The Great American Ale Trail (Revised Edition)

by Christian DeBenedetti

  FOOTHILLS BREWING CO.

  638 W. 4th St. • Winston-Salem, NC 27101 • (336) 777-3348 • foothillsbrewing.com

  In 2015 Foothills announced it would be adding a tasting room at its new production brewery. This is a good thing. Up to 70,000 barrels annually since opening in 2005, they’ve essentially doubled every year. Why the rampant growth? For one, they entered a very underserved market at just the right time, with some very good beers. And they introduced a stout called Sexual Chocolate, which proved irresistible to massive numbers of curious beer drinkers, who snap it up during release days and disappear with every last bottle. If you’re on the way from Raleigh to Asheville, make a pit stop for sure.

  SOUTH CAROLINA

  Greenville

  THE COMMUNITY TAP

  217 Wade Hampton Blvd. • Greenville, SC 29609 • (864) 631-2525 • thecommunitytap.com • Established: 2010

  SCENE & STORY

  A top-tier bottle and growler station for beer (and wine, on tap!) that has helped usher in a new era of craft brew appreciation for the city of Greenville, the Community Tap opened in 2010 with ten taps, some 150 breweries in the arsenal, weekly tastings, and occasional food trucks on site. It’s helping expose locals to an incredible selection of American and imported beers, all carefully kept and displayed. Unlike a lot of bottle shops, it’s clean and well organized, not chaotic and dusty.

  PHILOSOPHY

  Beer shopping should not be like going to a garage sale, with dusty stacks of boxes. Beer shopping should be exactly like this.

  KEY BEER

  What’s freshest? Look for beers from upstart local craft breweries like the Unknown Brewing Co. out of Charlotte, and Coast, from Charleston, South Carolina.

  Charleston

  HOLY CITY BREWING

  4155 Dorchester Rd. • Charleston, SC 29405 • (843) 225-6089 • holycitybrewing.com • Established: 2011

  SCENE & STORY

  Joel Carl and Sean Nemitz were working as pedicab drivers in Charleston and, when business was slow (read: all winter), home brewing fifteen-gallon all-grain batches in the garage on a system “made with welded bicycle parts, elbow grease, and love.” They met local businessman Mac Minaudo as his biodiesel project was stalling out—and just as Charleston’s craft beer culture was coming alive. Plans took shape, and with Chris Brown, a brewer coming in as a fourth partner, the quartet launched Holy City in the summer of 2011 and has been slammed ever since.

  PHILOSOPHY

  Laid-back. What else could you expect from a couple of fun-loving guys who started as pedicabbies? The taproom is a spacious, old warehouse tucked behind repair shops and a bike store, with roll-up doors, picnic tables, and lots of space at the bar and a pool table, and groups of locals kicking it and relaxing. The brewing equipment is right inside, and the whole place has a dive bar feel to it . . . but in a good way, of course. There’s a core lineup of about a half-dozen Holy City beers, plus another dozen tap handles with experiments like the aforementioned porters.

  KEY BEER

  Holy City started out with a hoppy German pilsner and a porter. Seasonals range from IPA, to stout, to Belgian Strong Pale Ale, and even experimental bacon- and honey-sriracha porters. Yeast Wrangler, a 10% ABV Double IPA, is becoming one of their best-known beers.

  WESTBROOK BREWING COMPANY

  510 Ridge Rd. • Mt Pleasant, SC 29464 (843) 654-9114 • westbrookbrewing.com • Established: 2011

  SCENE & STORY

  Edward Westbrook received his undergrad in Computer Science and then attended Clemson for his MBA; his wife and partner, the ebullient Morgan went to school for Elementary Education and Communication. “We were dating long distance, and when we would get together over the weekends, he would always tease me about beer,” Morgan recalls. “I had no money but would splurge on beers with flavor. I have always taken my liquid bread very seriously.” Edward, she says, was into cocktails and cooking, so she challenged him to brew. The dare became a hobby, and then, an obsession—and a business opportunity. They built a large, squeaky-clean, modern production brewery ten miles from the center of Charleston, and hooked up with Jeppe Jarnit-Bjergsø, the gypsy brewery of Evil Twin, whose brand has grown by leaps and bounds in recent years. In addition to brewing many Evil Twin beers on contract, Westbrook is expanding their own lineup and operation, especially a huge barrel room.

