Brewery project makes history with city application

Chris Weeks hopes to make beer sometime soon in downtown Greencastle. In the meantime, he's already made history.

Weeks, who plans to open Wasser Beer Co. brewery and brew pub in the old NAPA store and onetime Packard dealership at 102 E. Franklin St., Greencastle, became the first applicant for a beverage license through the City of Greencastle Downtown Alcoholic Beverage License Committee last week.

By unanimous vote, committee members Rick Barcus, Susan Lemon, Bonnie Lowry and Vincent M. Aguirre sent a favorable recommendation for Weeks' project on to the City Council (which meets Tuesday at 7 p.m. at City Hall) .

In January, the City Council approved a resolution that ultimately made Greencastle the second of two Indiana cities (Valparaiso is the other) to qualify under a 10-year-old piece of state legislation allowing liquor licenses to be issued to specialty restaurants located within historic downtown areas that meet certain specific requirements. The state law is meant to encourage economic development in such areas and was initially written specifically for Valparaiso.

The strict requirements include the presence of a courthouse, old opera house and former jail as well as the historic district designation. The unusual legislation is designed to encourage unique dining establishments, not just simple bars or taverns.

Indiana Alcoholic Beverage Commission approval would allow for the possibility of adding up to 10 liquor licenses within the historic district listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

The applicant for the liquor license must be located within 700 feet of such a district, which the Wasser building is, City Planner Shannon Norman confirmed.

Liquor licenses are based on county population and overall there are 44 licenses (one-, two- and three-way varieties) allocated throughout Putnam County. No three-way licenses remain available, however, and just a few beer and wine licenses and wine-only licenses remain for Greencastle.

Mayor Sue Murray listed those remaining regular liquor licenses during the Alcoholic Beverage License Committee meeting Thursday at City Hall. They include seven wine-only retail licenses (think wine bar or wine-tasting room), two beer and wine carry-out-only licenses for grocery stores and three carry-out-only pharmacy licenses.

With no similar operation within a 25-mile radius of Greencastle, Weeks expects to also fill growlers of beer to sell and ultimately provide wholesale sales of kegs to other establishments.

Wasser (which means water in German) Beer Co. owner Weeks explained that he plans to pair his unique beers with innovative food pairings created via locally sourced fruits, vegetables and proteins.

Hours will be 4-10 p.m. Tuesday and Wednesday, 11 a.m.-midnight Thursday, Friday and Saturday and 11 a.m.-9 p.m. Sunday, Weeks said.

"I'm not interested in chasing the night life," he said. "We're not chasing that late-night crowd. We're not selling shots."

Weeks stressed that "it's about what, not how much" is being consumed.

"The hours reflect that," he said. "We're not a bar."

His target audience, Weeks said, will be middle-aged families with plenty of family dining space provided.

The brewery entrepreneur was also asked about his timetable for his business opening, which he has continually maintained as occurring "in the fall."

"That's what we've been telling everyone publicly," he smiled, reminding the group that Dec. 20 is the last day of fall. "Once we're able to give a more specific date, we will."

Wasser filed an application for a brewer's license in July and expects to receive his federal brewer's permit "soon."

City Attorney Laurie Hardwick reminded Weeks that the historic first license, which is contingent on the serving of food from outset, carries a $6,000 fee administered through the state, which is $5,000 more than the standard liquor license.

Support for the project was unanimous by all present at the inaugural meeting of the committee.

"You're going to be serving a significant gap as I see it," committee member Barcus said before noting that there were no factors Weeks had not met for the application.

Barcus then made the motion for approval, which was made unanimous by Lemon, Lowry and Aguirre.