Virginia’s Benchtop Breaing Creates Beer With Ocean Water

Just needs carbonation, he said, and Mermaid’s Scorn, a light German-style ale made with ocean water and Hampton Roads oysters, is good to go.

When Norfolk’s newest brewery launches Saturday, it will serve up the briny taste of home. Tennant, Benchtop Brewing Co.’s owner and brewer, said he wanted to make a statement right out the gate. A sour beer with local ingredients was born.

Virginia malt is somewhere in there, too, but let’s get back to the main event: ocean water and oysters. You’ve heard of “farm-to-table” dining; this is beach-to-bar drinking.