  PHILOSOPHY

  Free the beer and your mind will follow? “At the time [we opened], Charleston had two breweries and one brewpub. We wanted to open a brewery, to drink good beer, make America proud, make our parents proud, make my Oma proud. In a way, we wanted to be set free and drink great beer while doing it. We couldn’t find what we wanted to drink on shelves and there’s only one way to fix that: make it yourself.” She avers that they aren’t pandering. “We’ll never do a crowd-pleaser on purpose, if that makes sense. A lot of our beers come from experiences. We just want to consistently make good, interesting beers.”

  KEY BEER

  Mexican Cake, first brewed for the Westbrooks’ wedding, is a super sought-after imperial stout aged on cocoa nibs, vanilla beans, cinnamon sticks and fresh habañero peppers (around 10.5% ABV). New releases aren’t even preadvertised, because of the commotion it causes among beer geeks and collectors. Follow #mexicancake on social media when you’re in the area and looking for the beer, which always disappears into happy hands, just like the dessert it’s named for.

  EDMUND’S OAST

  1081 Morrison Dr. • Charleston, SC 29403 (843) 727-1145 • edmundsoast.com • Established: 2014

  SCENE & STORY

  With an open kitchen and chef’s counter and house-cured meats hanging over head in a pale wood and glass window, Edmund’s Oast has a total of 130 seats inside, and none too many. This is without of a doubt one of the most talked-about beer-focused restaurants in the entire United States. Inside, there is an expansive bar and communal tables, with warm, wooden ceilings and aged-looking walls that look like something out of a Tuscan villa. Out front there’s an ample front patio, (covered) seating, and outdoor seating amid trees and communal tables. In other words, it’s all pretty dreamy.

  In what was becoming a recurring theme as I wrote this book, during the closing days of reporting, the team announced plans for Edmund’s Oast Brewing Co., slated for around 2017. Co-owner Scott Schor talked of a “perfect storm” of factors that propelled what was conceived as a nice, dark, little Belgian-style craft beer bar into a beer bar with a bit of food and then into a remarkable culinary destination with ambitious food, cocktail, and wine programs, and a little brewpub, soon to be a full-on, freestanding production brewery to be opened in 2017. With their local fans and track record, it should be a great move.

  PHILOSOPHY

  Artful & honest low country cuisine and great craft beer, executed with real taste and care.

  KEY BEER

  One interesting beer that head brewer Cameron Read has created is Lord Proprietor’s, an English-style mild ale brewed with black tea from the Charleston Tea Plantation (4.3% ABV). But they’re probably best known for some house blends, like Peanut Butter & Jelly, a 5.5% ABV blended brown ale with none of those actual ingredients, but, remarkably, all the flavors. It won’t be coming back with the new production brewery, but the creativity surely will.

  TENNESSEE

  Nashville

  YAZOO BREWING CO.

  910 Division St. • Nashville, TN 37203 (615) 891-4649 • yazoobrew.com • Established: 2003

  SCENE & STORY

  With founders named Linus and Lila and a beer named Sue, Johnny Cash fans and craft beer lovers alike will want to seek out this craft brewery a short drive from the center of Music City. Brewery tours in the warehouse-like space run on Saturdays only, starting at 2:30 p.m. and continuing every hour until 6:30 (six dollars; includes complimentary Yazoo pint glass and beer samples). There’s also a cozy taproom open for growler fills only, Wednesdays from 4 to 8 p.m. and Thursday through Saturday from 2 to 8 p.m.

/>   PHILOSOPHY

  Linus apprenticed with Garrett Oliver in Brooklyn, knows good beer, and loves to experiment with single-hop varieties and more recently, barrel aging. Also, they’re regulars at the annual Bonnaroo music and arts festival in Manchester, Tennessee, which has an amazing beer garden situation going on, complete with blessed shade and tons of regional craft beers.

  KEY BEER

  Mexican lagers like Bohemia (the best available) are often descendants of the Vienna-style lager, tending toward a reddish hue, light to medium body, and crackling dry finish. Yazoo’s Dos Perros, a superlight American Brown Ale (at just 3.5% ABV) is a great example of the style. And the aforementioned Sue? He’s a smoked Imperial Porter on the other end of the intensity spectrum at 9% ABV, a bomber of roasted malt flavor with flavors of nutty caramel and charred bacon fat. In other words, it’s a beer that hollers, “My name is Sue! How do you do?”

