POUR Magazine

A TASTE OF CRAFT BEER AND WINE | ISSUE 1 SPRING 2017

CRAFT BEER FESTIVA L GUIDE P G. 72

THE FEMINIST BEER MOVEMENT PG. 32

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features 07 Letter from the editor 18 Trend to try: DIY beer bar 14 Pairings: Holiday edition 08 Tasting team 68 Q&A: Beer writer

Beer 23 Vegan beer 54 History of craft brewing 48 Sour beers 52 Expanding craft breweries 32 Feminist beer movement

travel 13 International flavor: Australia edition 42 Biltmore Vineyards 72 Craft beer festival guide 66 Meet the makers: Highland Brewing Co.

Wine & Dine 70 Trending: Paint ‘n’ sip 75 Cooking with beer and wine 10 Drinking etiquette 60 Craft liquor

Lifestyle 62 Bottle shops 20 Drinking for dummies 64 Family friendly parties 12

Drinking for millenials

28 Home brewing 36 Fermentation studies

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STAFF EDITOR IN CHIEF Brianna Crane ART DIRECTORS Elina Rodriguez Rebecca Shoenthal DIGITAL DIRECTOR Emily Gregoire ASSISTANT ART DIRECTORS Paige Ehlers Isabella Lupoli EDITORIAL STAFF Janna Childers Jack Clough DeLaney McGuire Maddie Reich Logan Ulrich Sarah Vassello DESIGN STAFF Brittany Belisle Baylee Chesnutt Allegra Cook Claire Ebbitt Rachel Garzarelli Michael McGowan Collette Weinberger ADVISORS Linda Brinson Dana McMann Terence Oliver

6 POUR.

MEET

POUR. Each spring I find myself in a similar situation: eating pizza outside at a local bar, washing it all down with a cold craft brew.

The sun is shining, that light Carolina breeze is blowing, and I’m all smiles with a Red Oak Amber Lager in hand. In my opinion, pizza and beer are the perfect pair, but looking back, it’s not about the delightful smoothness of a Red Oak beer or the satisfaction that melted cheese brings me. It’s about the bar that doesn’t look like much on the outside and all of the people who brought those little moments to life.

This quarterly publication will cover craft beer and delicious wines from the United States and beyond, featuring stories from a particular region in each issue. First, we want to show you just where we come from—the Southeast. This is where we’ve made lasting friendships, clinked glasses and created memories that will last a lifetime.

From the historic Biltmore Vineyards, nestled in the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina, to a full-service wedding planning agency in Tennessee, the first issue of Pour explores trends in the craft beer and wine industry, shares the history behind the labels and gives expert advice for those passionate about drinking.

So go ahead, pour yourself a glass of wine and indulge in Pour’s first issue.

Brianna Crane

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The Tasting Team Story by Logan Ulrich | Design by Emily Gregoire

Here at Pour, we want to help you find the best craft beer and wine near you. We’ll drink the bad stuff so you don’t have to and let you in on some of best-kept secrets that could be just a short jaunt down the road.

For our first edition, we take on the Triangle in North Carolina. With three major colleges and loads of growing companies, the area between Raleigh, Durham and Chapel Hill is overflowing with great craft beer and wine. Three of our staff members tried out two of the area’s most highly recommended drinking establishments and found some favorites to recommend to you. But before you take that first drink, raise your glass to these intrepid souls. They had to taste some bad before they found the good.

Beer — Fullsteam Brewery, Durham, North Carolina 1. “Return to Lemurria” - Imperial Stout with cocoa nibs and vanilla beans.

Return to Lemuria pours a deep, dark brown with light ruby hues and a lacy, light tan head. A huge bouquet of sweet warm vanilla dominates the nose but still allows more subtle notes of black coffee and rich earthy chocolate to peek through. Smooth and creamy vanilla tones immediately greet you on the palate, yielding to roasted grains and raw cocoa.

ABV (percentage of alcohol): 11% IBU (relative bitterness): 50 It wasn’t as bad as I expected. It’s kind of creamy, and very bitter. It kind of tastes coffeeish. – Delaney McGuire To start, I don’t like beer, and that was just bad. I do kind of taste the coffee. The texture is thicker than usual, and it leaves like kind of a bitter aftertaste.

– Maddie Reich I can definitely get the creamy, I can definitely get the bitter. It’s not the worst thing I’ve ever tasted. – Logan Ulrich

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2. “Rocket Science” – American IPA.

A true-to-style American IPA inspired by the quest for harmony. We longed for an IPA that exuded confidence in its restraint, that paired well with any meal, and that wouldn’t destroy your palate. We found equilibrium in the optimal balance of sweet malts and bitter hops, an IPA both refreshing and refined.

ABV: 6.8% IBU: 67 I like this one much better. It didn’t cause an immediate grimace, so that’s good. (DM: It was almost like a sigh of relief kind of face). It’s very bitter, but I like that it’s not as thick, and it went down more smoothly.

The bitterness hits you in the face right away, especially because it’s crisper. It’s also really interesting how you can tell there’s a noticeable lightness in how it feels around your tongue compared to the other one.

I like it! It’s light, and it is a little bitter, like the aftertaste. I feel like it’s kind of fruity. Maybe I’m wrong, but that’s what I’m getting.

3. “Fullsteam” – Lager.

The first beer we brewed and our namesake for the adventure it launched. A true Common, but not what you’d expect from a lager. We set out to do something different.

ABV: 5.5% IBU: 30 So this one tastes almost flat in comparison to the other two. It’s very mild, very fizzy.

This one’s the best so far. It’s the least bitter so far, and yeah, more mild. Like the flavors are strong, but the fizziness and bitterness are lower. That’s my expert opinion.

I definitely like this one the best. It seems like the least textured, and the least bitter. But I think it’s also less crisp than the last one.

4. “Farm’s Edge: Little Mountain” – NC gose with triticale, OBX sea salt and spruce tips.

Little Mountain pours a hazy hay color with a lacy white head. This Gose-style beer greets your nose with brine, lemon, and fruity spruce, giving way to bready malt, citrus, salt and a crescendo of fruit and

pine. Refreshingly tart, bright, balanced and dry, Little Mountain is truly a Southern-style Gose.

ABV: 5.8% IBU: 10 This is the one I picked because the name was cute. It tastes like old Sprite. Or like old, bubbly lemonade. It tastes weird.

It’s very lemony, bubbly and sour.

I actually think I like it the most. It’s not as bitter, I like the sweetness of it a lot, and I like the texture. It’s also kind of like putting a lemon in your mouth with the sourness of it.

Oh yeah, I definitely see exactly what you guys are talking about. So I used to live in South Africa for two years. We had this lemon tree in our yard. My brother and I would just pull down a lemon if we got hungry while playing and snack on one. So this is almost like snacking on lemons in South Africa.

5. “El Toro” – Cream Ale.

Our golden ale brewed with 100% North Carolina barley and corn. Welcoming and unpretentious.

Perfect for when you “just want a beer”.

ABV: 4% IBU: 15 This one is more frothy, like a thicker beer. It’s kind of bitter, but not as bitter as

the other ones. Overall it’s fine; it’s mild I would say.

I definitely get the frothiness. In comparison to the last four, there’s really nothing memorable that sticks out about this one. It’s got a little bit of the creaminess of the Lemurria, it’s got some of the carbonation of the Fullsteam. I think it’s closest to the Fullsteam in taste. It’s not bad. There’s a little bit of a calming bubble effect at the end. It’s not terrible, but it’s not super memorable.

Oh this isn’t bad, it’s kind of bland though. Like not much flavor. It’s medium bubbly, in my expert opinion.

Beer Favorites

I like the Little Mountain the best.

I would definitely order that, if I were ordering beer from this place.

I think for me, if I were ordering for me and actually spending money because I’m a cheapskate, I’d go with the Little Mountain too.

I like (the Fullsteam) the best. I’m going to finish this if you don’t mind.

Maddie Reich

Logan Ulrich

Delaney McGuire

Locations of Fullsteam Brewery and Triangle Wine Company Fullsteam Brewery 85

Durham 98

BUS

15

Wine — Triangle Wine Company, Morrisville, North Carolina “Boya Sauvignon Blanc-Chile” - White

Attractive nose of pear. Subtle flavors of passion fruit and mango. Good acidity and a clean, crisp finish.

I am not a fan of this. It kind of tastes expired. I honestly don’t know how to describe it. Tart, maybe. I really don’t like it.

It smells like cheese or something.

Oh no, I do not like this. Ewh. There is a very distinct taste to it, but I don’t know what it is. I don’t want to taste this again to describe it. Just no.

I think it smells more like beer than it does wine. Wow, there’s a lot going on. It’s very sour and very tart. Now it’s burning on the way down. I’m trying to find the mango; I can’t find the mango.

“Shaw Familyvintners Stonemason Shiraz” - Red

Dark cherry, anise and cedar aromas, with a soft full palate of plum and mulberry laced with traces of vanillin and white pepper complexity.

It’s awful, it’s really awful. It tastes like an old rug. That’s my expert description: bitter and dirty tasting.

This one also smells bad. I don’t think it’s that bad. Compared to the last one,

this one doesn’t have as much of a taste.

It’s a lot more mild.

I’m trying to place where I’ve smelled this before. It smells almost like vinegary barbecue sauce. Like good old eastern North Carolina vinegar-based barbecue sauce that no one else in the country likes.

It’s not good. It got on the back of my teeth and immediately coated them. It was this really weird sensation, almost like when you get corn starch on your fingers, except in your mouth, on your tongue and on your teeth. It’s very bitter, I don’t know how you got mild out of that.

Least Horrible Wines

If I had to drink one of these, which I would not wish on my worst enemy, I would choose the white one. To me, the red flavor was actually stronger, and at least the white one was cold so it was a little bit refreshing.

I agree, I like the white one better.

I would choose the red one, if I had to choose one. I just had such a horrible reaction to the first one, it just tasted so bad to me. I can’t pick that one.

70 55

147

40

Research Triangle Park

55 147

54

55

Morrisville

Triangle Wine Company SPRING 2017 9

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REDS

WHITES

The best glasses for red wines have large, round bowls with wide openings that allow for aeration.

When wine meets air, the undesirable compounds begin to break down. Eventually the flavors you want will break down, too. But, let’s be honest, no one takes that long to finish their wine.

With taller, narrower bowls than glasses for reds, white wine glasses are designed to keep the drink cool and the aromas concentrated. But, if you’re not ready to splurge for five different styles of wine glasses, you can opt for an all-purpose glass. These have a bowl shape in between that of the ideal for red and white glasses, and are suitable for both.

If you’re hoping to impress all your wine-loving friends at your next soirée, grab your wallet and head to Williams-Sonoma for a new set of wine glasses. But first, you should know what glass to use to get the most out of each drink.

DESSERT WINES Fortified wines, such as port and sherry, are best served in small glasses that concentrate fruity flavors and prompt you to drink a little slower. Dessert wines typically have a very high alcohol content, so don’t knock it back like a cool summer pinot.

SPARKLING WINES & CHAMPAGNES Bubbly calls for tall, skinny glasses, like the champagne flutes you get on New Year’s, but made of actual glass, not glittery plastic. Let’s keep it classy, please. The narrow bowl helps retain carbonation because what’s worse than flat champagne?

ROSES These glasses often have a flared rim and a short bowl with a moderate width to enhance the fruity flavors of the wine. Feeling bold? Serve rosé in a stemless glass. However, the stems are there to keep your hand from warming your wine, so keep that in mind if you like your rosé cold.

SPRING 2017 11

DRINKING FOR TASTE, NOT TO GET TURNT Story by Sarah Vassello Design by Elina Rodriguez It’s nothing to wine about.

College culture may promote drinking to get drunk, but recent studies have shown that millennials are moving away from that mentality.

According to a 2015 study conducted by the Wine Market Council, millennials are spending more money on wine as they age — 17 percent of millennial wine drinkers bought a bottle costing more than $20 in the duration of the study, compared to just 10 percent of all drinkers and 5 percent of baby boomers.

Experts speculate that millennials are distancing themselves from the spending habits of their parents by spending less on alcohol, but also by splurging every now and then. On average, most millennials are going out less, making it possible to spend more on the alcohol they do buy.

But it’s not just the wine industry that’s seeing this change.

In 2014, Budweiser conducted a study that

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IT’S A MATTER OF ENJOYING ALCOHOL AS AN EXPERIENCE found that 44 percent of young drinkers (ages 21 to 27) have never tried their label, despite the low price. In the same year, craft brewers produced 22.2 million barrels and saw an 18 percent rise in volume and a 22 percent increase in retail dollar value.

Craft brews tend to be more expensive as they are harder to find and are produced in smaller batches.

For some, it’s a matter of enjoying alcohol as an experience.

Caleb Tolin turned 21 on Oct. 3, marking his venture into the world of alcohol. But his first drink wasn’t liquor — it was a pricey glass of Cabernet Sauvignon. After working in a high-end restaurant during high school, the East Carolina

University junior said he has learned to appreciate the difference between quality and quantity.

“I’d serve people who would get expensive wine and chug it, which never really sat right with me,” he said. “If you are paying more to enjoy the nuances in the wine, you should slow down and enjoy the flavors and the experience of the wine.”

The service industry has helped Larissa Garza, a senior at Arizona State University, develop her drinking style as well. A student by day, bartender by night, Garza said she has developed her taste as her palate grew.

“I love Jameson, and I’m absolutely going to pay more to get it at a bar,” she said. “Because I work with alcohol full time, I know what I’m paying for, and I know what’s a good value.”

Sam Sabin, a recent college graduate who works in Washington, D.C., said she prefers taste over price.

“Value is important to me when I do go to bars, but I would say that I don’t sacrifice what I want too much,” she said. “You still want to enjoy it, and you don’t want to waste your money.”

In the past month, she has spent more than $25 on a bottle of her favorite wine — merlot.

Sabin recently splurged on a $35 bottle of 2009 Seven Hills Merlot from Seven Hills Vineyard in Walla Walla, Washington.

“It’s important to celebrate the milestones, and I’ve had a few in the past month,” she said.

“If that means I spent more than usual on wine, so be it.”

