Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, July 18, 1990 TAG: 9007170178
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV1 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: MADELYN ROSENBERG NEW RIVER VALLEY BUREAU
DATELINE: FLOYD LENGTH: Long
Inside, it's nearly empty. Tools, tubes and large pieces of machinery are scattered on the dirt floor. An owl (darn thing) sneaks through an open window - or opens one himself - to rest on one of the rafters.
But to two Floyd County men, this barn is full of dreams and plans for a business venture they hope will put their kids through college.
"We're capitalists," Pat Carroll, the self-named brewmaster for the Little River Brewing Co., will tell you right up front. "We want to make what people want to drink."
Carroll and the company's president, Ralph Early, say people in this area want to drink Moonbeam Ale - their own special blend that includes no preservatives, no additives - nothing but water, hops and grain.
They want to brew it in this 60-year-old barn - complete with a bottling operation, a few tours, and maybe a little sandwich shop just to the right of the barn where the milkweeds grow.
"Most microbreweries go for the artsy end of beer," said Carroll, who started mixing his own brew from kits when he was in the Army in the late 1970s. ("We didn't know it wasn't legal, then," he explained.)
But Carroll said people in this area want something different.
"We don't make it like that thick, European beer - beer you can chew," he said. "We want . . . something that tastes like an American pilsner. Being Americans, we decided that's the one to go with."
Early said that after fermenting the brew as an ale for two days, then fermenting it as a lager at a lower temperature for the next 14 days, the company will produce an ale with a light - or American - taste.
The ingredients that go into the beer will be American, too, Carroll said. "We're sort of `July Fourth' about this whole thing."
Moonbeam Ale is not being sold by your local grocer. In fact, it's not being sold at all. Yet.
For now, Carroll is mixing up batches of ale in his rural, Floyd County home and giving out tastes here and there. He never produces more than the law allows, though he says he has to "drink the canned stuff" and save the Moonbeam for his friends to keep from going over the limit.
But in the future, Carroll and Early want to see their beer in stores and restaurants all over the New River and Roanoke valleys. With the help of their third partner, John Winnicki, they're determined to get it there.
The beer brewers don't speak in "ifs." They talk of "whens."
It may be next year or it may be a few years down the road before things really get off the ground, Early said. But it'll happen.
A six-page business plan and a half-inch-thick compilation of tables and charts outline the details: The first year, they'll bottle 600 cases (or 1,500 gallons) of Moonbeam Ale per month. The operation will expand to 3,000 gallons per month within one year, and ultimately 50,000 gallons a month. Eventually, they'll begin bottling a light ale - Moonlight Ale.
"People are more conscious about what they put in their bodies these days," Carroll said, shooting a sour look at his lit cigarette. "I wish I could quit these things. . . . People are changing and we're hoping to be there for them."
But first things first. The three men have to renovate the barn, and that should begin any day now. They have to ready the upstairs to store the grain, and ready the machinery to mash it.
They have to put in a floor.
And they have to get the money to finance the rest of the operation.
They already have kicked in about $30,000 for logo designs, rent, T-shirts, plans and lawyers, Carroll said.
But start-up costs are estimated at about $80,000, and the money has to come from somewhere.
The men had tried to get a business loan, but a local bank said they didn't have enough collateral. After spending hours in the library doing research on business start-ups, they decided to raise the money through stock sales.
It's slow going.
For one thing, the law prevents the company from advertising.
Then, there's history. "A lot of people have been in jail for making moonshine," Winnicki said. "They're afraid to invest."
So for now, the founders of the Little River Brewing Co. are keeping their daytime jobs. All three men work for ethanol companies, which distill alcohol from grain to be mixed with gasoline and used for fuel. Winnicki, who will handle some of the more technical aspects of beerdom, is a chemical engineer.
Eventually, Early and Carroll intend to make the brewery a full-time endeavor. Winnicki will keep his job and moonlight at the brewery.
When it's complete, the operation should attract tourists to this quiet county.
"The brewery would be a good way to try to bring people in," said County Administrator Randy Arno, adding that tourism is one of the county's prime economic directives. "We need to share the wealth we have with other people."
The Little River Brewing Co. wants to share the beer.
Carroll said the county administrator and police have shown few concerns - or suspicions - about the brewery plans.
There's no cause for suspicion, he added. "We're keeping everything simple and above board for anyone to see."
Visitors will get to see Moonbeam Ale mashed, stashed, fermented and bottled in this old gray barn.
"We want to let people see how good, homemade brew is made," Early said.
And it's taken a good two years of mixing, experimenting and tasting to come up with this homemade brew.
"Ralph and I consumed a lot of beer to find Moonbeam," Carroll said.
by CNB