Dirty Job Brewery turns off the taps for good

By Amanda Rogers

Mansfield Record

Mansfield lost another piece of historic downtown earlier this month when Dirty Job Brewing turned off the taps for good.

Closing the brewery/restaurant was not an easy decision, but it was the right one, said Derek Hubenak, who co-owns the business with his wife, Lashawn.

“We are completely satisfied with our decision to close,” he said. “As soon as I hit the enter button, I felt this wash of relief. I am proud of what we have done. If it wasn’t for us being there, a lot of the businesses wouldn’t be there. We’ve given a place for people to meet. We’ve watched kids grow up. It’s just been amazing.”

The couple opened the brewery at 117 N. Main St. on July 7, 2017, added pretzels and brats in 2019, then opened a full kitchen in March 2020. Along the way, they added activities to draw in customers: Friday night trivia, yoga, lunchtime business association meetings, karaoke, brunch and bingo, paint night, art classes, dart night, cornhole nights, crawfish boil, Mother’s Day and Father’s Day activities, graduation parties, weddings, quincenaras and two weddings that Hubenak officiated.

But COVID and the economy made things rough.

“We had the pandemic and then it went into the elections,” Hubenak said. “That whole year everybody was worried about what was going to happen. People were not spending. They were not getting out.

“The after effects went through 2021,” he said. “2022 and 2023 started to get better. 2024 the bottom fell out.

“During that time with people not spending, it wasn’t just us it was all businesses in downtown, AndiMac Candy Shack, Aria Grace, Paisley Grace, Southern Twisted Roots,” Hubenak said. “Nobody was spending. I wasn’t getting out. I went through all my retirement money to keep the doors open. I was a college administrator at TCC. I lost my job there in September. I went through all three retirement funds.”

Hubenak is still proud of what he and his family accomplished with the brewery.

“I’m OK,” he said. “I’m happy that I was able to keep the place open, people employed. I’m not buying that island in Tahiti any time soon. I might be able to buy a cabin in Grande Isle, Louisiana.”

“We are not failing, we could stay open if we wanted to,” Hubenak said. “Why would we continue? I’ve already put my retirement in.”

The city has helped them in the past, which they have repaid by supporting the community, he said.

“I wish that I had the wherewithal to wait it out and see what the city does,” Hubenak said. “They gave us a $20,000 grant when we opened. We were super grateful so we could get our expansion done. We met the terms of that. Since then we’ve seen all these other things come in. It was kind of like ‘Is there anything we can do?’”

Dirty Job has hosted charity events and fundraisers for soccer teams, cheerleading squads, bands, Kiwanis and to fight cancer. During the early days of COVID, they were able to purchase food, which they sold to the public for cost.

Hubenak already has a new job, and his wife is still working, too. Now, they are making plans for a future without a brewery.

“The first thing is re-do the trajectory of our future without Dirty Job,” he said. “Plan some family time with our parents. Refocus on a new career. I’ve got a couple of business options. I do landscaping, appliance repair, comics and collectibles, mobile entertainment. We have other businesses. It’s mostly going to be focusing on what is next for us.”