International Flavor:

AUSTRALIA EDITION Story by Jack Clough | Design by Brittany Belisle

Microbreweries are popping up everywhere in Australia. The past decade has seen craft beer go from being nearly nonexistent to the beer of choice—it is now more readily available than the once celebrated and now outdated classic Aussie lager.

The craft beer industry in Australia is exponentially booming.

Bars and restaurants charge more than $13 AUD ($10 USD) per pint and anywhere between $50 AUD ($38 USD) and $120 AUD ($92 USD) for a case of 24 craft beers.

Generation Y has grabbed craft beer by the neck and held it to the sky like a bunch of Germans in a beer hall screaming “Prost!”

One popular craft beer is Stone and Wood Pacific Ale. You can now find this at just about any bar, pub or club in Australia. It is brewed in Byron Bay, New South Wales, using Australian barley, wheat and Galaxy hops. It has a cloudy golden color and a fruity aroma. Refreshing is the word to describe this beer—it pairs well with barbecue and spicy foods.

Another Aussie favorite is James Squire One Fifty Lashes. This ale has a refreshing character and a fruity nose with hints of passionfruit, grapefruit and citrus. It is similar to Coopers Pale Ale but a little less yeasty. It’s great for any occasion but pairs like a charm with a sweet spanner crab.

Craft beers have become the trend for white-collar workers.

Numerous pubs and bars don’t even serve the classic draft Aussie lagers anymore, such as Victoria Bitter, Tooheys New or XXXX Bitter.

By serving only craft beers, venues are able to attract a middleupper class crowd and charge double the price of the standard Australian lager drawn from the tap – more than $10 USD per pint.

As the craft industry continues to flourish, and the younger generations become enthralled with the growing trend, it may be nearly impossible to find a draft Aussie lager in the not so distant future.

Stone and Wood Pacific Ale Origin: Byron Bay, New South Wales Taste: Fruity and refreshing Suggested Pairing: Barbecue and spicy foods

Coopers Pale Ale

Little Creatures Pale Ale Origin: Fremantle, Western Australia Taste: Citrus and stone fruit flavor balanced with specialty malts and a decent hit of bitterness Suggested Pairing: Indian and Italian foods and all cuts of meat

Origin: Regency Park, South Australia Taste: Fruity and floral characters balanced with a crisp bitterness Suggested Pairing: Stir fries, salads, poultry, seafood and spicy foods James Squire 150 Lashes Origin: Camperdown, Sydney, New South Wales Taste: Refreshing character and a fruity nose with hints of passionfruit, grapefruit and citrus Suggested Pairing: Sweet spanner crab

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#adulting

FOOD+BOOZE

+HOLIDAYS

Story by Janna Childers | Design by Isabella Lupoli

SUPER BOWL SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 5 For spicy food, I usually drink a lighter beer, like a pilsner or a kölsch. My personal local favorites are Park Day, a pilsner from Mother Earth Brewing or White Street Kölsch. Lighter pale ales are good too, like the Haw River Oatmeal Pale Ale or Oskar Blues Dale’s Pale Ale. — Jarrod Gatewood, Geer Street Garden, Durham, North Carolina

Guacamole isn’t complete without the zesty flavors of fresh squeezed lemon and lime. Go ahead and kick it up a notch with the Makara Sauvignon Blanc from Marlborough, New Zealand. The bright grapefruit and citrus notes are a perfect pairing, and it has just the right amount of zip to cut through the rich avocado.

— C.R. For Mexican-style dishes, I tend to like IPAs or lagers. Yesteryears, out of Carrboro, North Carolina, makes a great IPA. I’m also a big fan of the Foothills Hoppyum IPA, out of Winston-Salem, North Carolina, or the Dogfish Head 90 Minute IPA. As far as lagers go, I like the Bell’s Lager of the Lakes out of Michigan the best.

— J.G.

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Chicken wings can be a tough match for wine. The vinegar and spice of hot wings can be just as tough to match as a sweet and smoky barbecue sauce. Go ahead and load up a mixed plate because Ludovicus Garnacha can handle them both. This organic red from the Terra Alta region of Spain has the power and richness to handle the spice, and the juicy berry flavors mix perfectly with sweet mesquite!

— Calvin Racine, Chapel Hill Wine Company, Chapel Hill, North Carolina

VALENTINE’S DAY TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 14 Good pasta primavera has balance and freshness, which highlights the spring ingredients. The Inama Soave has the richness to match the dish without overpowering the subtlety of the herbs and vegetables. This wine from north of Venice has been paired with pasta for generations. The slight almond and herbal notes of the wine will put a spotlight on the flavors of your main course.

— C.R. I’m a fan of ales and browns with pasta. I think the Highland Gaelic Ale or Lonerider Beer’s Sweet Josie Brown Ale would be big enough to stand up to the rich sauce without killing the flavors of the pasta.

— J.G.

There are plenty of people who don’t enjoy sweet wines until they discover the right pairing. Try the Dona Antonia Reserva Tawny, and it just might be the revelation that you need. It has just enough sweetness to go with dessert, and the nutty toffee and dried cherry notes will make chocolate taste its best.

— C.R. For chocolate desserts, I usually double down with a chocolate stout like the Deep River 4042 Chocolate Stout. I also like the Left Hand Brewing Milk Stout out of Colorado.

The Trophy Brewing Slingshot Coffee Porter would be a great choice too, for all the coffee lovers.

— J.G.

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ST. PATRICK’S DAY FRIDAY, MARCH 17 The age old theory of pairing meals with wine of the same origin seems to fall apart with this Irish classic. With a little creativity the theory can still apply.

The A Portela Mencia from Valdeorras, Spain, is just the wine you need.

Valdeorras is a part of Galicia, and it is the most Celtic wine region you are likely to find! This Mencia has cherry compote, violet and cracked pepper notes that will pair perfectly with corned beef and cabbage.

— C.R. I honestly think you can’t go wrong with almost any full bodied beer. I’d avoid a kölsch and most pilsners. They’re probably too light. I’d probably go with a brown or an Irish red. An English ESB or Irish stout would also be a great choice. Green Man Brewery makes a good ESB. — J.G.

Soda bread deserves some suds. Skip the Guinness and try the Naveran Brut Cava.

This sparkling wine is made with estate grown organic grapes. The secondary fermentation that produces the carbonation happens in the bottle just like champagne.

But, it won’t empty your pocket as fast as Dom Perignon.

— C.R. For soda bread, I’d go with a lager. The Red Oak Amber Lager would be a good choice because it’s a bit more robust than a light lager.

— J.G.

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BRINGING YOU THE TASTES OF A CITY

TREND TO TRY Make Your Own! STEP 1: Break out your tool box and locate the nuts, bolts, screws and washers, along with a saw and drill.

STEP 3: A Kegerator Kit can be purchased online and is used to connect the kegs to a beer tap so that the drinks can flow all night.

STEP 2: Use 2x4s to make a sturdy frame and reclaimed wood pallets to create a gorgeous facade.

Pro tip: Make sure the kit you choose will work with a home brew or craft beer keg.

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Trend to Try:

DIy Beer Bar

Create your own Instagram-worthy drink display and wow your wedding guests Story by Brianna Crane | Design by Baylee Chesnutt Search “wedding bar ideas” on Pinterest and images of DIY beer bars—plastered with a couple’s new monogram, of course— will fill your feed. Ashley Cash, owner and lead designer of The Graceful Host, says wedding venues are embracing the craft beer movement by allowing couples to bring in beer of their choice—and their custom bars.

Kerri Buster, owner and creative director of Blush Events, a full service planning agency, says that more couples have started serving craft beer at their reception. The Virginiabased planner says that couples want to enhance their guests’ experience, so instead of serving something mediocre, they invest in giving their guests beer they know they’ll like.

Cash, the Charlotte-based planner, says that couples want to show guests their city and their personalities through flavor, and one way to do that is through craft beer.

For example, she mentioned a couple who brought in kegs from Top of the Hill, a popular bar in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, where they both attended college. “It was their favorite place to hang out. It showed people a little piece of their story; the guests just loved it.”

If you want to heighten your bar’s wow-factor, consider using signage to show guests what’s on the drink menu.

Buster recommends hiring a calligrapher to list the types of beer on a large chalk board or having an acrylic sign made to show off your beer of choice.

Disguising the clunky kegs and providing quality beer will enhance your guests’ experience, says Cash. But if you are considering building your own bar, she recommends talking to your planner so that he or she can coordinate with your vendors. If you are not using a planner, call your caterer and your venue, she adds. The caterer will make sure the bar is staffed appropriately, and the venue will keep track of the items being moved in and out of the space (i.e.—they can keep an eye on your custom bar).

CREATE AND/OR PURCHASE A SMALL BATCH AT ONE OF THESE PLACES:

STEP 4: Consider decorating your bar with a large vinyl monogram or a chalkboard drink menu. Tie in aesthetic elements from the reception by adorning the surface with flower arrangements.

ASS CLOWN, NORTH CAROLINA 2 WITCHES WINERY & BREWING CO., VIRGINIA FREEHOUSE BREWERY, SOUTH CAROLINA TOTAL WINE, MOST STATES OR FLIP TO PAGE X TO LEARN HOW TO BREW AT HOME. SPRING 2017 19

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SPRING 2017 21

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You’re either with someone or drinking two beers.

Either way, a romantic sight.

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www.thetopofthehill.com

k n i r d I n a c t ? n a Wha g e v as a eich r line R einberge e d a M w y e tt yb stor by colle n Desig

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Did you know your beer or wine might be made with animal products like fish bladders and sea shells? Does it matter to you?

For vegan drinkers, animal products in their booze is a big deal. Vegans are people who choose to avoid using or consuming animal products as much as possible. That means their alcohol, as well. At least for vegans like Christina Chauvenet, who said she would never drink a non-vegan beer or wine, even if it was offered to her for free.

“When I got married, we had vegan wine at the wedding. My father-in-law was paying for the alcohol, and I said I had to have it vegan. It’s the only time in my life that I put my foot down with them,” she said.

There are two ways in which beer and wine would be considered non-vegan: the recipe could include an animal product or the filtration could be completed using an animal-derived product.

Some of the most common animal products used in beer and wine recipes include dairy products and honey.

Several different animalderived products are used to filter beer and wine. These products attach themselves to impurities in the unfiltered wine and beer so they can be filtered out more easily. However, there are many different animal-free alternatives that companies use as well. One example of an animal-derived product is isinglass – a gelatin that’s collected from the bladders of different species of fish. Other common products include egg white and sea shells.

If you’ve ever closely inspected your wine or beer bottle, you may have noticed that companies aren’t usually forthcoming with whether animal products are used in

their recipes or filtration process. So how’s a vegan, or even a non-vegan, supposed to know what’s safe to drink?

Jason Doucette, owner and creator of the website Barnivore, faced that conundrum in the late 1990s. Barnivore is an online guide to vegan beer, wine and liquor. “I was volunteering with the Toronto Vegetarian Association, and I was working in the resource center helping people with their questions about vegetarianism and veganism. Through that, I learned that a lot of alcohol isn’t vegan,” said Doucette.

After he talked to his wife about nonvegan alcohol for several months, she took the initiative to call his favorite beer and wine companies to ask them whether their products were vegan or not. They decided to publish their findings online, creating the website Barnivore. The site now has almost 28,000 entries.

Visitors on the website can search for their alcoholic beverage of choice and check if it is vegan-friendly. If they can’t find the beverage of their choice, they can ask Doucette to contact the company to check. Visitors are encouraged to contact companies themselves, and the website offers an email template to do so.

“It takes away a barrier for people who are considering veganism. Generally, animal products in alcohol is not something people think of.

“Instead of just giving up because of this incredibly small point, they can do a quick Google search and find out it’s not a barrier,” said Doucette.

And because of the growing trend of veganism worldwide, companies have more

got gluten?

Beer is frequently made with wheat, which can be a problem for people with celiac disease. Look for beers brewed from millet, rice, sorghum, buckwheat or corn.

Millet

Rice

Sorghum

You can also try ciders and beers made with ginger.

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Buckwheat

Corn

of an incentive to promote their products as vegan and to change the way they make their products.

“Companies have started reaching out to us to get added to the website,” said Doucette.

Doucette said many large and notable beer brands are already vegan-friendly, but Guinness is an exception. However, the company is set to change to a vegan filtration process by the end of the year.

“It would be surprising if you were somewhere where nothing (vegan) was available. If you go into a bar, I’m pretty confident you’re going to find something to satisfy your thirst,” said Doucette.

Chauvenet uses Barnivore frequently to check if her beer and wine is vegan.

“I really like it. I think Barnivore is really extensive. They do a pretty good job, and they include a lot of information.”

However, because there are so many wines, Chauvenet said she sometimes has trouble finding them on the website. “The big problem is labeling. Not many label their beers and wines as vegan. There are just a few brands that do it, like Trader Joe’s brand wine. It does get really complicated at bars. When I’m out, the bartender is never going to know if it’s vegan,” said Chauvenet.

Chauvenet said she goes with the safe bet of mixed drinks because liquor is rarely non-vegan. “In general, I’ll just stick to things that I know are vegan. So I won’t try new beers, which sucks.”

Not being able to know whether every beer or wine is vegan makes some vegans less particular about the alcohol they drink.

“Different vegans have different stances on that, and I don’t pass judgment on that.

It’s just my personality that if I’m going to do something, I do it 100 percent,” said Chauvenet.

Vegans like Maddie Segal, 29, and Cristina Sacco, 31, are less strict about what goes into making their alcoholic beverages. “I don’t actually seek them out. I will choose a vegan beer if I know it’s vegan, but I don’t seek out beer to find out if it’s vegan,” said Segal.

It’s mostly a matter of practicality. “When I’m at a bar, the bartender doesn’t know if it’s vegan or not,” she said.

Segal said she doesn’t usually use the Barnivore website. “It looks kind of clunky.”

However, she said “it is cool that you can type in the beer and immediately look it right up.”

Sacco said trying to find out if a beer or wine is vegan can be an inconvenience.

“In some social situations, if I’ve looked it up on Barnivore and I can’t find it, sometimes I drink it if it’s free or given to me. In my home, I only buy vegan beer and wine.”

She said she hasn’t used the website recently because she’s usually looking up beers and wines when she’s out, and she has apps she can use on her phone instead.

