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Before there were Wicked Weed, Hi-Wire, or even a notion of
New Belgium opening a brewery in Asheville, there was Heinzelmännchen. Husband
and wife team Dieter Kuhn and Sheryl Rudd opened Heinzelmännchen Brewery in
2004, survived the Great Recession, and are now poised to expand their brewery
and become a serious player in the regional beer market.
The current brewery is located at 545 Mill Street in
downtown Sylva, a town of fewer than 3,000 people. Though Sheryl and Dieter
have become well-known entrepreneurial figures in the area and regulars come in on a daily basis, the brewery relies
heavily on tourist traffic from out of town. Dieter spoke fondly of a pair of
friends who came through Sylva when the brewery first opened ten years ago.
They’ve stopped in every year since when they pass through for their annual
camping trip, and now bring their kids along as well.
German-born Dieter Kuhn has personally run the brewhouse for
the past ten years, specializing in well-balanced, German-inspired ales. Many
of Dieter’s recipes are influenced by the old style of brewing in Germany,
where each village would have its own brewery to service the local population.
In addition to a rotating line-up of 8-10 draft taps, Heinzelmännchen also
serves two homemade soft drinks -- a root beer and a birch beer -- which are
popular with the kids.
Among the beers I tasted on my visit were Roktoberfest, a rich, toasty, malty-sweet festbier, and Ancient Days Honey Blonde Ale, a pale, lightly-hopped blonde ale made with locally-sourced Catamount honey. The honey contributed a spicy complexity to an otherwise straightforward beer. All of the beers were well-balanced, though Dieter
makes a couple IPAs for the hop heads, including Orange Blossom Imperial IPA
and Gnarly Gnome, a 7% ABV Black IPA.
Having established themselves in WNC, Sheryl and Dieter have
reached the limits of their current space and are planning a new production
facility just down the road in Dillsboro. The new, 30-barrel brewhouse will
increase production significantly, enabling Heinzelmännchen to put their beers
in cans and bottles, thereby reaching droves of new customers.
The Heinzelmännchen expansion will have a significant economic impact on the surrounding area. The new space will have room to serve up to 144 people,
creating a good number of local jobs. The new brewery will occupy an abandoned rail
depot, offering an opportunity to revitalize an older part of town. To
finance the project, Sheryl and Dieter have begun raising money through a crowd-sourced funding
campaign, in which supporters earn rewards for their contributions. Some of
the higher-level gifts can be split among a group of supporters.
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Aerial concept of the new Heinzelmännchen Brewery. |
As Dieter puts it, Heinzelmännchen has been developing the
customer relationship “one glass at a time.” That customer-oriented
business-style and economic investment will surely have a positive impact on
the brewing industry of WNC.
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The future home of Heinzelmännchen Brewery. |