  KENTUCKY

  Louisville

  SERGIO’S WORLD BEERS

  1605 Story Ave. • Louisville, KY 40206 (502) 618-BEER • sergiosworldbeers.com • Established: 2006

  SCENE & STORY

  Sergio Ribemboim is a globe-trotting Brazilian with an obsessive love for beer, and his man cave–like shop and taproom in Louisville is a cluttered shrine to brew in every imaginable form and from every corner of the planet. With forty-three taps and over 1,300 bottles on offer, the correct phrase to describe this cash-only beer geek destination is “mind-numbing”—there are more than 500 from the United States and 600 from Europe, for starters. Along with the L-shaped bar lined floor to ceiling with coolers, cases, empties, and other ephemera, there’s a seating area and kitchen serving an eclectic menu (fajitas, cheesesteak, spaghetti). The food is often very good, but you’re really here to wander among the country’s oddest, biggest, and best selections of craft beer from around the globe.

  PHILOSOPHY

  Ribemboim’s aim isn’t to convert skeptics or please the general consumer, but to delight and awe the aficionado, and he’s eager to help when approached.

  KEY BEER

  There’s no itch that cannot be scratched at Sergio’s, so take a half hour to peruse the insanity and, if still stumped, ask Sergio for some recommendations. Also ask about the beer dinners he’s been doing lately.

  THE BEER TRAPPE

  811 Euclid Ave. • Lexington, KY 40502 (859) 309-0911 • thebeertrappe.com

  Only recently opened (2010), Lexington’s top craft beer destination has 8 quickly rotating taps, over 400 bottle selections, leather couches, and walls decked out with brewery signage. The bar also graciously provides tastings, flights, growler fills, and classes, making it a hub for Lexington’s growing craft beer community. In late 2015, the owner purchased the next door space with plans to do a restaurant or brewpub.

  MISSISSIPPI

  UNTIL VERY RECENTLY, THE MAGNOLIA STATE HAS HAD THE LOWEST LEGAL BEER ALCOHOL tolerance in the country at 5 % ABV. Fully half of the counties are still dry. Until the political community sees craft beer for what it is—an enlightened movement toward moderate drinking habits that can bring a state billions in tax dollars when breweries are promoted—craft beer will languish. But for locals, there are a couple of places to gather, sip craft brews, and plot the campaign to get Mississippi at least in line with neighboring states. Recently, beer fanatics worked hard to pass a law increasing the upper limit of beer to 10% ABV, and in 2013, helped legalize home brewing, too. Mississippi, Craft Beer Nation is 100 percent behind you.

  Kiln

  LAZY MAGNOLIA BREWING CO.

  7030 Roscoe-Turner Rd. • Kiln, MS 39556 (228) 467-2727 • lazymagnolia.com • Established: 2005

  SCENE & STORY

  It’s a classic love story, but with a twist (or two). Boy meets girl. Girl buys boy home-brewing kit. Boy brews decent beer; girl falls in love with brewing, takes over, goes to brewing school; couple starts brewing company (and boy designs the label). That’s the short version for Leslie and Mark Henderson, who met in college and started Mississippi’s first brewery in 2003 and opened for business in 2005 in an industrial facility in tiny Kiln (population: 2,000), a crossroads of a town not too far from the Gulf of Mexico and formerly famous only for the presence of Brett Favre’s high school. It’s not terribly far from New Orleans (about one hour, without traffic). There are free, no-reservation-required tours every Saturday morning, but state law forbids sampling on-site (post-tour, pick up a list of local bars serving the beer). In other words, it’s a pilgrimage. At present (2016), the brewery has at least thirty- five employees, distributes in seventeen states and is on track to chart $5 million in sales a year. Turns out that kit was a very, very good idea.

  PHILOSOPHY

  Named for the flowers that grow along the banks of the nearby Jordan River (and one malnourished, hence “lazy” specimen on the couple’s back porch), Lazy Magnolia uses everything from sweet potatoes to roasted pecans and honey from an uncle’s bee-keeping operation in the brewing process.

  KEY BEER

  Beer nuts are usually on the side, but not in the case of Southern Pecan, a caramel-tinted brown ale flavored with whole roasted pecans. It has a sweet, nutty body and easy-drinking alcohol content of just 4.25% ABV.

  Hattiesburg

  THE KEG & BARREL BREW PUB

  1315 Hardy St. • Hattiesburg, MS 39401 (601) 582-7148 • kegandbarrel.com • Established: 2005

  SCENE & STORY

  The beating heart of Mississippi’s craft beer scene, the Keg & Barrel is a bar in a refurbished 100-year-old house with a wraparound porch, tables in the yard, and a good list for a state that is only recently reforming its beer laws. On draft, sought-after kegs run dry with alacrity. It’s just not easy to get beer all the way to Hattiesburg. That is, unless it’s made on-site. With about sixty taps and thirty bottles, the selection was the best around for nearly 100 miles, absolutely worth a trip for any beer lover in the area. And you won’t go hungry: Choose from southern comfort food staples such as fried chicken and waffles, fried green tomatoes, and chicken-fried steak. (Did someone say fried?)