“It seems to be a very useful website, but maybe it’s not updated frequently. At least with wines, there are a lot that aren’t even mentioned.

But when they are, it’s super useful.”

Sacco said she knows many vegans use the website and other apps, but she’s not sure how many vegans actually know a lot about what makes beer and wine vegan or not.

Segal knew a lot about the process because she was working at Mystery Brewing in Hillsborough, North Carolina, when she decided to go vegan. “I immediately quit my job because I just wanted to help animals.”

Segal said she wasn’t being a good advocate for the animals at first. “I basically walked into my boss’s office and told him to stop eating his hamburger right now. I got really rant-y for about two months, and nobody wanted to hang out with me.”

Then she met the people who work at the Humane League, an organization whose mission is to reduce animal suffering by inspiring change. They recommended she read “The Animal Activist’s Handbook,” which Segal now recommends everyone read.

“That approach was so much better, which was talking to people and not yelling at people.”

Segal said worrying about beer and wine doesn’t do much to help animals, which, to her, is the goal of people who live a vegan lifestyle.

Working for the Humane League, her focus is on making veganism accessible to all.

“I’m very reluctant to make veganism seem harder. It isn’t laziness as much as an activism thing,” said Segal.

Non-vegans, such as Kate Boyd and Marshele Carter, said they aren’t as interested in avoiding non-vegan beers and wines, but they also didn’t know that beer and wine could be non-vegan.

“I’m honestly not very concerned. I’m not vegan. I don’t really see the moral issue with using things like honey or eggs,” said Boyd.

Carter also didn’t have a problem with honey or eggs, but questioned the use of fish bladders.

“Fish bladder bothers me. I wonder if that’s the reason the fish died. Like, is that why its life was taken? If it’s repurposing the dead fish, maybe I‘d feel better,” she said.

Segal believes promoting vegan beer and wine as an aspect of veganism will turn people away from becoming vegan themselves.

“The philosophy of the Humane League is that we’re tackling huge issues and them using fish bladders as a filter will basically end when factory farming ends. We don’t feel that buying vegan beer will have an effect on the industry.”

get app-y!

If you’re wondering whether your favorite beers and wines are vegan, check out barnivore.com. If you’re on the go, try one of these apps that use the data from Barnivore: “Vgan”: $2.28, only available for android users. Search “Vgan free” for a free, ad-supported version.

“Vegaholic”: $1.99, only available for iPhone and iPad users.

SPRING 2017 25

Pour Me a Glass of That (Vegan) Beer and Wine Now that you know why some people choose to drink vegan beer and wine (or not), here are some recommendations if you’re looking to try a vegan beverage yourself.

Christina Chauvenet

Beer: Bull City Ciderworks’ Ciders, Durham, North Carolina Wine: Albero Wines, found at Trader Joe’s

Maddie Segal

Beer: Sierra Nevada “All their beer is vegan. If I’m somewhere, and I don’t know, I’ll just have the Sierra Nevada”

Cristina Sacco

Wine: Green Fin Red Wine, found at Trader Joe’s “I wouldn’t call it my favorite, but it’s the only wine I can find easily and for really cheap.”

Beer: Fullsteam Brewery Beers, Durham, North Carolina “I know there are so many local breweries that have vegan options, so I tend to want to drink those.”

Jason Doucette

No favorites because “I’m superstitious.” He once told a reporter he liked a specific brand, and then he was contacted the next day by the company and told that the company found out its products weren’t vegan.

26 POUR.

{

Your next flight. Keep your shoes on, drink your beer, and stay in Chapel Hill.

}

www.thetopofthehill.com

HOME BREW HOW-TO

Learn how to create your own beer, what makes a bad batch, and more with the help of two brewing experts.

28 POUR.

Story by Jack Clough | Design by Michael McGowan or the love of craft beer, why not just make it yourself? Craft the perfect beverage to satisfy your thirst. Make it high or low in alcohol, as hoppy or malty as you like and spice it up as you wish.

Ross Marnock is a home-brewing expert from Asheville, North Carolina, a city with an enthusiastic love for craft beer and a place home brewing enthusiasts gather.

“There’s three main ingredients that you need for any type of beer recipe, and that’s grain, yeast and water. If you have those three ingredients you’re going to have beer. Anything else, such as hops, spices or any other flavor, that’s just going to change how the beer tastes,” says Marnock.

“After you’ve got those three main ingredients, you can really add whatever you like. Some people add orange peel, cucumber or peppers – a lot of different stuff, even bacon.”

To begin, you need to have the grain (i.e., the sugar). The most common form

is barley, but there’s also rye or wheat.

Some beers will even use quinoa, and specialty beers will often use different types of grain.

“What the yeast does is it eats the sugar from the grain, and when it eats that sugar the chemical process creates two by-products: carbon dioxide and ethanol. Then you have the water for the volume, and everything else is just for flavor,” says Marnock.

There are three different types of hops that you can mix and match for different flavor combinations: flavor hops, aromatic hops and bittering hops.

Usually you’ll use at least two different types of hop.

“It’s trial and error for a while —if you mess any little thing up it can really affect the taste. The biggest thing about home brewing is that you have consistency in making the beer – it’s like following a chemistry textbook,” says Marnock.

“Make sure you are super clean and sterile. Before I touch anything I have this

alcohol spray I pour onto my hands, and every single step I’m cleaning my equipment. If you get any bad bacteria in the batch, that can really affect the taste.”

Max DuBuisson, a home brewer from West Hartford, Connecticut, has been brewing beer at home for more than five years.

“I mainly brew with malt extract, which means the grains have already been ‘mashed’ and the sugars have been concentrated,” says DuBuisson.

Brewing with malt extract makes home-brewing faster and easier.

However, it limits the variety of your craft as you have less control over the grains that form the fermentable base of your beer.

“I rarely use spices, except for a small amount of coriander and bitter orange peel when brewing a saison. A few times I've employed toasted oak chips soaked in whiskey in order to impart some whiskey barrel flavor – it works pretty well, but it's easy to overdo it,” says DuBuisson.

Max DuBuisson: Bad Batches One of my worst was a fairly expensive recipe which was meant to clone Pliny the Elder – an imperial India pale ale.

It's a strong, super hoppy beer. I don't remember exactly where I went wrong with the dry hopping, but I was unable to filter out all the hops when I bottled it, and you don't really want hops floating around in your beer. Needless to say, the taste was not great, and it would leave a film of green hop sludge

on the glass, or in your mouth. If that wasn't bad enough, I over-carbonated it by accidentally adding too much sugar before bottling. So if you simply popped open the bottle, it would just sit there foaming over until the bottle was empty. I eventually had to use a bottle opener to slowly release the pressure from the bottles for a few days before I could open them to drink. I've actually over-carbonated at least one

other batch. Another mistake I’ve made was leaving my floating thermometer in the boil pot during the boil while I was stirring. Eventually I noticed that the thermometer was gone, because it had broken! I then frantically Googled my situation and was relieved to learn that food-safe thermometers never use mercury, so I just needed to filter out the broken glass and metal shot weights.

SPRING 2017 29

A STEP-BY-STEP GUIDE FROM THE PROFESSIONALS

1

Heating

Cook the grain in water for two to three hours. Heat the water to 150 degrees before adding the grain. This will allow the chemicals and the starch inside the grain to be released and accessible in the water.

2 3

Cooling

70

Cool the water to 70 degrees and add the yeast. Important: Make sure water has cooled before adding in the yeast, or the yeast will die.

Fermentation

Allow the beer to ferment. It will take several weeks for the yeast to eat all of the sugar and produce the alcohol.

Marnock: What I do is I put the beer in a large barrel which has an airlock that allows carbon dioxide to escape out of the barrel without allowing other stuff to come in, because if I didn’t have anywhere for the carbon dioxide to go out, the barrel would actually explode from the increase in gas that the yeast is producing. Generally, you will need to allow it to ferment for at least four weeks. It takes a while for the yeast to eat all of that sugar. If you stop the fermentation too soon then you won’t have all the sugar being produced, and there’ll be not as much alcohol in the beer.

4

uBuisson I have had several experiences of off-flavors in my beers, and I think I can pretty much attribute all of them to temperature control during fermentation. The yeast wants to be kept at a certain temperature, often in the high 0s, and it also doesn’t want the temperature to fluctuate much. So keeping the temperature stable is almost as important as getting to the right temperature in the first place. uring cold weather I have a heating pad and temperature controller that keep things regulated. However, during hot weather I've struggled to keep the fermenter cool enough. Many people either invest in an old fridge or set up elaborate "swamp coolers" to try and brew in the summer.

Carbonization

Now you have an alcoholic beverage, but you have no carbon dioxide because it’s been escaping the entire time. You want to have it carbonated — right now it is just a flat beer. There are a couple of ways to do this.

Marnock: Because I don’t have a machine like the breweries do, I actually add a little bit more sugar into the barrel before pouring it from the barrel into the bottles. That little amount of sugar will allow the yeast to eat a little more sugar and produce carbon dioxide within the bottles. You have to be careful, though, because if you add too much sugar ,then too much carbon dioxide will be produced and the bottles will explode – there’ll be glass everywhere, so you’ve got to be careful of that.

5

Bottling

Bottle the batch and let the bottles sit for two to three weeks.

After that, you’re good to go. Enjoy!

30 POUR.

DuBuisson: A couple of years ago I bought a keg, an old 5-gallon soda keg, so now I can carbonate with a tank of carbon dioxide. I hook it up at about 40 psi for 24 hours, then release the pressure and turn it down to around 12 psi, which is serving pressure. This carbonates the keg in about two days. Now that I'm kegging, I just keep a pack of bottling tablets, which are little pills of dextrose, on hand for the occasional bottling. This costs more than a bag of corn sugar, but is easier to use, especially when you just want to do a few bottles.

ADDITIONAL TIPS Flavor and Aroma If you want a beer to taste hoppy, add flavor hops while you’re cooking the grain at 150 degrees. However, if you just want a beer to smell hoppy, add aromatic hops once the water has cooled. Alpha acids are released when hops are added to 150-degree water, which mixes with the flavor of the water, but if you add hops after the water has cooled, the alpha acids won’t release and the beer will just smell hoppy. Bittering hops add bitterness to the flavor, so generally only add those while you’re cooking.

Alcohol Content To increase the alcohol content, add more grain, and generally leave it to ferment for a little longer. The more grain you add, the more sugar the yeast will be able to eat to produce more alcohol.

Color If you want a darker colored beer, roast the grain before you add it to the water. For stouts and darker beers, the grain has actually been burnt before being added. For brown ales, the grain has been partially burnt- the greater you burn it, the darker the beer will be.

Measuring Alcohol Content Use a hydrometer to measure specific gravity. Specific gravity is essentially a measure of the density of a fluid, relative to the density of water. Water has a specific gravity of 1.000. Measure the specific gravity before and after fermentation, so you know the sugar content before and after. The change in sugar content reflects the amount of sugar that has been converted into alcohol by the yeast. Using an Alcohol by Volume calculator, either online or by a mobile application, you can work out the alcohol percentage.

Sanitation Sanitation is crucial, but it's not extremely difficult. Mix up a couple of gallons of Star-San —an acid-based, no-rinse sanitizer — in a big tub and soak all of the equipment. Anything that's going into the boil pot should be clean, but doesn't need to be sanitized since it's going to get boiled. Once the liquid is transferred to the fermentation vessel, try to plan the process to minimize transferring the beer and minimize opening the fermenter. For bottles, rinse them after use and run them through the dishwasher on the sanitizing/high temperature setting before bottling. For kegs, fill them with Star-San and rinse all of the connections.

Barring an infection from some nasty bacterium, homebrewed beer is not dangerous to drink. It's exceedingly difficult to get the alcohol content even as high as wine, because the high alcohol starts to kill off the yeast.

SPRING 2017 31

32 POUR.

As the craft beer movement sweeps the nation and overtakes the beer industry, women have begun their own movement with beer.

Story by Delaney McGuire | Design by Paige Ehlers When Bailey Spaulding moved to Nashville for law school (Vanderbilt, no less) with dreams of practicing environmental law, she never imagined that, instead, she would go on to found the first female-owned brewery in Tennessee.

When Spaulding arrived in 2006, Nashville hadn’t yet experienced the craft beer boom. Spaulding had left the thriving craft beer culture in her home state of Vermont, and felt its loss in her new city. To fill the void, she started home brewing.

Creativity is a must when it comes to brewing at home. “With home brewing, I think it’s good to experiment, because, you can buy a pale ale,” Spaulding said. “You can buy a way better pale ale than you can make…

So, do what you can’t buy, basically.”

Spaulding’s love for science and adventure made brewing the perfect hobby. As she experimented with unique ingredients that wouldn’t be found in mainstream beer, she

discovered she had a knack for creating delicious and unique brews.

As her passion for brewing deepened, Spaulding’s dreams shifted away from law, and she began to think about how she could be environmentally responsible through business ownership instead of policy.

“I just fell in love with brewing,” Spaulding said. “I decided I didn’t want to practice law, I wanted to make beer.”

In 2010, Spaulding opened Jackalope Brewing Company with her friend Robyn Virball. Today, more than 50 percent of the brewery’s employees are women, much higher than most breweries. She believes female-owned breweries typically employ more women because they look at their hiring process with less bias toward men. A woman can brew just as well as a man, it’s just not as common.

One reason for that imbalance may be a stigma associated with female brewers. Spaulding said, “There’s this idea that you have to be a big burly

lumberjack to be involved in the industry. It’s kind of intimidating for a lot of women, but I think that stigma is starting to go away.”

A study by Dr. Anne Sugar, who received her PhD in Media Studies from the University of Colorado Boulder, suggests that the mass media is in large part responsible for driving Generation X and millennial women away from the macro beer industry. While there is nothing innately gendered about beer, Sugar’s dissertation explains that “hostile gender portrayals in television series and advertisements,” like the beer ads that feature women parading around in bikinis, have created a “gendered, male space around beer.”

Luckily, the beer-is-a-man’s-drink mentality seems to be fading as the craft, or micro, beer industry grows.

According to Sugar, the craft beer market created a new space for women to re-engage with beer.

