Ed Buffington is a man in love with beer. The subtleties, nuance, the traditions and the global culture of beer flow through his veins like, well, beer through a tap. His store, the Community Tap, is the new country club for Greenville's craft beer set. Along with his partner, Mike Okupinski, they've been instrumental in opening the craft beer flood gates and sharing their knowledge and respect of the industry. And on a cold, wet November afternoon, I sat down with the two of them and their guest, Stone Brewing rep Jason Selby, and tasted some of the best offerings from a host of young craft breweries in the Carolinas.
Our country's craft beer culture has a handful of regional areas that are exploding with innovation and variety and this is something we all agreed on; there's California, the Pacific Northwest, Michigan, then the Carolinas. So yeah, I live in the Southeastern epicenter of beer.
Our beer scene has been heavily influenced by Tom Davis' Thomas Creek Brewing. He's been doing it since 1998 and when breweries such as Quest and Brewery 85 came along five years ago, they had someone to lean on and learn from. In the last couple of years, our Carolina beer culture has really mushroomed, and that's what we were here to taste, this latest crop of new breweries.
Birds Fly South is the new kid in Greenville's brewing block and we tasted their Rhubarb Gose. (Pronounced Goz Ah). It's an obscure German style sour beer that was originally brewed with coriander and sea salt. The Gose from Birds Fly South was tightly wound with a snap of acidity and flavors of green tea and champagne ver jus. Its finish was as dry as a white Bordeaux from Graves.
Next up was Covert Ops, a satiny, chocolaty, Bavarian style Dunkel Weisse from Charleston's Revelry Brewing. This wheat beer, with its glorious notes of roasted malt, toasted pecan, and hints of banana, was an unequivocal favorite. Brewed with only a slight yield to a traditional Dunkel, this one was a perfect foil for a winter evening and a crackling fire.
Trifecta IPA just happens to be a collaboration between my hosts and Greenville's first craft brewery, Thomas Creek. This is a classic India Pale Ale with a friendly level of bitterness balanced with crisp malted notes. Ed wiped his lips then proudly told me that this beer is sold in seven states and in Sweden."Who knew we would be big in Sweden?"
Mike (on the left) and Ed
Charlotte's Unknown Brewing produced a knockout with their Tele-Porter. It's naturally a porter, brewed with roasted cocoa nibs from Asheville's French Broad Chocolates and North Carolina coffee beans. It was as bracing and beguiling as a fresh French press of dark coffee on a chilly morning. This one was big and bold, much more vivid than the eloquent Dunkel from Revelry.
Our fifth beer of the evening was Asheville's Wicked Weed Brewing's Tropic Most, a Passion fruit laced Gose. I thought this was our most interesting beer of the evening, it was bracing yet refreshing with its yeasty notes, low salt and Passionfruit. Wicked Weed is one of my favorite brewers in the Carolinas. In only their fourth year of brewing, they won a gold medal for their IPA at the Great American Beer Festival.
Jason noted how Herculean that accomplishment was. "IPA gold at the Beer Fest? That's a very crowded field and in less than four years, for these guys to go out and win gold, that's huge."
One of my all-time favorite craft brewers is Pisgah Brewing, located way up in Black Mountain, NC. If you've ridden mountain bikes, hiked, paddled or climbed anywhere near the Asheville area, you've probably quaffed a few Pisgah Pale Ales. For years the folks at Pisgah Brewing sold their beer out of their well-hidden brewery at the end of a gravel road, and it was sought after by the outdoor set.
Their Pale Ale is an English-style, with sumptuous flavors of summertime (caramel, white pepper, slightly floral) and its lacy head of tight bubbles, Jason pronounced it a perfect "lawnmower beer." This is the epitome of a summer beer and I can't imagine a better English style Ale. Call me a traditionalist, because I've got a soft spot for Pisgah and this was my favorite beer of the evening.
And now onto something non-traditional. Burial Beer's Bolo Coconut Brown was brewed with toasted oats, brown sugar, and coconut and flirted with the notions of suntan oil. Burial has only been around for three years and they've come on with a bang. They've produced such glorious brews as a local Honey Saison and a Sweet Potato Porter and this Coconut Brown was certainly the most talked about of our evening. Ed pointed out that coconut has been used by Hawaiian brewers and is now gaining interest amongst regional craft brewers. We all agreed that we should've tried the Bolo with traditional sushi of Yellowfin tuna, fresh ginger, seaweed, and sesame seed.
Jason Selby on the far right
To close out our evening, Jason opened a bottle of Stone Brewing's Thunderstruck. It's an homage to the band AC/DC. Brewed with four types of organic Australian hops and malt and double fermented, Thunderstruck was pushing 9% alcohol.
Thunderstruck must refer to how one feels the next morning after one too many of these. Stone Brewing is in its 19th year and it's always good to compare the new and modern with the older kids on the block. Stone has grown dramatically in the last few years and although they've been around for almost twenty years, they're still producing relevant craft beer that the new guys can look up to. And while they're not based in the Carolinas, they really should be.
After sampling these great Carolina-based beers (and one from Escondido, CA) we all agreed that there's much more to come. New craft brewers are about to open, more are being talked about and we believe there's solid potential for growth. Our booming craft beer business is built around innovation, and tradition and as that culture grows, it becomes a magnet for other industries and business. Business owners will look at what a town has to offer in the form of diversions and culture, and a healthier culture makes it easier to attract a younger, diverse work force. A craft beer scene is important to the health and growth of the town. So you see, beer is good for you and your town. So drink up, people. Cheers.