  PHILOSOPHY

  Southern-fried and bona fide.

  KEY BEER

  From Flying Dog to Anchor and Sierra Nevada, there are some familiar and excellent drafts on the list, as well as the whole Lazy Magnolia line.

  SOUTHERN PROHIBITION BREWING CO.

  301 Mobile St. • Hattiesburg, MS 39401 (601) 584-7877 • soprobrewing.com • Established: 2013

  SCENE & STORY

  When the first edition of this book came out in 2011, the Keg & Barrel was home to an upstart nanobrewery, Southern Prohibition, a legal resident in a side room (unlike the early days, when one imagines all sorts of interesting excuses for the aromas wafting around Hattiesburg). Now Southern Prohibition (a.k.a. “SoPro”) is a full-fledged brand operating out of a 22,0000-square-foot former furniture warehouse, with 20bbl system, on Mobile Street next to a rusted out quonset hut). Currently they’re brewing up over 3,000 barrels a year (with a 5,000bbl capacity), releasing barrel-aged and canned beers, and, since 2015, running a busy tasting room of their own. Time your visit for free brewery tours on Thursdays.

  PHILOSOPHY

  Rise up! This is new-school brewing in the sweet, sunny South with an aim toward improving the community. They even host yoga classes and DIY screen-printing workshops. Times, they are-a-changin’, indeed. It’s a great thing.

  KEY BEER

  Start with the Devil’s Harvest American Pale Ale (5.8% ABV) and go crazy from there. There’s also a seasonal rotation, the Cicada series, named for “Mississippi’s favorite invasive species.”

  OKLAHOMA

  Tulsa

  PRAIRIE ARTISAN ALES

  1803 S. 49th W Ave. • Tulsa, OK 74107 (918) 949-4318 • prairieales.com • Established: 2012

  SCENE & STORY

  Oklahoma might not seem a likely place for artisanal, barrel-aged, Belgian-inflected beers, but brothers Chase and Colin Healey are quickly changing that.
Following the brothers’ Kickstarter campaign in 2013 to add some necessary equipment, Prairie started working with the Shelton Bros. importers, who work with a handful of American brands engaging especially committed audiences around the world. Chase Healey’s range of saisons, stouts, and hop-driven wild ales (with terrific artwork courtesy of his brother Colin) have earned crowds and acclaim for the Tulsa brewery.

  PHILOSOPHY

  Belgium comes to Bud country. Launching was no small task, but the Healeys and Co. made it happen. Now the collaborations, expanding foudre cellar, and ongoing art and video projects ensure Prairie will be reinventing the Tulsa beer scene for years to come. Best of all, they’ve got a sense of humor. No custom copper-lined coolship? No problem. Use the bed of a pickup truck. Colin’s labels are influenced, he says, by Keith Shore of Mikkeller and Karl Grandin from Omnipollo, two pioneers of artful, deconstructed beer labels. He’ll depict himself, his brother, and other brewer they collaborate with in hilarious, sometimes outrageous doodles that rise above mere gags to the level of pop art.

  KEY BEER

  Funky Gold Mosaic, a 6.55% ABV sour ale flavored with the tropical-noted Mosaic hop, became a much talked-about beer, for good reason—it’s delicious. And Bomb!, a 14% ABV imperial stout aged on coffee, cacao nibs, vanilla beans, and ancho chili peppers, has been the talk of many a festival, from the Denver Rare Beer fest during GABF to Vail Big Beers and the annual Shelton Bros. Festival. It’s aptly named—and outstandingly made.

  JAMES MCNELLIE’S PUBLIC HOUSE

  409 E. 1st St. • Tulsa, OK 74120 (918) 382-PINT • mcnellies.com • Established: 2004

  SCENE & STORY

  Also known for its Scotch selection, this huge, two-story beer bar in Tulsa’s booming Blue Dome District was inspired by the owner’s travels in Ireland and gleams with a huge brass-clad tap row, copper accents, and other old-world flourishes. Today it boasts three spin-off bars—one in Oklahoma City, one in the town of Norman, and one in South Tulsa—but this is the original and Oklahoma’s best beer spot. It has sixty-two beers on tap, two casks on Oklahoma’s only beer engines, another 290 bottled brews and great sweet-potato fries from the long and varied pub menu. Lately they’ve been organizing harvest festival beer bashes.