Unlike their mainstream competitors, craft brewing companies

SPRING 2017 33

FROM ANCIENT BREWSTERS TO MODERN HOUSEWIVES From its start, brewing was a woman’s game. Among the oldest human writings, we find the very first beer recipe, which appears on a 3,900-year-old Sumerian tablet entitled, “A Hymn to Ninkasi.” Ninkasi, the Sumerian deity of beer, was a powerful Sumerian goddess.

Yes, you heard that right. The Sumerians prayed to a female deity if they wanted to crack a cold one after a long day. That’s because, back then, it was a woman’s job to make the beer.

From Chinese women fermenting barley in 3,000 B.C. to female pioneers in the early United States making do with corn and wheat, women across the world were skilled brewers. In the medieval era, female brewers were known as “brewsters.” The word bride is even believed to have originated from a Proto-Germanic verb meaning “to brew,” which was once the role of the new wife within her husband’s family.

For thousands of years, brewing remained a domestic chore – produced and sold on a very small scale. Things changed during the Industrial Revolution when new machinery suddenly allowed for efficient, mass beer production. Beer-making left the home and went commercial, as it is today. By the start of the 20th century, brewing became a big business, and the beer industry became a man’s world.

34 POUR.

usually view craft beer as a gender-neutral product and they treat it as such in their advertising campaigns. The female consumption of craft beer compared with that of mainstream beer shows just how big an impact the non-gendered approach to beer can make.

While women make up roughly half of the country’s population, they account for only 25 percent of total beer consumption in the United States. In contrast, women account for 37 percent of total craft beer consumption. The changing beer industry has impacted young women the most, with a recent poll revealing that beer has actually replaced the classic white wine as the drink of choice for women between 18 and 34 years old.

Many women come together to celebrate their love of beer through meet-ups like Barley’s Angles and Girls Pint Out, which aim to build a community of women who want to learn and explore the wonderful world of craft beer. These groups have local chapters across the country, that meet for tastings, seminars and demonstrations, all about craft beer.

The Pink Boots Society is another organization birthed by the surge of women embracing their passion for beer. Founded in 2007 by one of the

first female craft brewmasters in the United States, the Pink Boots Society provides an environment where female professionals in the beer industry are encouraged to advance their careers.

As a female leader in the beer industry, Spaulding has inspired many women to break tradition and enter the industry as brewers and entrepreneurs. While she was surprised that she could have such an influence on other women, she was glad to discover her efforts are making a difference.

“As a company, we spend a lot of time thinking about core values that dictate what we do. It’s nice being able to be a kind of role model for women who want to get into the industry and to encourage them,” Spaulding said.

More women come through her tavern than would your average male-run tavern. “We’re a minority in a male-dominated industry. For good or for bad, people take notice,” Spaulding said.

While Jackalope Brewing Company was the first female-owned brewery in Tennessee, it wasn’t the last. Women across the country have embraced the craft beer movement and female-owned-oroperated breweries are popping up everywhere.

Here are some of the best girl-power craft breweries in the Southeast:

Abbey of the Holy Goats Roswell, Georgia

Founder Kathy Davis almost became a nun when she was in her 20s. She was talked out of joining a nunnery in Nova Scotia while at the Brick Store Pub in Decatur. She opened Abbey of the Holy Goats, Georgia’s first all-femaleowned brewery, seven years later.

Capitol City Brewing Company Washington, D.C., and Arlington, Virginia

Open since 1992, Capitol City Brewing Co. was the first brew pub in the capital since prohibition. Capitol City’s director of brewing operations is brewer Kristi Matthews Griner, who’s a big supporter of women in the beer industry. In 2014, Griner joined other women from the local craft brew community to craft a beer called Pretty in Pink in honor of National Breast Cancer Awareness Month.

Frothy Beard Brewery North Charleston, South Carolina

Started by three friends (all guys) in 2013, Frothy Beard Brewery is a popular brewing company in South Carolina. The company’s female assistant brewer, Macey Martin, is all about girl power. She worked with Brewsters beer club to teach women at other breweries how to make good beer.

Palmetto Brewing Company Charleston, South Carolina

Founded in 1994 by Ed Falkenstein, Palmetto Brewing Co. was the only brewery in South Carolina at the time. The state no longer had a system for licensing brewing establishments, so they told Falkenstein to “create your own form and send it to us. Just include any info you think we need to know.”

Once again, the company shows its progressive spirit with brewmaster Tanael Escartin, the only female head brewer in the state.

New Belgium Brewing Company Asheville, North Carolina

Co-founder Kim Jordan started New Belgium Brewing Co. with her husband Jeff Lebesech, an avid homebrewer. Jordan was the brewery’s first bottler, sales rep, distributor, marketer and financial planner. After years as the company’s CEO, Jordan passed the reins to Christine Perich in 2015.

SweetWater Brewing Company Atlanta, Georgia

SweetWater Brewing Co. opened in 1997 with the crafty motto “Don’t float the mainstream.” Today, the company’s female involvement is far from the typical mainstream brewery. Brewers Lindsey Kingry and Sarah Green are two of only a few female brewers in all of Georgia, and, in 2015, long-time CFO Kim Jones was promoted and now serves as SweetWater’s CEO.

SPRING 2017 35

The Rise of

Fe rmentation

26

21

Sc ience 16

S tudies

With the craft beer industry booming and people flocking to new breweries across the United States, you might wonder how so many people know how to brew such good beer. Well, they go to school for it.

More colleges and universities across the country now have fermentation or brewing science programs where students can learn the science and practice of making beer and wine.

Story by Janna Childers | Design by Claire Ebbitt

36 POUR.

TRISOMIC HOP PLANT phenotype with lanceolate leaves.

From the Oregon State University 1966 annual report of hop investigations. Photo courtesy of OSU.

SPRING 2017 37

21

Austin Meyrick, a junior at Appalachian State University, went into college with a plan.

He wanted to study business economics and finance in the hope of working as a stockbroker after graduation.

But that was before he knew he could major in fermentation science and earn a degree in brewing beer.

Across the United States and Canada, more and more universities and community colleges are offering programs in brewing and fermentation science in an effort to keep up with the growing craft beer industry.

High in North Carolina’s Blue Ridge Mountains, Appalachian State, in the town of Boone, was one of the first universities on the East Coast to offer students the opportunity to study the science of fermentation.

Fermentation science studies how yeast and other organic compounds break down into simpler substances. Beer, wine and liquor all go through a process of fermentation, as well as foods such as tempeh, kombucha and sauerkraut.

Brewing science is specific to beer.

While there are few universities that offer fermentation science majors in the U.S., there are a growing number offering specializations in fermentation or brewing sciences within various academic departments, as well as several professional brewing schools.

The University of California, Davis, has offered brewing classes for more than 40 years.

At UC Davis, undergraduate students in the food science department must take extensive chemistry and food science courses, leading up to senior year capstone courses in brewing.

Charlie Bamforth, a chemist 6 specializing in malting and brewing, has been teaching and conducting research at UC Davis since January 1999, and recently stepped down as the president of the Institute of Brewing and Distilling in the United Kingdom.

Additionally, UC Davis has a brewing extension program for people interested in taking intensive brewing classes from January to June.

Bamforth said, “For all that time, they are focused specifically on doing brewing classes.

And, you know, many of these will have degrees from somewhere else on some other topic, or they have a career change or something like that. Then there are shorter classes as well. We have one-week classes where people can come here and split the time between the classroom and the brewery. And we get a lot of homebrewers on that.”

Bamforth’s research has indirectly benefitted thousands of breweries across the world, helping brewers know how to brew beer better, keep beer fresher longer and understand the effects of beer on health.

“We’ve got a long-standing interest on beer and health, and why beer is a very significant contributor to health and in moderation, beneficial,” Bamforth said.

UC Davis offers students certification through

Au

C

38 POUR.

BREWING IN ACTION: A Food science student adds barley to a new batch of beer in the fermentation science pilot brewery at Oregon State University. (Photo provided by OSU)

the Master Brewers Association of the Americas, which Bamforth said is an important component of a brewing education, especially in light of the recent surge in brewing programs.

“What’s happening is there are lots and lots of universities across the United States and Canada that are starting or trying to start brewing programs,” Bamforth said.

“On the one hand it’s kind of interesting, but on the other hand, it’s alarming to many people in the industry, people who are established in the industry, because how does a student know that they’re getting a proper brewing education at places that have no history or no pedigree in brewing?”

While the fermentation science major at Appalachian State is not certified through the MBAA, Seth Cohen, the director of the program, is certified with the brewing association, as well as other fermentation science associations.

The program at Appalachian State focuses on courses in various sciences, like chemistry, biology and food science, and offers specific classes on fermentation where students practice brewing and fermenting in the pilot plant brewing facility.

Additionally, Appalachian State emphasizes 90 the social aspects of brewing, making sure students know the dangers of alcohol on health and the responsibility that comes with brewing alcohol.

“I’m in my second fermentation class right now, and it’s called Social Implications of Fermented Beverages,” Meyrick said. “We’ve had people speak to us about domestic violence and a toxicology expert, a detective and a head brewer.

It’s really interesting to see how responsible you have to be when creating alcohol.”

Meyrick said when he was growing up, his parents enjoyed beer and wine, and would often

Th

INSPECTION: William Foote, OSU agronomist, removes anthers from inbred barleys in preperation for crossing with other lines. (Photo provided by OSU)

let him try some.

“It was really interesting because it made me not think of alcohol as a tool to get drunk and made me appreciate alcohol for what it is and like the taste and all the other aspects of it,” he said. “It was really my parents who got me psyched on the whole beer thing, and then when I realized I could make a career out of that, I was hooked.”

Across the U.S., for students who want to make a career brewing beer and making wine, there are 30 university programs offering extensive classes on fermentation and brewing science.

The largest number of undergraduate students studying brewing science is at Oregon State University in Corvallis, Oregon.

89 To study brewing at Oregon State, a student must choose the fermentation science option within the food science program.

Because the university is located just south of Oregon’s hop growing region, Willamette Valley, it has conducted research on the breeding and use of hops for over 50 years.

Deschutes Brewery in Bend, Oregon, grew from its modest brew pub beginnings and is

Ac

now one of the country’s largest and best-known craft breweries. Karl Ockert, director of brewery operations at Deschutes Brewery, studied fermentation science at UC Davis.

“In the industry one also quickly learns that brewing is a business, so it’s important to learn the language of budgeting, project management, people management, sales goals and projections.

There is a lot more to it than knowing how enzyme systems work,” Ockert said.

Bamforth said good brewers 53 know the practice and the theory of brewing. “The best way to learn brewing is to do it, so the practical portion is essential,” Bamforth said.

In order to get that practical experience, students at Oregon State and Appalachian State who want to work in a brewery after graduation focus on summer internships at both large and small breweries and production facilities.

I

TESTING: This piece of equpiment is used to analyze hops. (Photo circa 1950; provided by OSU).

SPRING 2017 39

Interested in enology?

Enology is the study of wine. If you’re more interested in grapes than hops, you’ll be glad to know that most fermentation science programs at universities offer courses in winemaking. There are also several professional programs in which you can hone those winemaking skills. UC Davis IN THE FIELDS: The crops department at Oregon State University talks with a group attending a hop field day in 1953. (Photo by B.A. Peterson; provided by OSU)

viticulture and enology program is one of the oldest winemaking programs in the country.

Meyrick traveled from the Blue Ridge to the Rockies for his summer internship at Bonfire Brewing in Eagle, Colorado.

“I spent the whole summer there and worked for them and got paid,” he said. “I learned an unbelievable amount about beer. It was really eyeopening because I went in thinking, OK, I know a lot about beer, and when I got there, it was a real shell shock because I knew absolutely nothing.”

Fermentation and brewing 26 are sciences that date all the way back to ancient Mesopotamia around 3500 B.C. Even though these processes have been studied and researched extensively, people continue to be fascinated by the work that goes into making beer and wine.

Meyrick said he was lucky to have ended up at a school with the option to study fermentation sciences. “I think I would’ve been stuck in the

Fe

business world and ended up just doing what my dad did and not really having that fulfillment or enjoying what I do every day,” Meyrick said.

Bamforth said after 40 years of working with the brewing industry, he continues to find his work important and interesting. “We have chemical engineers who come here thinking they’re going to go into the petrochemicals industry, and then realize that brewing is far more complex and interesting. At the end of the day, when you work in an oil refinery, you can’t sample the products on a Friday night like you can when you work in a brewery.”

And even with the proper education, Bamforth thinks a good brewer needs something a little more.

“What makes somebody a good brewer?

Somebody that’s got heart, a passion for it. And also, a determination to do it right, anyone who is not prepared to accept second-best.”

EXTREME CLOSE-UP: This hop cone is one of many key ingredients used to make beer. (Photo provided by OSU)

Want to study brewing abroad?

The Brewlab

Doemens Academy

Scandinavian School of Brewing

University of Sunderland, UK

Munich, Germany

Copenhagen, Denmark

Brewlab is a leader in the international brewing

In 2000, Doemens founded the World Brewing

Founded in 1925, SSB teaches theoretical

industry. Its programs focus on the integration

Academy with the Siebel Institute of Technology

knowledge of brewing science and practical

of practical and theoretical skills in brewing.

in Chicago. Most courses are taught on the

brewing experience. The school accepts

Brewlab has its own barrel brewery and kegging

American campus, but advanced degrees

international students from all over the world.

and bottling machinery. Courses are offered for

are taught on both the Munich and Chicago

Programs vary in length, as the syllabus is

all levels, from beginner to advanced.

campuses.

formatted in modules.

40 POUR.

BRINGING YOU THE TASTES OF A CITY

Visit the Biltmore story by Brianna Crane Design by Elina Roriguez

42 POUR.

Riesling, Chardonnay, Viognier, Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, and Merlot grapes are all grown at the Biltmore vineyards and particularly well-suited for the Biltmore’s microclimate and western North Carolina terroir, according to the company. (Photo provided by The Biltmore Company) SPRING 2017 43

The Biltmore Estate was originally 125,000 acres and is now about 8,000. Its gardens currently sit on more than 250 acres. (Photo provided by The Biltmore Company)

Spend a day touring America’s largest home and sip local award-winning wines at the country’s most-visited winery at the Biltmore Estate in Asheville, North Carolina. The 8,000-acre estate is nestled in the breathtaking Blue Ridge Mountains and should rank No. 1 on your must-see list.

