Craft Breweries Accuse Ohio Company Of Sketchy Dealings

SysTech Stainless Works, was a firm Canton, Ohio company that promised American-made equipment at affordable prices. They unexpectedly closed in mid-September leaving a lot of start-up breweries with shoddy equipment, and others without a brewing system at all…or the down payment they made towards it!

Here’s the deal…

Founded by Jason and Amanda Spurrell in 2014,  SysTech Stainless Works began in the couple’s home where they re-assembled used brewing equipment from China which they represented American-made brewing systems.

Their business took off and they moved to larger offices in Canton to accommodate a growing client base of startup breweries from all over the nation.

But according to the Akron Beacon Journal, “the company went out of business suddenly in mid-September, telling customers in phone conferences that their deposits were gone and if they wanted equipment in the future to get it from a Chinese manufacturer that it had lined up — salt in the wound for brewers who were proud to be buying American-made products.”

The Journal’s Rick Armon goes on to report that breweries who were lucky enough to receive brewing equipment from SysTech were largely disappointed….

“Ian Staab, owner of Yellow Bridge Brewing Co. in Delmont, Pa….said there were numerous problems with his equipment, including SysTech changing the design of his seven-barrel electric system without his approval.

He recalled issues such as pumps being wired backwards, receiving a system that was half the power he ordered and not getting a control panel he paid for.”

And that others like Hoodletown Brewing’s Eric Kinsey and Mike Poland who March “handed over $40,000 as a down payment to a Canton company toward their new five-barrel brewing system,” came up completely empty-handed.

Armon’s excellent expose’ details the scale of Systech’s staggering deception…

“Breweries in states as far away as California, Florida, New Mexico and Minnesota are wondering what happened to their money and what went wrong with a company that a year ago was bragging to the Canton Repository newspaper about how it was on the way to tripling production and growing its workforce”

SysTech and the Spurrells are currently the focus of a police investigation by regional authorities who,  due to the widespread and complex financial nature of the accusations, have asked the Ohio Attorney General’s Office to get involved .

Armon’s attempts to contact the couple (who also opened a home brew supply shop earlier in the year) or reach the Spurrells’ Canton attorney, Gerald Baker were unsuccessful…