Robin Shepard
A flight of the inaugural beers at Cercis.
Columbus bills itself as “Wisconsin’s Redbud City.” However, there’s more blooming there this spring than just the trees. A new brewpub, Cercis Brewing Company — named for the genus of the ornamental Eastern redbud (Cercis canadensis) planted throughout Columbus — is set to open later this month at 140 North Dickason Blvd.
The brewery is the longtime goal of brothers Kurt and Keith Benzine, their brother-in-law Randy Sunde, and friend Tyler Walker. “We want to be a destination,” says Walker. “We plan to regularly offer six to nine of our own beers and a few guest taps.”
All four partners behind Cercis Brewing grew up in the area — specifically near Rio, about 15 miles northwest of Columbus — and graduated from high school there. The longtime friends have been making beer and sharing each other’s homebrews for nearly 20 years. They even started their own “family and friends” homebrew competition called Bucky Badger’s Brewfest more than a dozen years ago. It’s evolved into an annual event with blind taste testing and trophies.
Cercis is located in a nearly century-old building originally constructed for a local automobile and farm implement dealership in 1920. By the 1940s it had been converted into a bowling alley, which survived until 2008; then it became a showroom for the Frey Carriage Company. That business stayed until the Cercis partners purchased the building in 2017.
Robin Shepard
(left to right) The Cercis partners: Tyler Walker, Keith Benzine, Randy Sunde and Kurt Benzine.
The brewpub occupies about 5,600 square feet of space, open and airy, with high ceilings, wood floors and large windows that offer views of the historic Columbus City Hall. There are plans for sidewalk seating along Dickason Boulevard.
A patched part of the main dining room’s wood floor reveals where the bowling ball return lane was located when the building was Bobby G’s Bowling Alley. The main back bar was reclaimed from another former bowling alley in Oshkosh. Tables and side rails are made of wood from the alleys.
Matt Schreiber, director of planning and development for Columbus, cites the project as a significant reinvestment in the city: “Those who see potential in the downtown are excited to see something like this happen. It’s a chance to have a business that will attract people to the area,” says Schreiber. Both the city and Columbia County have assisted Cercis with approximately $160,000 in revolving loan funds. The total cost of opening the brewery is estimated at nearly $500,000.
Columbus has a history of brewing that dates back to before Prohibition. The Kurth Brewery operated there from 1859 to 1949 but now Kurth beer is made under contract at the Stevens Point Brewery (Kurth family members still operate a small taproom in the old main office building, a locals hangout with very limited hours). Other breweries that called Columbus home included the Alois Brauchle Brewery that later became City Brewery (1874-1906) and the Stephen Fleck Brewery (1874-1880).
Columbus has been without a brewery or brewpub since the Hydro Street Brewing Company closed in August 2015. Some of Hydro Street’s equipment was purchased by Cercis for its brewhouse.
Cercis has a 3.5-barrel brewing system with a series of seven-barrel fermenters. Randy Sunde will take the lead on brewing; however, Keith and Kurt Benzine, and even a few extended family members, are expected to take turns making beer, working from their own recipes.
Among the first beers to be offered are a cream ale, an amber, an ESB, an IPA and two collaboration beers made with Brewfinity of Oconomowoc — a porter and an American pale ale.
At a soft opening event on May 11, crowd favorites were the cream ale with its crisp character from Saaz and Cascade hops; the pale ale, with the tropical fruitiness of Citra and Mosaic hops; and the porter, rich in roasted chocolate maltiness.
Cercis will start with a limited food menu of pizza and appetizers. By mid-summer the brewery intends to offer a full pub menu.
Plans are to open Cercis Brewing in time for Memorial Day weekend. Regular hours will be 11 a.m.–9 p.m. Monday, Wednesday and Thursday and Friday-Saturday 11 a.m.–11 p.m.