Visitors—over the age of 21, of course— are invited to enjoy a complimentary wine tasting, which offers more than 20 varieties of Biltmore wine. Throughout the winery, guests can also try non-alcoholic beverages, cheeses, jams and other delectable treats made locally.

From fruity reds to aromatic, minty whites, the Biltmore boasts more than 50 different varieties of wine. For the complimentary sampling, guests queue up at the back of the winery near the bar to taste the local libations. Light snacks (crackers, pretzels, etc.) are available as well.

Lisa Bertini, who visited the winery in September, said that she waited in line for about

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30 minutes before landing a spot at the bar.

“I was given a tasting menu and invited to request any sample that I wanted—unlimited,” she said.

Each person at the tasting station received a menu, which not only listed all of the wines, but also left space for notes. Bertini opted to sample wines that are exclusively available at the Biltmore Winery and the restaurants on the estate — many of Biltmore’s other labels are sold nationwide.

She said that her favorite wine from the selection, Merlot Dry Creek Valley, had notes of hibiscus and other floral flavors. She was also impressed by a Limited Release Red Zinfandel, which had a hint of spice and a lasting flavor.

However, some of the selections were saturated with oak flavor, which she did not enjoy and generally doesn’t like in wines.

“I thought the reserve wines were very good, some quite complex in flavor. And the standard

wines were good and not too acidic—certainly a presentable table wine,” says Bertini.

After sampling the 12 2-ounce pours of wine, Bertini left the bar with a delightful buzz and shopped for her favorite wines.

She purchased bottles of the Merlot Dry Creek Valley, Reisling, Limited Release Chenin Blanc and the Limited Release Zinfandel. Flavors ranged from subtle spice and light citrusy notes to aromatic vanilla and sweet blackberry. Each bottle cost about $20; however, the winery offers discounts on bulk orders for some of their selections—perfect for the host or hostess who wants to impress guests with North Carolina’s finest flavors.

Bernard Delille and Sharon Fenchak, the Biltmore winemakers, work together to produce the award-winning wines—from sweet reds and crisp whites to sparkling wine and rosé. Biltmore wines have received many awards and accolades

Valentine’s Day Getaway The Biltmore is home to the most visited vineyards in the country, offering more than 20 types of award winning wines. With scenic trails, numerous wine tour options and cozy, local restaurants, Asheville, North Carolina welcomes couples seeking a Valentine’s Day weekend getaway. Here are three things to add to your agenda:

1.Tour the Biltmore House and participate in the Red Wine and Chocolate Seminar. The seminar allows you to sample the Biltmore’s famous reds and locally made truffles. No Valentine’s Day celebration is complete without wine and chocolate — why not make it an experience to remember?

2.Take a brewery tour, especially if you prefer beer to wine. Consider visiting Asheville Brewing Co., Wicked Weed Brewing Pub or Highland Brewing Company.

3.Plan a lunch or dinner date at Cúrate, which offers authentic Spanish tapas. This cozy, sophisticated spot is perfect for couples who want to try a blend of local and international flavor. Looking to try a taste of the South? Consider visiting the original Tupelo Honey Café for Southern libations; they offer anything from fried green tomatoes to North Carolina pulled pork. Advice from the editor: do try the biscuits and honey.

SPRING 2017 45

from respected wine reviews and competitions throughout the years, including the Beverage Testing Institute, San Francisco Chronicle Wine Competition and the American Wine Society.

And the Biltmore Estate Sparkling Brut won Wine Enthusiasts editor’s choice in 2016. In total, Biltmore wines have won more than 45 awards and accolades within the last three years.

But which wine do guests love the most? It varies—the best-selling wines are relative to each season, said Dana Phipps, an administrative assistant for the Biltmore winery. The Christmas red is one of the Biltmore’s best selling labels in December, while the Biltmore Blooms is a top seller in the Spring, said Phipps. Each year the flavor varies depending upon harvest, but the spring labels are typically sweet with floral undertones.

The Biltmore Vineyard

Aside from sampling and purchasing bottles, guests can enjoy wine by the glass at the bar or at any of the restaurants on the estate. Visitors can also tour the vineyards for a complete vine to wine experience.

The vineyard, also located on the Biltmore Estate, is open to the public only by a scheduled tour on weekends.

“We offer guided specialty tours all throughout the estate,” said Kendra Hampleman, a Biltmore reservation sales and guest services specialist.

The Wine to Vine Tour is offered on Saturdays and Sundays and lasts two and a half hours, Hampleman

46 POUR.

said. Guests tour the vineyards, learn about the agriculture and dairy farming and sample wines along the way. The event ends with a grand tasting—complete with wine, cheese and locally made chocolate truffle pairings. Phipps said that during the grand tasting, participants learn more about pairing wines with food items—perfect for someone who wants to make tasting an interactive learning experience. The tour costs $85 per person, not including the cost of general admission to the estate.

While the Biltmore does produce wine locally, some grapes are grown in California to achieve the highest quality flavor.

Additional Tour Options

Besides the winery and vineyard tour, the Biltmore offers four additional wine tours including Biltmore Bubbles, Red Wine and Chocolate Seminar, a winery production tour and a barrel tasting.

Biltmore Bubbles is a 45-minute wine tasting that allows guests to sample the Biltmore’s sparkling wines, said Hampleman. During the tasting guests learn how to detect the qualities of sparkling wine and how to differentiate sparkling wine from champagne.

Guests who opt for the Red Wine and Chocolate Seminar get to sample sweet reds and taste locally made

truffles, although the exact flavors vary per tour, she said. This tour is offered daily and costs $20 per person.

The winery production tour, which costs $10, allows guests to learn more about fermentation and how North Carolina agriculture can affect the flavor of the wine. The barrel tasting teaches guests how the type of wood the wine is stored in changes the flavor—guests sample wine straight from the barrel. This unique tour costs $25. The specialty tours allow guests to see parts of the house not shown to the public — the exclusivity makes it even more special, said Karin Sullivan, a retired charge host of 22 years, who was responsible for opening and closing the house daily.

“It’s important to remember that this is a private home; there is nothing else in the world like it,” said Sullivan.

The Biltmore House & History

The winery is one the largest sources of income that allows that private home to continue to run, said Sullivan. It operates on the principle of

self-sustainability. It is the only house of its kind, as most other mansions open to the public have become museums, she said.

George Vanderbilt built the home in 1895 for his mother, who traveled to Asheville to use the hot springs for medical reasons, said Sullivan.

Vanderbilt wanted to make the estate selfsustainable, so they grew everything they needed —from produce to meats. Everything they grew or raised was used in their own kitchen or sold to the community to help sustain the massive estate.

Although sustaining the estate was the primary goal, the Vanderbilts and their descendants also prided themselves in enriching the community through fresh foods and other contributions, such as building schools and churches.

The grape business wasn’t started until the 1970s, when Vanderbilt’s grandson, William Cecil, decided to expand the estate. Cecil’s intention was to honor his grandfather’s passion for sustainability and increase the Biltmore’s potential by creating a new market, said Sullivan.

“He hired visionaries to make it a multi million-dollar business,” said Sullivan.

Cecil opened the winery to the public in 1985, shortly after the Biltmore Wine Company was established, said Sullivan.

Now, descendants of Vanderbilt open their 175,000 square-foot home to more than 100,000 guests per year.

In addition to the vineyards, winery and home, guests can stroll through the gardens, hike the surrounding trails or stay in one of the estate’s luxury hotels. The estate also has several shops and farm-to-table based restaurants for visitors to enjoy.

Plan a Visit Spending a weekend in Asheville?

Here are some affordable, familyfriendly suggestions: What to do: 1. Hike the Blue Ridge Parkway 2. Go zip lining and white water rafting 3. Visit the Southern Highland Craft Guild Folk Art Center Where to eat: 1. Biscuit Head 2. 67 Biltmore 3. Sunset Terrace Where to stay: 1. The Inn on Biltmore Estate 2. The Windsor Boutique Hotel 3. Sweetpea Hostel

The Inn on Biltmore Estate opened in 2001, nearly a hundred years after George Vanderbilt first made plans to construct an inn. (Photo provided by The Biltmore Company) SPRING 2017 47

48 POUR.

SPRING 2017 49

he first time Walt Dickinson tried a sour beer, he wasn’t put off by the name.

He and his brother would later found a bar in 2011 called the Wicked Weed in Asheville, North Carolina, but in 2004 he was just a beer enthusiast.

Lately, Walt had found himself intrigued by Belgian style beers, which were more acidic, in the mold of older styles of beer. The Rodenbach he had in front of him — a Flanders red ale, one of the common archetypes of sour beer — was a revelation.

“The first time I tasted these beers, they made sense to my palate,” he said.

Now, the rest of the country is catching up to Dickinson, and sour beers have enjoyed a growth in popularity not seen since India pale ales became all the rage in 2011.

Typically, beer is made by brewing grains, hops, water and whatever other flavorings the brewer wishes to add. The resulting mixture, called a wort, is strained and put into a fermentation container. Yeast, added next, eats the sugars from the grain left over in the mixture and spits out alcohol and carbon dioxide.

But sour beer is different. It’s made by introducing wild yeast at the fermentation point.

Unlike commercial yeast used in the majority of brews, wild yeasts produce more acid byproduct as they consume the sugars, lowering the pH of the beer and giving it a tangy flavor.

The most common microorganisms used are Brettanomyces — the sworn enemy of winemakers everywhere for its ability to spoil years of work and its difficulty to get rid of — Lactobacillus and Pediococcus. In the wrong amounts, these souring agents can spoil the beer, giving it any sort of unpleasant flavor ranging along a spectrum of mildly funky to reminiscent of a baby’s diaper.

T

PHOTOS PROVIDED BY FOUR BREWERS AND WICKED WEED BREWING

LAMBIC

American Wild Ale

An umbrella term for beers brewed in America using wild yeast or bacteria strains instead of, or in addition to, standard commercial yeast. It is similar to Lambic or Oud Bruin styles, and can be light or dark as well as hoppy or malty.

50 POUR.

Lambic beers, from Brussels, Belgium, ferment spontaneously. The wort is strained from the mash and left to cool in open air overnight in a shallow, metal pan called a koelschip. Lambics use a large amount of hops to avoid spoilage, and are often aged in old wine barrels. Lambics often contain fruit or sweetened syrup. Pure lambic is rare, cloudy, uncarbonated and extremely sour.

FLanders Red Ale

These beers are fermented with normal yeast, then placed into oak barrels to age for a year, minimum. The beer gets its red color from the type of malt used, and fermenting in barrels helps impart a sour flavor.

Older batches are typically blended with younger ones to create consistent flavor.

But when done right, the acid produced by these microorganisms leaves a sour flavor ripe for added complexity. Sours are often amplified or accented with fruit. Some brews introduce secondary fermentation during the aging process by adding fruit to the mix, which can also add microbes living on the skin of the fruit.

As the science of fermentation has evolved into art, the possibilities are exploding.

Wicked Weed opened a location solely dedicated to sours called the Funkatorium in 2014, which boasts more than a dozen types of sour beer on tap or bottled. Fruity and funky flavors abound, from the tropical style Genesis with guava, papaya, mango and pineapple, to the winelooking Oblivion that’s brewed with blackberries and dates and aged in red wine barrels.

Other varieties include the Fille de Ferme, an American ale fermented with honeysuckle and orange zest and aged in a foeder — an enormous wooden vat used for wine — as well as the new Framboos Morte, which used more than 4,000 pounds of raspberries. Wicked Weed has grown from 30 barrels in stock to more than 2,000, and the brothers are constantly struggling to fill the demand for sour beer.

“There wasn’t really anybody who was a producer of sour beers in the Southeast until we got going,” Walt Dickinson said. “Nobody was actually like producing them to the volume where they became a significant part of your portfolio. I think there was a lot of pent up demand for sour beer.”

Despite the initial turnoff of its name, sour beer has exploded in popularity in recent years.

After IPAs, which are still some of the most popular beers on the market, sours present a refreshing contrast in style. Beer connoisseurs tired of the bitterness in IPAs can find relief in the

perky tartness of a sour.

That lighter flavor also lends itself much better to food pairings than other types of stronger, heavier beers. Kathy Flanigan, who writes about entertainment, culture and beer for the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel, brought home a peach sour last Thanksgiving to pair with her turkey.

“It was kind of perfect,” she said.

The Dickinson brothers have also had success capitalizing on sour beer’s relationship with

THE FIRST TIME I TASTED THESE BEERS, THEY MADE SENSE TO MY PALATE. food — particularly in Asheville’s growing foodie scene. Wicked Weed occasionally does sour beer dinners with local restaurants to showcase what their beer can do.

“It really does find this kind of balance between beer and wine,” Walt Dickinson said.

“There’s a lot more similarity to wine and cocktails whenever we’re working with sour beer than when we’re working with any other style.”

The irony of the sour beer trend is that it’s nothing new. At one point, it’s likely that all beer was sour. Until the introduction of pasteurization in the mid-1800s sterilized the brewing process, there was no way to keep out the wild yeast and bacteria that produce the signature tartness found in sour beer as the mix fermented.

Belgian brewers embraced the chaos,

GOSE

OUD BRUIN

Originating in the same area as Flemish red ales, oud bruins are differentiated by their darker color and are not aged on wood. They undergo a secondary fermentation and are typically aged for long periods of time in bottles.

To provide the sour flavor, cultured yeast strains are used, and the long aging process allows those flavors to develop.

traditionally leaving the wort exposed to outside air in a storage container called a koelschip during the cooling process. That approach has been discontinued by most modern brewers for its unpredictability, but some master brewers still do it the traditional way.

“It was a European staple before it was here,” Flanigan said. “Now a lot of people have been trying it for brewing chops.”

Brewers of sour beer will also blend different batches together before bottling to create a consistent product for sale. Yet with anything wild, there’s only so much one can do to establish control. Often the brewing is out of the hands of the actual brewers; they just have to sit back and let nature’s chemistry do its thing.

Wicked Weed had to delay the release of its Golden Angel, an apricot sour, after the barrels in stock fermented more than expected and released more sulfur that affected the smell of the beer.

After waiting it out, though, they were able to release the beer to the public rather than being forced to dump the barrels.

