Black Radish Lager -- Weeping Radish (Manteo, NC / Baltimore, MD)

The Weeping Radish is a German restaurant in the town of Manteo on Roanoke Island, NC.  It's also a reference to a garnish / snack served in Bavaria, where a radish is sliced and salted, and the water wicking out of the radish looks like tears.

Of the various styles brewed by Weeping Radish, my favorite is the Black Radish -- a Munich-style dunkel lager.  More depth than a schwarzbier, but lighter than many brown ales, and well worth the effort to track it down (see below).

Characteristics: Dark reddish brown color, light-to-medium body, light carbonation, roasted malt dominance with caramel throughout and a slightly hoppy finish that gets chocolatey as the beer comes closer to room temperature.

Minor Gripes: Somewhat inconsistent from beer to beer -- though that may have more to do with the state of contract brewing than the recipe behind this beer.

Bottom Line: A tasty brew well-suited for crisp fall days. 

Sadly, distribution for Weeping Radish beers is currently non-existent.  The owners got tired of the contract brewing (in locations like Baltimore) and decided to expand their own brewery...with the side effect of losing access to easy bottling and the hallowed "three-tier" distribution system.  They're planning to do some mail-order and the standard in-house growlers, but that's just not the same as access in the local package store.

Rating: 6.5 / 10