Q&A
with Tanya Lawrence
Tanya Lawrence’s Instagram profile describes her as a “Craft advocate, MENSA member, aviphile, naturalist, traveler, shell collector and questionable muse,” but there’s more to her than what Instagram’s character limit for description will allow. She’s also a jet-setting raconteur (for the Bourbon Zeppelin online newsletter, among other publications) a goodwill ambassador, general bon vivant and mistress of the #brewsteel. Tanya is a great fan of craft beer in North Carolina, specifically Charlotte’s craft beer scene, and did us the great honor of sitting down for some questions about craft beer, Charlotte’s beer scene and the Higgs boson. To start — what was your point of entry? What was the beer that first turned you onto craft beer? Although most find it unbelievable, the first beer I ever tried was craft. I was 26 at the time, and as a consummate oenophile, had sipped nothing other than wine and spirits prior. On this occasion, however, I was visiting with a friend at a small, rustic brewpub in southern Maryland and had been tasked with ordering him an Allagash White. Mistakenly given two pints instead of one, the barkeep shook it off; insisting that I take the second pint of Belgian-style witbier for myself. The rest was history.
— and quite possibly still — the brewery was working with locally-based MANNA FoodBank, and offered complimentary facility tours to those donating nonperishable items to the bank. I thought this was wonderful and made sure to arrive with a tote filled with canned goods. In exchange, I was given a pint of the chocolaty smooth porter to accompany me on the tour. The entire experience was wonderful, filled with lovely people and soul-warming liquid. I couldn't have asked for a better introduction
to Western North Carolina's craft scene. As you hail from Florida, how would you compare Florida's craft beer scene with North Carolina's? Statistically — in terms of craft presence and production — North Carolina and Florida (clocking in at 195 and 200 craft breweries in operation in 2016, respectively) aren't very dissimilar at all. The numbers of craft breweries in both states have exploded over the past decade, bringing about a sort of
What got you started writing about craft beer? The long and short of it is "beer tourism" — traveling to different cities, touring breweries, visiting taprooms, assessing the region's craft offerings and the like. When I first started photo-documenting my beer travels on social media, my "writings" were limited to captions and commentary; the latter consisting of any number of remarkable annotations I'd scrawl in my notebook during my brewery and taproom visits. However, as interest in these travels grew, and more and more questions were issued to me, I was prompted to begin providing additional information alongside the photography. Then, a little over a year ago now, Men's Health Magazine recognized me as one of the top women in beer to follow on social media — and wanting to in part earn that title, I've since focused more on photography-complemented writing versus writing-complemented photography. This simple shift in perspective and presentation has made my experiences in beer since, all the more gratifying. What was your first North Carolina beer? Highland Brewing Oatmeal Porter, without question. Highland was the first brewery I ever visited during my inaugural trip to Asheville, many, many years ago. At the time
48 | Carolina Brew Scene | Summer 2018
Tanya Lawrence - Photo by Matt Furman