“It all comes down to kind of blending and patience,” Walt Dickinson said. “You don’t know what stable looks like until you’ve really sat on it.

“It’s not like making normal beer. It’s very much a patience product. Time tends to fix most things. These beers want to be good, the bacteria want to fix themselves. It’ll be ready when it’s ready.”

That’s typical of the sour beer story. After fading out into the pages of history for a time, sour beers are back and bigger than ever. And Dickinson thinks this time, sour beers are here to stay.

“I do think it’s going to be a significant player and hold a very specific niche in the craft beer space.”

BERLINER WEISSE

This is a cloudy, sour, white beer made using Lactobacillus bacteria that typically has a lower alcohol percentage.

During the late 1800s, it was the most popular beer in Berlin, with more than 50 breweries producing it. It’s often served with flavored syrups to balance the sourness.

Pronounced “go-suh,” these beers originated in Goslar, Germany.

Coriander and salt are used in the brewing process, resulting in a combination of tart, herbal and salty flavors. Gose production stopped from 1966 to 1986.

After reappearing in 1988, gose has experienced a resurrection in popularity, with the explosion of the craft beer industry.

SPRING 2017 51

Expanding Craft breweries Although it’s a booming business, craft breweries are hard to grow in the South.

Story by Sarah Vassello | Design by Baylee Chesnutt In early October 2016, hundreds of craft brewers ascended into the Mile-High City of Denver, Colorado. Summer was winding down, and beer season — arguably most popular in the fall — was kicking off.

For the 30th year in a row, it was time to judge the best of the best.

Among craft brew legends like Delaware’s Dogfish Head Brewery and California’s Lagunitas Brewing Company were smaller, local breweries — companies that moved into commercial space only a few months prior, starting out in garages and backyards before moving into the craft beer world.

But in the craft brewing world, size doesn’t matter. Product does.

Starting a Revolution

And that’s how Brown Truck Brewery, an incredibly small brewery in High Point, North Carolina, ended up taking home the gold medal in Category 36: American-Style Light Lager or German-Style Light Lager. Out of 21 entries, its No. 10 American Lager was the best in the category, the best in the nation. In second place was Carver Brewing Co. from Durango, Colorado, a brewery that’s been around since 1990.

Coors Brewing Co., a division of the seventh largest brewing company in the world, was also on the list. Coors Light, an internationally known beer, received the bronze.

Brown Truck’s website design is still in the works — the background is currently a picture of a rustic truck, the brewery’s namesake. They don’t have a listed email address, but they do have about 500 followers on Twitter and almost 4,000 on Facebook.

And they are trying to figure out the next step.

I reached out to them — through a direct message on Twitter — to ask how they planned

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to espand their business from a local to a regional, or even a national, brand.

“We are flattered that you reached out to us, but unfortunately we can’t help you with this topic. We’ve only been open for 8 months and are still very much a local business,” they responded.

“In fact, we may need to read your article to gain some insight on how to grow!”

It’s not an uncommon problem in the craft beer industry. After perfecting recipes for months or years, the new challenge becomes standing out in a rapidly growing industry that segments into local, regional and national markets.

In 2015, The Brewers Association, the trade association that represents craft breweries, reported that there were 4,269 operating breweries in the United States — a 15 percent growth from the previous year and the highest number in American history. Small and independent breweries accounted for 99 percent of those breweries.

This is especially true for the South, a relatively new region entering the craft beer scene. Four states — North Carolina, Virginia, Florida and Texas — saw more than 20 new breweries in 2015. Now, there are almost 122,000 craft beer jobs in the region — an increase of more than 6,000 from 2015, according to the Brewers Association.

But this growth is hard-earned. From laws that prevent growth to government intervention to financial barriers to entry, the craft beer scene can be hard to expand into — especially in the South.

Regional Over National

For many breweries in the region, it’s not about becoming a national brand.

“I don’t really care whether we are national or not,” said Chris Brown, owner and

production manager for Holy City Brewing out of Charleston, South Carolina. “I’m content brewing beer for the South.”

Holy City Brewing started in July 2012 with four guys from the South, Brown included.

Like most craft breweries, Brown started home brewing, which grew into a largerscale production.

Brown said they gained traction with their porter, Fluff Mud, named after a dirt and water mixture native to South Carolinian marshes. The diction choices make it clear who their audience is: locals. The beer has a “distinct odor that’s endearing to locals, but off-putting to tourists and redcoats,” so says their website.

Now, it’s “the beer that keeps the lights on,” Brown said, though they brew a variety of styles, from pilsners to pork-infused.

“We are a brewery that prides itself on being local and taking care of the locals — Charleston first, and then if we have enough beer we will grow,” he said. “We have the whole state of South Carolina and Charlotte (N.C.) for distribution, but Charleston is always first in anything we do.”

But growing in South Carolina hasn’t been easy. Strict alcohol laws prohibit breweries from directly distributing their beers, and the beer tax is 77 cents a gallon — one of the highest rates in the country, according to the Greenville Online newspaper. But the laws have been shifting slowly, allowing more production and fewer barriers to entry with each passing year.

As of 2015, there were only 36 breweries in the state, compared to North Carolina’s 161, according to the Brewers Association.

“They have changed the law here a few times, and each time we were able to grow a little,” Brown said.

And growing a little helped them grow a lot.

Holy City Brewing went from one employee to 26 in just four years.

Serving a Community

For some, craft beer is about choicespecifically, making the right one.

That’s true for Reformation Brewery, in Woodstock, Georgia, a 30-minute drive outside Atlanta.

Their mission: to redeem beer culture by providing high-quality, locally produced beer that rivals the large scale breweries. They are trying to make people question the role that beer plays in American culture.

Not unlike most other craft breweries, the owners, Nick Downs, brewmaster, and Spencer Nix, CEO, began their journey home brewing, inviting their friends and family over for a monthly brew night. Word about the brew night started getting out, and it turned into an event for the community, with hundreds of people coming out each month.

Their first official Reformation beer was brewed on Oct. 31, 2013.

“Reformation Brewery is connecting many new people to our beloved community — both locally and regionally,” said Jessica Miller, Reformation Brewery marketing coordinator.

“This is the ‘why’ behind what we do; fostering moments that connect people through a common love for the good gift of beer.”

And they try to foster those moments as much as possible. The brewery has become a center for activity, from game night to outdoor adventures to a brewery book club — all public groups. They partner with eight local organizations to “sponsor, support, and celebrate community focused projects.” Every third Thursday is public service night, when firefighters, teachers, police officers, etc. receive 25 percent off their tab.

The first value listed on their website: acceptance.

“We look forward to celebrating with new communities that lift up a glass not only to honor the good gift of beer, but also to savor the moment at hand,” Miller said. “As a values-based business, our goal is always to connect to the bigger picture, and recognize our place within the vibrant, evolving landscape of people’s lives.”

One of the easiest ways to expand a business is to create partnerships with other area communities. However, for a brewery, that’s not the only step.

“Sure there are struggles — getting access to capital in order to grow a sustainable brewery — which in this state has to be fairly large, has not been easy,” Miller said. “The logistics of getting beer from four ingredients, into a package and into a customer’s hand is complex.”

The process of scaling a

business requires loans, in many cases. However, not many industries have loans tailored to their firms.

Reformation Brewery was able to acquire capital through investors and scaled their brewing equipment to their production — starting with smallest equipment possible, a 1 Barrel Brewhouse, and growing into 3 Barrel Brewhouse, a 7 Barrel Brewhouse- and recently installed the first High Efficiency Brewing System (HEBS) in Georgia.

But some local banks are creating loans specifically for breweries. Live Oak Bank, based in Wilmington, North Carolina, has a team dedicated to breweries, specializing in creating expansion plans. Self Help Credit Union in North Carolina issues loans for brewers in the state. And, most recently, Blairsville, Ga.-based United Community Bank is adding a craft beer

vertical where brewers can apply for SBA and Department of Agriculture loans.

Ken Jernigan, who will oversee the vertical from Wilmington, told Upstart Business Journal that he wants to focus on Southern states with promising craft brewery scenes first.

“The state’s leading the charge in this industry recognize a few simple regulatory changes can lead to important business formation and employment creation,” Jernigan told the Journal.

And, especially for Reformation, it leads to community creation as well.

One of their values: humility.

“Humility is about knowing one’s place in a community,” they say on their website. “To speak the truth without claiming a monopoly on it.

Reformation understands it’s not about us.

SPRING 2017 53

54 POUR.

f

No matter the time or place, humans have always liked to get their beer on. Evidence of brewing as early as 5000 B.C.E. shows that even ancient people liked to be #trendy and brew their own beer. Read on to learn about your ancestor beer crafters.

Story by Madeline Reich and Logan Ulrich | Design by Allegra Cook

5000 B.C.E to 2016

Craft Brewing

A

o r t y s i o h

Fli p a h this i bre stor pag wi y of e fo ng cra r ft

SPRING 2017 55

Jars with chemical traces of beer production date back to this period. The oldest was found in Mesopotamia, or present-day Iraq, but experts believe that shortly after mankind began growing grains, beer production began on a domestic scale. Archaeologists have found evidence of ancient beer in China, Egypt, Europe and many other places.

5000 B.C.E REALLY OLD BEER A hymn to Ninkasi, the Sumerian goddess of beer, is inscribed on a tablet, and contains the oldest known beer recipe. It shows the early connection between bread and beer and women’s domestic role in supplying both. Ancient Mesopotamian beer is made by making bread, called bappir, to supply the yeast, combining it with malted and soaked grains, grapes, dates, honey and water, then leaving the mixture to ferment.

1800 B.C.E BEER FIT FOR THE GODS

Beer is so valuable that it is sometimes used to pay workers’ wages.

There were stores within of wheat and barley and vegetables, and wine made from barley in great big bowls; the grains of barley malt lay floating in the beverage up to the lip of the vessel, and reeds lay in them, some longer, some shorter, without joints; when you were thirsty you must take one of these into your mouth, and suck. The beverage without a mixture of water was very strong, and of a delicious flavor to certain palates, but the taste must be acquired.

Xenophon, an ancient Greek historian, writes about ancient beer production in Armenia as the first confirmed large-scale instance of brewing:

500 B.C.E WILL WORK FOR BEER

The first documented cultivation of hops is recorded in Germany. During the course of the next several hundred years, hops, which are coneshaped flowers of the hop plant, will begin to be used exclusively in beer production, replacing gruit, which is a mixture of other bitter herbs. Hops are used for their bitter flavor, which balance the sweetness of beer, and also have an antibacterial effect on beer that helps preserve it and prevent spoilage.

736 HOPS TO IT

The Weihenstephan Abbey, a Benedictine monastery in Germany, begins brewing beer. It’s believed to be the oldest continuously operating brewery in the world. During this period, beer production begins to shift from individual families to centralized locations. Monasteries become beer hubs, and monks become brew masters as a way to be hospitable to traveling pilgrims.

1040 THE DRUNKEN MONK

56 POUR. Germans develop the lager style of brewing. Instead of fermenting at room temperature, lagers are stored in cool places to mature.

1420 GERMAN BEER (WHO WOULD HAVE GUESSED?)

As beer becomes an increasingly commercialized commodity, the “Reinheitsgebot” is instituted in Bavaria. It’s a beer purity law that states beer can be made only with barley, hops and water, though it is later amended to include yeast and wheat. It is designed to prevent harmful methods of preserving beer, like soot and stinging nettle, and to ensure there is no competition for other grains like rye or wheat that are used by bakers to make bread.

1516 IS THAT SOOT IN MY BEER?

Heinrich Knaust writes the first extensive book on brewing in Germany, calling the Hamburg beer “the queen of all other wheat beers.”

1573 A BOOK ON BEER

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Colonists brew the first beer in the New World in Virginia, but they send requests for better beer from England to be shipped over instead.

1587 NEW WORLD BEER

The first commercial brewery opens in the United States in New York.

1612 COMMERCIALIZING BEER IN THE U.S.

The Industrial Revolution modernizes beer production with the invention of commercial refrigeration in 1860, pasteurization in 1876 and automated bottling in 1903. In 1880, there are approximately 2,300 breweries in the United States. Because of the conglomeration of many breweries over the 1870s, this number is significantly lower than it had been in previous years.

1800s THE BEER INDUSTRY GROWS

58 POUR.

The United States ratifies the 21st Amendment in December 1933, which repeals the 18th Amendment.

In March of 1933, President Franklin Roosevelt signs a law that allows for 3.2 percent alcohol content beer to be sold in the United States.

The United States ratifies the 18th Amendment in January 1919, which outlaws the manufacture, transportation and sale of alcohol. This is brought on by the concern of the prohibitionists, mainly religious people, that alcohol and drunkenness threaten the nation. This effectively stops the craft brewing industry, at least officially. Beer is not as easy to make in secret as liquor because of the large equipment needed to produce it. Any beer made has to have a 0.5 percent alcohol content or less.

1919 - 1933 PROHIBITION

In 1956, development of Cascade hops begins, but it isn’t until 1972 that it is released to brewers. This hop becomes an integral part of the American small-batch brewery. It’s known for its floral, citrus and spicy flavor and aroma.

1972 CASCADE HOPS

Hosted in Boulder, Colorado, the first Great American Beer Festival features 20 breweries serving 35 different beers. In October 2016, the festival is held in Denver, Colorado, and features more than 800 breweries serving more than 3,800 beers. This annual event is attended by approximately 60,000 people.

Bill Readdy, an astronaut and homebrewer, brings an unofficial package of hops into space aboard a space shuttle, Discovery. The Cascade hops circle the earth 128 times and are later used to make beer

by Spinnakers Brewpub in Victoria, British Columbia.

1982 THE FIRST GREAT AMERICAN BEER FESTIVAL 1992 HOPS GOES TO SPACE!

SPRING 2017 59

In its “Year in Review,” Smithsonian Magazine states: “The best beers in the world today are being made in the U.S.”

2008 BEER MAKES THE U.S. PROUD

2012 2013 2014

Craft breweries make up 7.8 percent by volume and 14.3 percent by dollars of the market share of beer in the United States.

Craft breweries make up 6.5 percent by volume and 10.2 percent by dollars of the market share of beer in the United States.

