PROFILES IN BREWING
by Bobby Bush, author of Beer & Loafing

Uli Bennewitz, owner of the Weeping Radish Brewery in Manteo, NC

His German-made brewing equipment was on a ship steaming westward from Europe
when Uli Bennewitz first learned that what he planned to do was illegal. In fact, his
brewhouse was on the water before he even spoke to the Alcohol Beverage
Commission in Raleigh, who informed the German immigrant that brewing beer in
North Carolina was permissible but that retail sales of his product was not.
An understanding ABC commissioner had pity and actually helped him change the
law. Uli calls it a truly unique event. This 1985 amendment was the "only law ever p
assed without a lawyer involved."

When it opened in 1986, the Weeping Radish, named for a salty German snack,
was the East Coast's very first microbrewery. Imagine the courage it took to open
a traditional German restaurant serving house-made authentic German-style beers
in the rural Outer Banks of North Carolina. Thanks to "consistency and quality," the
brewpub quickly became a tourist attraction by word of mouth alone.

Seventeen years later the Radish still adheres to Uli's original premise of brewing strictly German beers. The newest in his fold, Weeping Radish OBX is a "light lager made with ale yeast." Kolsch-like, it is admittedly targeted toward hot weather tourists, which represent the bulk of the brewpub's on-site business. A pale, golden lager in the Munich Helles style, Corolla Gold enters malty sweet before fading into a pleasant floral hop exit. Weizen is an unfiltered Bavarian wheat beer, with plenty of yeasty, estery clove with spicy taste and aroma. Fest
Amber offers smooth malty sweetness and crisp hop finish in Oktoberfest style, while chestnut-brown Black Radish plays tunes of roasted and chocolate malt goodness.

Born in Lima, Peru, Uli's family moved to Germany when he was seven. He attended college in England, where he earned a degree in agriculture, then headed to the USA to ply his trade. He chose the pastoral Outer Banks, specifically the small town of Manteo, for his first farming venture. The hardworking entrepreneur, who has never been a brewer, now manages 14,000 acres of farmland in several states, raising corn, cotton and potatoes as cash crops.

For the first seven years of brewing, Uli employed German brewers.  But he tired of their contrary nature and hard-headedness and soon developed an alternative program to keep his beer authentic. Instead of moving German brewers here to brew full-time, he brought them in for six months to educate his American employees. Andy Duck, who started on the bottom rung, is now the Weeping Radish head brewer. 

Uli's latest dream is now under construction in Currituck County. Weeping Radish Brewery & Eco-Farm is designed as a tourist attraction. Along with a tour-friendly brewery, featuring two 14-barrel brewhouses, this facility will house a Country Store, a restaurant with indoor and outdoor seating, and a Butcher Shop, staffed by a German butcher, that offers only North Carolina-raised hormone-free beef and free-range hogs, and Uli's pride and joy, a 5-acre demonstration farm where visitors can observe crops growing, see greenhouses produce flowers and watch farm livestock razing. "We have Reinheitsgebot [complying with ancient Bavarian beer purity law] beer. Soon we'll have Reinheitsgebot food as well." The energetic German also plans to distill Potato Vodka, which must be sold through state-controlled ABC stores for resale. There will be no change of law this time.

The ground-breaking ceremony for the first phase of construction, a 15,000-square foot building which will house the brewery and retail store, featuring crafts from N.C. artists, took place in May, 2003.  Uli's goal is to "have everything in place, including the butcher shop, by December for the Wright Brothers' 100th Anniversary." 

The original Weeping Radish in Manteo will continue as is, though with a smaller brewery. Already announced for the brewpub is a day-long Brewing School, where participants brew for a day with professional instruction. And on June 24, 2003, a new Weeping Radish-run restaurant, Jeannette's Pier House Grill, opened in Nags Head.  No need to mention whose beer will be on tap.

