Master Brewers Association of the AmericasDistrictsMidwestProfile - Bill Weisenburger

District Cincinnati Profile - Bill Weisenburger

We are pleased to introduce our 'District Cincinnati Profile Page' on our District web site. Every month, six weeks, or so, we will profile a different member from our District in an interesting and upbeat kind of way. Each profile will feature photographs and answers to a set of basic "getting-to-know-you" questions. Normally, we only get together for meetings or social events three or four times a year. Hopefully, our Profile Page is an opportunity to showcase some of the dedicated, hardworking, and fascinating folks in our group. We are willing to travel to any home, job site, or other destination to complete a profile interview and obtain profile pictures. So, everyone...please feel free to volunteer to be profiled, or suggest profile candidates!

Getting to Know...Bill Weisenburger

  1. In what community do you currently reside?

    I live in Hilliard, Ohio which is a just outside Columbus. It is an ever growing community that was started as a railway supply junction.

  2. With whom do you currently work and what is your current work title?

    I am a brewer for Anheuser-Busch InBev. My current position is "process improvement". I work with the Brew masters and the maintenance technicians to aid in the brewing process through the Siemens control systems.  I am also the current President of MBAA, District Cincinnati.

  3. How long have you worked in the Brewing Industry?

    The short and skinny is 17 yrs.

  4. How did you come to work in the Brewing Industry?

    I studied German at the University of Salzburg as an exchange student. I fell in love with the beer and its' culture. As a boy, I remember that my father was a supreme beer lover. He still is! When I returned from Austria for the second time, my brothers took me out for a night-on-the- town celebration. The American beer that I drank that night wasn't even close to resembling what I first truly enjoyed as an Austrian beer drinker. So I decided that I needed to learn how to make beer myself. So, I simply took a job for no pay at a brewpub in Toledo, Ohio.  I learned some brewing process.  After about a year I was able to get a paying position in Cleveland.

  5. Anything else you would like to share about your work history?

    I have had the opportunity to work all over the country at breweries until I finally settled down at Anheuser-Busch InBev. To state it plainly I moved to where the work was. I can say without a doubt that I learned the most at Abita Brewing Company. The Brew Master at the time helped me enormously with the process. Today one of my friends, who worked with me at Abita, Mark Wilson, is the Brew Master. He does a outstanding job and I recommend to anyone to try one of his beers.

  6. What is your proudest accomplishment as a Brewer?

    I do not really have one that I can think of. Brewing is so misunderstood. It is almost glamorized. I just try to do the best job I can.

  7. If you weren’t a Brewer, or working in the industry, what else would you do?

    Either a German teacher or a baker. I just love grains and fermentation. Bread is a close second to beer.

  8. What beers are in your fridge…right now?

    As you might expect of a brewer, they are truly all over the place. I try to support all the local breweries as much as I can. Right now, I have Ohio Brewing's  Kolsch, a Thirsty Dog variety pack that includes the 12 dogs of Christmas, Budweiser, Franzikaner, and Molsen Canadian. To understand me, I love malty beers but not too sweet. I am a classical "German Lager Man".

  9. What is your favorite Beer-Food Pairing?

    A simple but sinful combo: Beer and potato chips.

  10. Really!...Beer and Potato Chips?

    Yep...that's right...with spicy mustard.  Like I said, a simple, sinful combo.

  11. When not working, what other hobbies, interests, or activities do you enjoy?

    If I am not at work,  one will find me working in and enjoying my garden, playing my guitar, or cooking.

  12. If Hollywood made a movie about your work-life, who would you like to see play the lead role as…you and why?

    I am ignorant about Hollywood, but I remember Ray Feines from movies. He would play me as a young man and Gary Oldman as my older self.

  13. If someone wrote a biography about you, what would you choose for the book title?

    "Misunderstood"

  14. Anything else that you would like to share?

    I love draught beer. It reminds me of the "happy valve" and if one would like to go "green", draught is the way. Brewers are way ahead of the "green" movement. I always thought that would make a great bumper sticker: "Go Green, Drink draught beer"  And on St. Patty's Day we will make the beer green as well.

Prost!