Craft breweries make up 11 percent by volume and 19.3 percent by dollars of the market share of beer in the United States.

The number of brewers in the United States reaches 4,144, which beats the all-time record of 4,131 in 1873. “This is a remarkable achievement, and it’s just the beginning,” says Bart Watson, chief economist of the Brewers Association in a press release. “Beer has always been a hallmark of this country and it is even more apparent today as America’s beer culture continues to expand.”

BY THE NUMBERS

2015

Craftbeer.com estimates that around 424,000 jobs are currently being provided by craft brewers in the United States

2016 DRINK AND GET PAID

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I

n Charleston, South Carolina, the Charleston Distilling Co. is bringing back the American tradition of craft liquor.

“Craft liquor was a huge part of American living back in the frontier days,” said Christopher Parise, the 26-year-old master distiller at the Charleston Distilling Co. Parise has worked at the Charleston Distilling Co. for one year and is responsible for overseeing day-to-day operations, fermentation, bottling and other tasks.

Parise said that craft distilling isn’t all that different from craft brewing.

“Essentially what I do is make a large vat of beer and then distill the alcohol out of it,” he said. “But the idea and the mentality behind it is pretty close; you don’t have massive marketing companies going out and promoting your product.

“The only major difference is the really huge brand loyalty problem that we run into. People want to try local beer, but people aren’t as interested in local liquor,” he said.

He also said that he sees people’s interest in trying craft liquor changing, and he expects to see drastic change over the next 10 years.

“A lot (of craft distilleries) across the country are popping up,” he said. “In Charleston, there are three distilleries around our size.”

But the competition doesn’t faze Parise.

“The more the merrier, essentially. If you’re adding quality products to the market, it’s only going to bring more people to what you’re trying to do,” he said.

He said state law determines what the market for craft liquor can look like.

“South Carolina had very tough laws in the past. Other states, like California and New York, are more progressive.”

It wasn’t long ago that craft distilleries like the Charleston Distilling Co. were difficult to start up in South Carolina. In 2009, the South Carolina General Assembly enacted a law to allow for small distilleries to have tasting rooms and to lower the licensing fee for craft distilleries. This change enabled Stephen Hellman, a Chicagoan who worked in the stock market and always wanted to

open a distillery, to open the Charleston Distilling Co. in 2013.

In February 2014, the company started distilling, and it was open to the public in July 2014.

Parise became interested in craft distilling because of his background in culinary arts, where he would take local products and turn them into dishes people want to eat.

“I like the idea of making local products, the craft to it, making something that you’re going to drink because that’s what you want to drink.

Really getting people into what they want, not what the marketing ploys of these massive companies are,” said Parise.

Essentially what I do is make a large vat of beer and then distill the alcohol out of it.

He said the No. 1 reason people should buy craft liquor is to support local businesses.

“Why buy a bottle of vodka that was made in an ethanol facility halfway across the world when you can support someone local?”

And the Charleston Distilling Co. does their best to keep all parts of the process local.

“The grain we get comes from a farmer, so that helps him. We have almost no waste here – we give our leftovers from our milled grain to a farmer who feeds it to his animals,” said Parise.

“Keeping the money local instead of sending it off to the larger corporations is a good thing in my mind,” he said.

“A lot of people are also generally interested in alcohol and how it’s made. Drinking brings people together. People are excited to go to the distillery and see how it was made. It helps the local community stay together instead of (helping) corporate America.”

Recommendation from the Pro Parise’s favorite liquor that the Charleston Distilling Co. makes is Jasper’s Dry Gin – a dry, American-style gin.

“I think that the gin I make is really well rounded. It starts junipery and then gets citrusy and floral. It’s 94 proof, so it’s really good for making cocktails. I drink it with a lemon twist and ice. It’s very versatile.”

Take a Sip (Like the Experts) Parise shared the best way to really taste all of the flavors of your liquor. I know what you’re thinking, because I thought so too — no one drinks liquor to really taste it. In fact, most people would rather not.

But with the right liquor (and I recommend a bottle from the Charleston Distilling Co.), you can discover flavors in your alcohol that you never would have noticed otherwise. If you’re willing to give it a shot, check out these steps: 1. Drink from a dry, clean glass. The ideal glass has slanted sides that can funnel the aromas towards your nose.

2. Don’t drink coffee, brush your teeth or put on perfume right before you drink because it’ll affect your sense of smell.

3. Don’t pour a huge amount in the cup or swirl it like you would with wine. Swirling it will bring the alcohol to the top, so when you try to smell it, the alcohol will overpower the other aromas.

4. Don’t smell it like wine or beer, sticking your nose all the way in the glass - it can make you go “nose blind” because you’ll burn your follicles! Keep the glass just below the top of your lip to take a sniff.

5. Take a small sip to coat your mouth, and then a larger sip. Try to distinguish what kind of flavors are in the liquor.

Pro Tip: Keep in mind how you like to drink your alcohol, so you can taste it how you’re actually going to drink it. So, if you like your vodka chilled with ice, then be sure to taste your vodka that way too.

How It’s Made Ever wonder how your liquor gets made? The Charleston Distilling Co. lays it all out right on its website: https://www.charlestondistilling.com/. Here’s a quick overview: 1. Local corn, rye, wheat and millet are milled in their own millhouse.

2. The milled grains are added to carbon-filtered water in the steam heated mash tank and are cooked for several hours. They are then cooled to the perfect temperature so that the yeast can begin the fermentation process.

3. The mash rests for up to a week so the yeast can eat the sugar to create the ethanol alcohol.

4. The ethanol is completely separated from the other compounds in the mash.

5. The ethanol is barrel-aged until ready to drink to create different flavors and draw out the taste of the ingredients used.

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Bottle Shops: the hidden gems of the craft beer world Story by Sarah Vassello | Design by Brittany Belisle

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hen walking into Sam’s Bottle Shop in Durham, North Carolina, it’s not hard to see why Beer Advocate, a beer review site and community, rates the bottle shop at 100 percent and classifies the shop as “world class.

There are at least two other bottle shops – stores where consumers can buy individual bottles of beer from local and regional breweries outside of the standard six pack to consume at home – in the area. But none are quite like Sam’s.

As heavy metal music plays from the speakers hanging from the ceiling, all types of men — some 20-somethings, some in their 60s and beyond — meander through the open store with individual glass bottles in their hands.

By carrying the bottles around, they are not preventing others from purchasing a specific type of beer, either local or regional — of which there are many in the shop. There are duplicates of each bottle by the multiples. There are likely more than 2,500 different types of beer, wine or ciders in the building.

A parking space outside speaks to the store’s traffic — a sign above the spot reads “Hop in, hop out.”

Bottle shops have a lot in common with the foam at the top of a brew — both are underrated, often overlooked and, at times, disregarded entirely.

But the stores, like the foam, have much to contribute to the brew world. While it’s hard to say how many bottle shops there are in the world, it’s undeniable that they play a role in the emergence of the craft beer scene in the past 10 years.

MY FAVORITE PART OF THE JOB IS BEING ABLE TO TRY NEW BEERS AND HELPING PEOPLE EXPAND THEIR PALATES. Sam’s Bottle Shop is one of the best known bottle shops in the United States, and one of the foremost in the South.

But it wasn’t always a bottle shop. In fact, it only grew into one in the 1990s.

It started out as a gas station in 1946, becoming a social spot for Durhamites. In 1947, the store became Sam’s Quik Shop, selling

newspapers and magazines — but it was also when they started selling beer and wine. In the 1990s, the store was transformed into a specialty beer and wine store.

Now, it’s become a way for the community to support the emerging craft beer scene.

“It’s the best way for people to get an education on where the industry came from,” said Phil Cooper, the assistant manager of the shop. “It’s better than going to just a bar because there’s a better selection.”

He said that he’s had many customers learn what kinds of beer they like — trying their first IPA after only drinking pilsners, for example.

“My favorite part of the job is being able to try new beers and helping people expand their palates,” he said.

And while bottle shops are few and far between, Cooper said the market is becoming more competitive as the shops become more popular — especially in the past 2½ years.

But he’s optimistic about the shop’s future, and with good reason.

After over 50 years, it’s probably safe to assume, just like the foam in a beer, Sam’s Bottle Shop isn’t going anywhere.

BEYOND SAM’S While Sam’s Bottle Shop is one of the premiere bottle shops in the Southeast, there are some other great options to consider.

In Asheville, North Carolina, stop by the tiny Bruisin’ Ales — consistently ranked one of the best bottle shops in the world.

Most recently, Draft magazine named it one of the best in the country, beating out shops in craft beer havens like Colorado and the West Coast.

Atlanta’s Hop City also is well-reviewed, earning the title “World Class” on BeerAdvocate.

“I’ve only been to one other place that rivaled the inventory of this one,” wrote commenter Johntomk on July 26, 2015.

Although often overlooked, Tennessee’s Craft Brewed in Nashville is an excellent example of

celebrating local beer. Offering over 30 beers on tap in addition to their selection of not only beer, but wines and liquors, it’s hard to find a shop with better variety.

Even more lowkey is Cottage Hill Package Store in Mobile, Alabama. Like Craft Brewed, the shop offers wine, liquor and tobacco, but its primary focus is on craft beer. They boast a selection ranging from Alabama beer to brews from as far as Japan.

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FAMILY FRIENDLY

PARTIES

How to keep the adults from leaving Story by Brianna Crane | Design by Claire Ebbitt

Keeping children entertained for more than half an hour is hard work. But what’s harder?

Entertaining adults and children in the same setting through the entirety of a party, which can last hours. But with a beer in hand and outdoor games, surviving Jenny’s 6th birthday might not be so bad.

Luckily, winter is coming to a close, and it’s finally comfortable to dine alfresco —sans winter coat — and chase the kids around the yard. Fresh air is great for everyone, and hosting your upcoming event in your own backyard, whether it is your kid’s birthday party or an impromptu block party barbecue, makes your job a lot easier.

Looking back, I recall several Saturdays when my mom woke up, got ready and drove me to a friend’s party. She spent her only day off hanging out around my friends and their parents, just to make me happy.

From bouncy houses to pony rides, the kids were always covered, but all the parents could do was feign interest in the other kids and dab the grease off of pizza before splurging. Most of us can agree that the interests and tastes of a 5-year-old aren’t that of a 35-year-old.

If you want families to attend your party, you

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need to cater to both age groups. If you anticipate adults attending, remember that they’re spending their day off in your backyard, and they want to have fun too.

IF YOU WANT FAMILIES TO ATTEND YOUR PARTY, YOU NEED TO CATER TO BOTH AGE GROUPS. Impress your adult guests by offering beer or wine — think casual cocktail hour.

With that being said, no one should be tanked singing happy birthday to a 6-year-old, and each guest needs to be able to take care of his or her own child. To avoid any unfavorable situations, provide only two to three beers per guest, or one to two

glasses of wine. If you see someone consuming more than his or her share, tell that person that the rest is for the other guests.

Just because you’re doing pizza for kids doesn’t mean you have to do pizza for adults. Pair the food with the alcohol being served.

If you’re serving wine, opt for seasonal fruit, cheeses and light sandwiches. If you’re serving beer, consider sliders and a veggie tray. Serve a mixture of the two menus if you plan to serve beer and wine.

To execute the perfect party, everyone needs something to do. Giant Jenga and corn hole are easy outdoor games that adults can enjoy at their leisure. Playing music will liven the mood and add to the festive atmosphere. While the kids are busy whacking the piñata or watching a magic show, the adults can mingle around the snacks or team up for some competitive fun.

Don’t know how to balance mingling with the adults and taking care of the kids? Hire one or two babysitters to run stations for the kids — like a craft table or cupcake decorating. The adults will be able to relax more knowing their kid is being entertained and properly watched.

Expert party planning tips: Julie Tilsner, magazine writer and author of the best-seller “29 & Counting: A Chick’s Guide to Turning 30,” and Laurie DeEsch, mother of three and entertainer from Charlotte, North Carolina, give tips on how to keep the adults from leaving.

It’s OK to serve beer or wine at a children’s party – in moderation. And make it very clear that this isn’t a party for grownups. As host, you set the tone.

If you’re having an afternoon pool party for the kids, you can offer a bottle of beer or a glass of wine to your adult friends. But no, it’s not the place or time for that kegger or no-host cocktail bar. If you notice somebody drinking too much for the setting, step in and cut him or her off.

Now, how to keep alcohol out of reach of the little ones? Common sense rules the day: Keep beer and wine away from the cake and

present area.

Need a creative and stylish idea for keeping it out of their reach? Do just that: Keep it out of reach and keep your eye on it. Don’t give the 4-year-olds any reason to think that the bottle is filled with delicious grape juice.

Always have a grownup monitoring the alcohol. No little kid is going to try the booze if he’s got plenty of soda, punch or other age-appropriate beverage at hand. Now the teenagers, that’s a different story for another time.

Julie Tilsner

Always serve wine; I never throw a party without it! Parties are also better when there are heavy appetizers and food for the adults — dips, jalapeño poppers, sliders, etc. And adult games — corn hole, darts, cards and even a football to toss around — help dads.

Sometimes you can even give parents a job, like taking pictures, judging a game or passing out refreshments. It sounds cheesy, but adults love photo booth props. If you include themed photo booth props, parents and kids will join in the fun.

Laurie DeEsch

Don’t know which beer or wine to serve?

Try these daytime options*: Wine:

Craft Beer:

• Montes Spring Harvest Sauvignon Blanc, 2015

• SweetWater Tackle Box

• Abbeyville Fume Blanc

• Sierra Nevada Estate Homegrown Ale

• Sobon Estate Viognier • Armani Soave Incontro

• New Belgium Fat Tire

• Royal Chenin Blanc • Thirsty Dog Irish Setter Red Ale

*These can be purchased at Total Wine & More, online or in stores.

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Story by Janna Childers | Design by Paige Ehlers In 1994, three men decided they wanted to brew their own beer. Twenty-two years later, their humble beginnings have grown into a staple in the Southeastern craft brewing catalog.

Highland Brewing Company was the first legal craft brewery in Asheville, North Carolina, known by many today as “beer city.”

In 1994, Oscar Wong answered the call of one of his friends, an award-winning brewer, who wanted help starting a business. The two of them, along with a third helper, opened Highland Brewing Company in downtown Asheville.