Uli Bennewitz is a man of motion. He speaks more of his company's expansion plans and eco-farm than he does of his beer, though his pride for the latter is unquestionable. His trailblazing accomplishments are brewing legend. But that's just history. For the "first time since founding his brewpub in 1986,"Uli is "really excited" about the
potential that his new venture offers. Once a dream, the future of Weeping Radish Brewery is now.

US Highway 64, Manteo, NC 27954
(252) 473-5325

Read more by nationally recognized beer writer Bobby Bush at:

==========================================================================
Thanks to: Tim Bryce, Robert Culpepper, Mac Wylie, Raymond Statam, Joseph Summerour

Until June, Cheers!
The Beer Bwana
CALENDAR

July 1 thru 31 - American Beer Month
7/11 - 9th International Beer & Food Festival - Jacksonville FL
7/19 - 1st Fire Ant Festival - Hilton Head SC
7/25-27 - Oregon Beer Festival - Portland OR
7/26 - 2nd Music City Brewers Festival - Nashville TN
7/26 - Hopfest 2003 - Chapel Hill NC
8/9 - WaZoo - Tampa FL
8 /16 - 6th Microfestivus - Roanoke VA
8/23 - 10th Southern Brewer's Festival - Chattanooga TN
RESOURCES

By now you may have heard the term "blog" bandied about in reference to a new style of communicating on the internet. The term is short for web log, which refers to a place where a person can post his or her regular musings on the whatever topic interests them, with many blogs taking the form of a diary or journal. Since beer is a topic
people have a lot of opinions on, naturally there are some blogs on the subject. If you'd like to take a look at a few to see what they look like and what folks have to say, here are some links to check out.

The Beerhounds's Beer Blog: http://www.beerblog.com/
The material presented on this site is based on information believed to be correct, but is subject
to change at anytime. If you have an update, correction, suggestion or any other contribution,
please send it to us at: updates@beersouth.com. We welcome your input.

(c) 1999 - 2003 by Beer South. All Rights Reserved.
The material presented on this site is based on information believed to be correct, but is subject
to change at anytime. If you have an update, correction, suggestion or any other contribution,
please send it to us at: updates@beersouth.com. We welcome your input.

(c) 1999 - 2003 by Beer South. All Rights Reserved.
June 2003 Buzz
Greetings,

Hot weather. Cold beer. Good times. Hello!
Sometimes things are better short and sweet, like this intro.
....the Beer Bwana

NEWS

JUDGE RULES IN SWEETWATER VS. SWEETWATER CASE

A federal court has ruled in favor of Atlanta's SweetWater Brewing Company in a trademark infringement suit it filed against the SweetWater Tavern chain of brewpubs in Northern Virginia. Great American Restaurants, the parent corporation of the Sweetwater Taverns, has been forbidden to market its Sweetwater Tavern Pale Ale brand in bottles, and was to have removed all products from the market by June 15.  The Sweetwater Taverns will be able to retain their corporate name, however. Sweetwater Tavern Pale Ale and Sweetwater Tavern Oktoberfest have been brewed under contract by the Old Dominion Brewing Co.

Although the marketing territories for the two Sweetwaters don't overlap, they have been inching closer. The Atlanta operation, named Small Brewery of the Year at the 2002 Great American Beer Festival, sells some beer in the Charlottesville and Richmond areas of Central Virginia, while Sweetwater Tavern Pale Ale is available only in Northern Virginia outlets.

HOFBRAUHAUS BEER TAPS RUNNING DRY

In the May edition of the BUZZ, we mentioned that the long-awaited Hofbrauhaus, the German brewpub in Newport KY, had opened in April. It turns out that the new brewpub & festhaus is so popular that it can't keep its signature Hofbrauhaus beer in stock.

Owners of the venture had hoped to brew what was needed on site, but demand is outstripping supply so much that the restaurant has had to order more from Munich, site of the original -- and only other -- Hofbrau house in the world. The Newport restaurant is looking for ways to increase its production as a way to address the problem.

