering great beers (and interesting characters) at craft breweries from coast to coast. The other underlying theme is that it’s never too late to chase your dreams or reinvent your life.  These guys, along with most craft brewers, did college and the corporate job routine, and then tossed it aside to reinvent their lives in a way that was more in tune with their personal passions and interests… And hopefully will instill the hope in others that they, too, CAN live the lives they really want as well, with some effort and planning.

The show will follow the tour as it travels all over the country, highlighting craft breweries as diverse as big urban brands to rural and mountaintop farm breweries.  The tour will make a stop at Celina’s Brew Nation/Lake Rat Brewery (108 S Main St, Celina, OH,) to play a show this New Year’s Eve (9pm).  The tour will then play a few more shows around Ohio before formally kicking off the 2023 tour on Feb 2 in Jacksonville, Florida.  


You can learn more about Dennis & Brad’s national Great Brewery Tour at http://GreatBreweryTour.com

Dennis O’Hagan is an Irish/American songwriter and guitarist who has been active off and on in the music scene for 30 years, most recently fronting the critically acclaimed band Voodoo Loons. Brad Wehlitz is multi-instrumentalist most known for fronting Freak Mythology.  Their acoustic shows combine their own music with an eclectic mix of traditional American and Celtic music, covers that you love and don’t often hear, and stories of his travels.  O’Hagan currently lives with his boxer Django in Cincinnati, Ohio.