I love beer fests. You wouldn’t think standing behind a table and pouring beer for six to eight hours would be that much fun, but it really is. Everyone is there because they love beer or they’ve been dragged along by someone else who loves beer and are waiting for you to impress them, which I love doing. (Normally all this entails is pointing to Uli as the man who created the law that allowed brewpubs in North Carolina and people in line stare in awe and ask to shake his hand.) Festivals are always cheerful, filled with people and, due largely in part to bizarre and stringent alcohol laws, miraculously well organized. Most of these are spring and summer events held outside in sunny parks or even stadiums so I had stoically resolved to wait until April before I started scanning the calendar and filling out festival applications. Imagine my surprise when I was told that on November 14th we would be loading up the truck and heading out to Danville, Virginia for a beer fest!
After my initial glee had subsided, I began to wonder why this festival was in the fall. What were the organizers thinking going against tradition like this? When we got to Danville I realized that the organizers were geniuses. The middle of November is the perfect time to have an event because there is nothing else going on. People flocked to the building like they hadn’t been out of the house in weeks (which, given the size of the nor’easter that just blown through, they probably hadn’t). Everyone loved our beer and many people asked where they could get it locally. Normally we can rattle off a long list of fine establishments clever enough to carry our beer, but this time the list was embarrassingly short. Our excellent distributor is doing the best he can to promote this delicious beer with a funny name, but stores and restaurants aren’t willing to take the risk.
And this is what has brought me out of my blogging lethargy. Our distributors are trying to bring our beer to the masses, but they need your help. Go to your local restaurant, Wine & Beer store, grocery store or any place you buy beer and ask/beg for Weeping Radish. Tell them how much you like it and strike up a conversation about how we got our unique name or how we are the oldest microbrewery in North Carolina. They’ll be dazzled by your obscure beer knowledge and delighted to fill your request. We have distributors in Richmond, Tidewater, Virginia Beach, Newport News, Danville, Charlottesville, Fredericksburg, and Verona in Virginia, Raleigh North Carolina and of course on the Outer Banks!
So think of us when you buy beer and we’ll see you at a beer fest in the spring!
After my initial glee had subsided, I began to wonder why this festival was in the fall. What were the organizers thinking going against tradition like this? When we got to Danville I realized that the organizers were geniuses. The middle of November is the perfect time to have an event because there is nothing else going on. People flocked to the building like they hadn’t been out of the house in weeks (which, given the size of the nor’easter that just blown through, they probably hadn’t). Everyone loved our beer and many people asked where they could get it locally. Normally we can rattle off a long list of fine establishments clever enough to carry our beer, but this time the list was embarrassingly short. Our excellent distributor is doing the best he can to promote this delicious beer with a funny name, but stores and restaurants aren’t willing to take the risk.
And this is what has brought me out of my blogging lethargy. Our distributors are trying to bring our beer to the masses, but they need your help. Go to your local restaurant, Wine & Beer store, grocery store or any place you buy beer and ask/beg for Weeping Radish. Tell them how much you like it and strike up a conversation about how we got our unique name or how we are the oldest microbrewery in North Carolina. They’ll be dazzled by your obscure beer knowledge and delighted to fill your request. We have distributors in Richmond, Tidewater, Virginia Beach, Newport News, Danville, Charlottesville, Fredericksburg, and Verona in Virginia, Raleigh North Carolina and of course on the Outer Banks!
So think of us when you buy beer and we’ll see you at a beer fest in the spring!
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