"We go through over 100 kegs on a Saturday," said Bill Riester, a manager in the restaurant. That's about 6,000 liters, or 12,678 pints, of beer. In a month, customers are putting away as much as 30,000 liters, said Conrad Freihofer, assistant brewmaster at the Newport location.

Nick Ellison, another manager at the brewpub, said that it's importing mainly the dark "dunkel" beer -- one of four made at the restaurant -- because it takes longer to ferment.

Freihofer said there might be a slight flavor difference between the beer brewed in Newport and the beer brewed in Germany, although both are made according to the German "Purity Law" of 1516, which also happens to be the basic recipe for all German beer. "These people take their beer seriously," Freihofer said.

DIAMOND BEAR BREWERY MOVES BOTTLING OPERATION

The "Beer of Arkansas" no longer will be brewed in Minnesota. The Diamond Bear Brewery in Little Rock AR, which has produced its draft beer in Little Rock since 2000, will flick the switch on its own bottling line at the end of July or early August. Diamond Bear started selling bottled beer last July, but had to contract Gluek Brewery in
Cold Spring, Minn., to do it. So while the bottle proclaimed it to be the "Beer of Arkansas," the law required the label to also include "brewed and bottled in Minnesota."

"We just bit our tongues on that, but we really didn't have much choice," said Russ Melton, who runs the brewery just three blocks east of the Arkansas state Capitol. "I've been working all week on the labels. They will say "Brewed and bottled by the Diamond Bear Brewery in Little Rock, Arkansas." Melton and head brewer Charlie Kling have been busy since mid-May installing the bottling line they bought from a Green Bay, Wis., brewery.

"Our contract brewer was doing a good job for us, but you've got a little more pride in your product when you're doing it for yourself," said Kling, who became the head brewer a year ago after working for the Abita Brewery in Louisiana.  Melton planned on using the bottling contract for at least two years but the Green Bay bottling line was a perfect fit for his facility, which is now between 7,500 and 8,000 square feet.

Diamond Bear beer is sold in Arkansas, western Tennessee and northern Louisiana. Melton said consolidating operations will help the brewery expand into Mississippi and other parts of Tennessee and Louisiana.

IN-FLIGHT MAGAZINE AD TO FEATURE "TEN GREAT TAPHOUSES"

This summer, travelers who fly on Southwest Airlines and open its Spirit magazine will find a list of 10 great American taphouses. The advertisement appears in the June, July and August in-flight magazine. The project was organized by Realbeer.com and paid for by participating taphouses. Similar to the "Ten Great Steakhouses" ad seen in many in-flight magazines, this ad  will feature unique taphouses across the US which offer an array of quality beers on draft.

The ad was placed to coincide with American Beer Month in July when these establishments and many more, will be participating in the second Realbeer.com Challenge Cup, where bars and brewpubs across the country
compete to see which can sell the most American beer July 22-24. The ad includes the Flying Saucer Draught Emporium chain, with locations in Memphis, Nashville, Raleigh and Charlotte, and Barley Hoppers Tap House in Tampa.

LEGISLATIVE ROUNDUP

Legislatures in several statehouses have been busy as their yearly sessions reach a mid-year hiatus. Here are some of the key developments in brief;

Louisiana Rejects Tougher Open-Container Bill

The Louisiana House of Representatives Transportation Committee has rejected a bill that would have toughened the state's ban on open containers of alcohol in moving vehicles, according to a recent Associated Press report. The current state law bans drivers from possessing open containers of alcohol, but not passengers. The bill
would have extended the ban to passengers. The defeat of the measure took place on the same day committee members were to attend a dinner sponsored by liquor and casino lobbyists.

South Carolina To Allow Sunday Beer Sales Statewide

In 1993, South Carolina passed a law allowing Sunday beer sales for restaurants and clubs - but not in stores. Or at least that's what everyone thought. In late May, state Department of Revenue officials ruled that if restaurants and motels could sell beer and wine on Sunday, so could grocery and convenience stores. This means counties that allow beer sales may now permit stores to do so as well. At least four counties which lose sales to store across state lines were expected to implement the new regulations.

Alabama Allows Sunday Beer Sales

The Alabama legislature pass a bill permitting the sale of beer on Sunday in municipalities that allow beer sales. Also included in the bill was the removal of capital city Montgomery's city-wide restriction on the sale of draft beer, which had been probinited except at the Montgomery Brewing Company brewpub.

The state law passed despite the objection of Gov. Bob Riley, who wanted the city to hold a referendum on whether to allow Sunday sales. But the Legislature defeated the governor's proposed amendment.

Virginia Allows Reciprocal Wine Sales

Starting July 1, it will be possible to obtain a case of wine without ever leaving your home in Virginia. Governor Mark Warner recently signed a bill that makes direct shipments legal.

Warner, who produces his own wine, Rappahannock Bend, as a hobby, described the new law as beneficial to a growing industry. "This legislation I signed into law is a tremendous victory for Virginia's wineries and Virginia wine lovers," the governor said. "Virginia wineries and vineyards will benefit through the opening of markets in other states to showcase the great quality of Virginia wines to a wider audience."

The law opens the markets in 13 states with reciprocity -- including California, Washington and Oregon -- to Virginia wines. The others are: Idaho, Colorado, New Mexico, Minnesota, Iowa, Wisconsin, Missouri,
Illinois, Hawaii and West Virginia. Although the new regulation affects only wine, changes in the rules on who can sell what where will gradually affect the retailing of beer. The sooner the better.

It is a crime to ship wines into these states: Utah, Arizona, South Dakota, Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas, Arkansas, Mississippi, Alabama, Florida, Tennessee, Indiana, Ohio, Michigan, Kentucky, South Carolina, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, New York, Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey, Vermont, Massachusetts and Maine.

Eleven states allow limited or highly restricted shipping, according to WineAmerica. They are Nevada, Montana, Wyoming, North Dakota, Nebraska, Louisiana, Georgia, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Alaska and Connecticut.
BREWING CHANGES

Closings

GA / Alpharetta - U.S. Border Brewery & Cantina Brewpub.
RESOURCES

By now you may have heard the term "blog" bandied about in reference to a new style of communicating on the internet. The term is short for web log, which refers to a place where a person can post his or her regular musings on the whatever topic interests them, with many blogs taking the form of a diary or journal. Since beer is a topic
people have a lot of opinions on, naturally there are some blogs on the subject. If you'd like to take a look at a few to see what they look like and what folks have to say, here are some links to check out.

The Beerhounds's Beer Blog: http://www.beerblog.com/
CALENDAR

July 1 thru 31 - American Beer Month
7/11 - 9th International Beer & Food Festival - Jacksonville FL
7/19 - 1st Fire Ant Festival - Hilton Head SC
7/25-27 - Oregon Beer Festival - Portland OR
7/26 - 2nd Music City Brewers Festival - Nashville TN
7/26 - Hopfest 2003 - Chapel Hill NC
8/9 - WaZoo - Tampa FL
8 /16 - 6th Microfestivus - Roanoke VA
8/23 - 10th Southern Brewer's Festival - Chattanooga TN
PROFILES IN BREWING
by Bobby Bush, author of Beer & Loafing

Uli Bennewitz, owner of the Weeping Radish Brewery in Manteo, NC

His German-made brewing equipment was on a ship steaming westward from Europe
when Uli Bennewitz first learned that what he planned to do was illegal. In fact, his
brewhouse was on the water before he even spoke to the Alcohol Beverage
Commission in Raleigh, who informed the German immigrant that brewing beer in
North Carolina was permissible but that retail sales of his product was not.
An understanding ABC commissioner had pity and actually helped him change the
law. Uli calls it a truly unique event. This 1985 amendment was the "only law ever p
assed without a lawyer involved."

When it opened in 1986, the Weeping Radish, named for a salty German snack,
was the East Coast's very first microbrewery. Imagine the courage it took to open
a traditional German restaurant serving house-made authentic German-style beers
in the rural Outer Banks of North Carolina. Thanks to "consistency and quality," the
brewpub quickly became a tourist attraction by word of mouth alone.

Seventeen years later the Radish still adheres to Uli's original premise of brewing strictly German beers. The newest in his fold, Weeping Radish OBX is a "light lager made with ale yeast." Kolsch-like, it is admittedly targeted toward hot weather tourists, which represent the bulk of the brewpub's on-site business. A pale, golden lager in the Munich Helles style, Corolla Gold enters malty sweet before fading into a pleasant floral hop exit. Weizen is an unfiltered Bavarian wheat beer, with plenty of yeasty, estery clove with spicy taste and aroma. Fest
Amber offers smooth malty sweetness and crisp hop finish in Oktoberfest style, while chestnut-brown Black Radish plays tunes of roasted and chocolate malt goodness.

Born in Lima, Peru, Uli's family moved to Germany when he was seven. He attended college in England, where he earned a degree in agriculture, then headed to the USA to ply his trade. He chose the pastoral Outer Banks, specifically the small town of Manteo, for his first farming venture. The hardworking entrepreneur, who has never been a brewer, now manages 14,000 acres of farmland in several states, raising corn, cotton and potatoes as cash crops.

For the first seven years of brewing, Uli employed German brewers.  But he tired of their contrary nature and hard-headedness and soon developed an alternative program to keep his beer authentic. Instead of moving German brewers here to brew full-time, he brought them in for six months to educate his American employees. Andy Duck, who started on the bottom rung, is now the Weeping Radish head brewer. 

Uli's latest dream is now under construction in Currituck County. Weeping Radish Brewery & Eco-Farm is designed as a tourist attraction. Along with a tour-friendly brewery, featuring two 14-barrel brewhouses, this facility will house a Country Store, a restaurant with indoor and outdoor seating, and a Butcher Shop, staffed by a German butcher, that offers only North Carolina-raised hormone-free beef and free-range hogs, and Uli's pride and joy, a 5-acre demonstration farm where visitors can observe crops growing, see greenhouses produce flowers and watch farm livestock razing. "We have Reinheitsgebot [complying with ancient Bavarian beer purity law] beer. Soon we'll have Reinheitsgebot food as well." The energetic German also plans to distill Potato Vodka, which must be sold through state-controlled ABC stores for resale. There will be no change of law this time.

The ground-breaking ceremony for the first phase of construction, a 15,000-square foot building which will house the brewery and retail store, featuring crafts from N.C. artists, took place in May, 2003.  Uli's goal is to "have everything in place, including the butcher shop, by December for the Wright Brothers' 100th Anniversary." 

The original Weeping Radish in Manteo will continue as is, though with a smaller brewery. Already announced for the brewpub is a day-long Brewing School, where participants brew for a day with professional instruction. And on June 24, 2003, a new Weeping Radish-run restaurant, Jeannette's Pier House Grill, opened in Nags Head.  No need to mention whose beer will be on tap.

Uli Bennewitz is a man of motion. He speaks more of his company's expansion plans and eco-farm than he does of his beer, though his pride for the latter is unquestionable. His trailblazing accomplishments are brewing legend. But that's just history. For the "first time since founding his brewpub in 1986,"Uli is "really excited" about the
potential that his new venture offers. Once a dream, the future of Weeping Radish Brewery is now.

US Highway 64, Manteo, NC 27954
(252) 473-5325

Read more by nationally recognized beer writer Bobby Bush at:

==========================================================================
Thanks to: Tim Bryce, Robert Culpepper, Mac Wylie, Raymond Statam, Joseph Summerour

Until June, Cheers!
The Beer Bwana