Since then, the original brewery has expanded, and now people who enjoy Highland’s beer can visit their tasting room or hold a party or wedding at their new event space.

“In the beginning, the

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toughest part was to convince people that this different beer was worth trying. I had friends tell me that I was going to go broke trying to sell that stuff,” said Wong, founder and vice president of Highland Brewing. “Well, fast-forward to the opposite extreme, where it’s so ingrained into the community and the region that there’s a ton of competition.”

While the company has significantly grown since its start, it has stayed embedded in the Asheville community and in the Wong family.

Leah Wong Ashburn, Wong’s daughter, was brought onto the team in 2011 and became president of the company in January 2015.

But the job wasn’t just handed to her.

Ashburn graduated from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1992, and she asked her dad for a job in 1994 when the company started.

But he turned her down.

“I was a Carolina grad, so I thought I was pretty cool,” Ashburn said. “In hindsight, it was definitely the right decision, and he wanted me to find my own way.”

About eight years later, Wong offered Ashburn a job in sales. This time, Ashburn turned down her dad.

“And that was because, (I was) living in Charlotte, young, single and independent, and my job was paying me really well and at that time, that was my biggest goal, financial independence, and I knew that beer is really cool, but it doesn’t pay as

well,” Ashburn said. “So, it wasn’t a perfect alignment.”

Finally, after 16 years, they both agreed, and Ashburn joined the team.

“I’ve since learned that…it is such a right decision to let family members find their own way before they join a family business,” she said.

Highland Brewing Company sells beer in 10 states in the eastern United States. People throughout the Southeast are fans of their staple brew, the Highland Gaelic Ale. But, even though the company has a wide distribution, Ashburn is proud to be a part of the Asheville community.

“Highland did a great part in the development of Asheville downtown,” Ashburn said. “And that’s a huge deal for this mountain town that didn’t have a lot of industries. It ends up being a job-creator, and there are supporting industries of like beer-bus tours that are going around every day, and more people going to restaurants and staying in hotels because they heard that this is

beer city. So, it’s been great to be a start in that community, that dad and the team started.”

Wong has seen many changes in the beer industry and appreciates the growing support of local breweries.

“The craft segment itself is starting to mature a little bit,” Wong said. “Instead of people with crazy dreams of going national or something, there’s more of a local element, where people are more supportive because each brewery is local.”

Ashburn and Wong love their job and are grateful they get to do what they do every day.

Ashburn said, “I think my favorite part of it is we make a product that makes people happy. So, when people come here, they come here already in a good frame of mind; they’re already excited to be here.”

And if making beer for a living didn’t already sound like a fantasy, Wong added: “I’m living the American dream. I have a keg that never runs dry.”

PHOTOS PROVIDED BY PAIGE EHLERS

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QA &

WITH MICHAEL O’CONNOR STORY BY JANNA CHILDERS | DESIGN BY RACHEL GARZARELLI

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MICHAEL O’CONNOR KNOWS A LOT ABOUT BEER. HE WAS THE MANAGER AND BEER BUYER AT BAILEY’S TAPROOM IN PORTLAND, OREGON, A FAMOUS BEER BAR IN TEH CITY WITH THE MOST BREWERIES IN THE WORLD. O’CONNOR HAS ALSO WRITTEN MANY ARTICLES EXPLAINING THE TRENDS AND TASTES OF THE CRAFT BEER WORLD.

POUR staff writer, Janna Childers, sat down with O'Connor. Here are some excerpts from their conversation.

affect it, and different hops and different malt bills, all kinds of different recipes. It really is just kind of starting broad and then asking a lot of questions.

JC: How did you become interested in writing about beer?

JC: What’s your favorite piece that you’ve written?

O’Connor: I think the same reason I was interested in beer in the first place. I was trying to figure it out. When you come into beer from the outside, it’s very daunting because there’s so many different styles, and there’s all these kinds of flavors. When I grew up, the only real options seemed to be the mainstream macrolagers, so Budweiser, Miller, Coors and those kinds of things. I had tried those. I thought they tasted terrible, so I didn’t think I was interested in beer. When I discovered craft beer, it was just like lightning went off in my head, and I didn’t understand it. I didn’t understand how something could have so much flavor and be so different from what I was used to drinking.

And so, really, writing about it was just sort of a natural, no-brainer.

JC: How do you learn about craft beer?

O’Connor: The best way is to go to a craft beer bar. You find a good place and you start going just to see what you like. After you’ve tried new things and you’ve sort of figured out what you like and what you don’t like, I think the next step, which a lot of people don’t take, is asking yourself, well, why do I like this and why don’t I like that? If you make that second step, you then begin to identify the flavor profiles that you really enjoy and the flavor profiles that you don’t enjoy. Then you start to ask the questions, well, why does this particular beer have this flavor profile and why does that beer have that flavor profile? Then you’re starting to identify different yeast strains that might

O’Connor: I did this piece called “The Death of Style.” I started to recognize that beers were coming out that had no style whatsoever— they were almost like Frankenstein-monster beers. They were just random things put together in a channel. Some of these were really interesting, really fascinating. Some of them are delicious. More often than not, they’re more like science experiments than actually thought-out recipes. I was just trying to get to the bottom of, if we lose the definitions of these styles, how do we still talk about beer.

Without having a common language that we can all refer to and speak to, if we want to bring new people into beer, doesn’t it become more difficult for them to get past the already steep learning curve of understanding all of this stuff?

Or does just flavor alone win out, and when you come up with something that’s interesting, that’s different, and you give it to somebody and they like it, is that really enough? It was me warring with both sides of my understanding of beer, my love of beer. For both the crazy, wild stuff that defies categorization, and also the side of me that is more empirical and wants to be able to say that this fits into this category and that category and this is the kind of beer you’re having.

JC: What’s going on in the craft beer world in Portland?

O’Connor: Portland, in particular, has more breweries than any other city in the world. And the real trend out here that you see are toward all sorts of experimental hops. There’s a huge hop-growing area in this region of the country. Discovering new hops, figuring out if they taste good, how they might work in an IPA, how they might work in other beers, and seeing what the public is captivated with. The other thing that’s happening is you’re seeing a lot of these things that defy categorization. Beers that almost try to replicate another kind of insane flavor. I just had a beer, for instance, that tasted just like tequila.

CHECK OUT “THE DEATH OF STYLE” AND OTHER WORKS BY O’CONNOR ON HIS WEBSITE WWW.OCONNOBLOG.COM SPRING 2017 69

r e p a e h C n a th y p a r e Th d n a t n i a p e h t o t n i k o o l A sip industry Guire eLaney Mc D y b y r to S Weinberger te t e ll o C y Design b

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In today’s era of DIYers and Pinterest lovers, a taste for arts and crafts – and wine – has flooded the nation.

If you haven’t yet heard of “paint and sip,” it’s only a matter of time. Paint and sip studios offer relaxed group painting classes with an “art is for everyone” mentality. The classes typically involve two hours of painting, with step-by-step instructions provided by an artist, and as much snacking and drinking as you see fit.

Most studios have a BYOB policy but provide corkscrews and cups. With low start-up costs and high success rates, paint and sip franchises are opening at a rapid pace. Today, about 1,000 of these studios exist throughout the United States and Canada.

Headquartered in Raleigh, North Carolina, Wine and Design is the country’s leading paint and sip franchise. The original Wine and Design studio opened in 2010 and began to franchise just a year later. Today, the company has 71 locations across the United States, with 24 in North Carolina alone.

“We’re not trying to teach people to be artists,” said Harriet Mills, founder and CEO of Wine and Design. “It’s a party, and at the end of the night you go home with a painting,” she said.

This seems to be the mindset of many paint and sip studios. Most people go for the creative expression, to enjoy the process of painting without the pressure to create a masterpiece. The kicker is that they leave with a painting that is often times far more impressive than what they thought they could produce.

Angela Stewart and her two sisters opened paint and sip studio Bless Your Heart Wine and Art in Kernersville, North Carolina this past June.

“None of us drink,” Stewart said, “and I would say only about 60 percent of the people who come in here bring wine. The others might bring a soda or something, but the main focus is on painting.”

After just one visit to a paint and sip class, Stewart and her sisters fell in love with the idea and opened their own studio. “We enjoy art and painting but, even more so, entertaining,” Stewart said.

For her, the best part of owning a studio is seeing the joy in people’s eyes as they create something they’re proud of. Whether people attend paint and sip classes for the creative release, the anti-bar social scene or the pride that comes with bringing home a completed work of art, one thing’s for sure: They keep pouring in.

But why the wine?

Whether downing a bottle to forget an ex or sipping a glass to take the edge off, people have been using “wine therapy” for centuries. And, now that science has proved the benefits of creative expression, informal versions of art therapy have grown in popularity (hello, adult coloring books). So, it’s no surprise that the calming paint and sip classes are all the rage in the high-stress, fast-paced world most of us experience today.

Some argue that drinking wine makes painters bolder because, when you get a little tipsy, you forget to worry about making mistakes. It also adds to the laid-back tone of paint and sip classes.

However, drinking wine is certainly not a requirement for enjoying a paint and sip event.

SPRING 2017 71

Southeast Spring Edition

TATER TOTS & CRAFT BEER multiple locations

WORLD BEER FESTIVAL Columbia, SC

Story by Jack Clough Design by Isabella Lupoli

BREWGALOO Raleigh, NC

TATER TOTS & CRAFT BEER Dates and Locations:

CRAFT BREW RACES Savannah, GA

SWEETWATER 20TH ANNIVERSARY PARTY

Atlanta, GA

Florida: Jacksonville, April 1 Tampa , April 8 Orlando, April 15 West Palm Beach, April 22 Miami, April 29

Georgia: Atlanta , May 27

Location: Columbia, South Carolina

Age: Must be over 21.

BARNS AND BEER CRAFT BEER FESTIVAL

Odessa, FL

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Other Features: Live music, dogs on leashes permitted.

WORLD BEER FESTIVAL

Time: 3 p.m. to 6 p.m.

Jacksonville, FL

and is traveling to more than 35 cities in the next eight months. There are plenty of beers to choose from – usually around 40, depending on the city. There will also be about eight different tater tot creations to sample, developed in-house by highly skilled chefs.

North Carolina: Raleigh, May 13 Charlotte, May 20

Tennessee: Nashville, June 3

RIVERSIDE CRAFT BEER FESTIVAL

guide

Tickets: General admission is $33, and designated drivers can pay $25. Tickets MUST be purchased online; none will be sold at the event.

VIP: VIP tickets are $75 and will include access to VIP areas, a VIP bar and VIP tater tot lines.

Key Information: The Tater Tots & Craft Beer Festival was founded in 2015 to celebrate both tater tots and craft beer,

Date: February 2017

Age: Must be over 21.

Tickets: General admission is $40 online or $50 at the event.

VIP: VIP tickets are $85 and will give you access to a special selection of unique beers, the Belgian Bier Garden and the private VIP lounge.

Key Information: General admission tickets give you access to unlimited tastings from a selection of more than 200 beers. You can also take part in the Art of Beer Experience section, which includes beer ingredient samplings, pairings, educational seminars and brewery discussions.

Other Features: Live music, silent disco, wide selection of food and a Belgian Bier

Garden (general admission ticketholders can pay an extra $15 for Bier Garden entry).

SWEETWATER 20TH ANNIVERSARY PARTY

Age: Over 21, but minors will be permitted entry if accompanied by a parent or guardian

BREWGALOO

Date: February 19 2017

Date: April 21-22 2017

Location: Sweetwater Brewing Company, Atlanta, Georgia

Tickets: General admission is $35 online or $40 at the event. Designated drivers’ entry is free.

Location: Downtown Raleigh, North Carolina

Time: 2 p.m. to 6 p.m.

Time: Friday 21 6 p.m. to 10 p.m. Saturday 22, 2 p.m. to 10 p.m.

Age: Over 21, but minors will be permitted entry if accompanied by parent or guardian.

Age: Friday entrants must be over 21; Saturday open to the general public.

Tickets: $30 online or $40 at the door.

Tickets: Friday night $45, designated drivers get in free. Saturday is free – drink tickets can be purchased online or at the event.

Key Information: Brewgaloo is North Carolina’s largest craft beer festival. Friday night is a sampler event held in Raleigh’s City Plaza – one price to enter. On Saturday the whole of Fayetteville Street is closed off for a street party. There will be more than 90 breweries – anything from Red Oak Brewery to Sourwood Brewing Company.

Other Features: Over 50 food trucks including anything from barbeque to Greek food to Thai food, talks on brewing, live bands and DJs.

CRAFT BREW RACES Date: March 11 2017 Location: Savannah International Trade and Convention Center, Savannah, Georgia Time: Race starts at 12 p.m.

Festival 12.30 p.m. to 4 p.m.

Age: Must be over 21.

Tickets: $55 online; $65 at the event.

Designated driver tickets $15 online; $25 at the event.

Key Information: To spice things up a bit from your average craft beer festival, Craft Brew Races is a 5K race followed by a craft beer festival. The festival includes races all around the country, but kicks off in Savannah. Tickets include race entry, festival entry, a medal and a commemorative pint glass. If you do not want to participate in the race, you can purchase festival-only tickets.

The post-race beer festival will be held along the outdoor esplanade at the Savannah International Trade and Convention Center and will feature more than 35 breweries.

Other Features: Unlimited beer sampling, local food trucks, live music and a pint glass on exit.

Key Information: Celebrates 20 years of Heady Beers (a Sweetwater specialty).

Other Features: Food trucks and souvenir beer to-go.

BONITA BREW FEST Date: February 4, 2017 Location: Riverside Park, Bonita Springs, Florida

VIP: $50. Includes one-hour early admission and access to specialty beers.

Key Information: This is the fourth annual Riverside Craft Beer Festival, featuring more than 100 craft beers from local, regional and national breweries. All proceeds will benefit Community Hospice Pedscare, which provides comfort, care and support for children with life-threatening conditions.

Other Features: Live music, ten of Jacksonville’s best food trucks and nonrefundable tickets (rain or shine event).

BARNS AND BEER CRAFT BEER FESTIVAL Date: April 1 2017

Time: 4 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.

Location: Old McMicky’s Farm, Odessa, Florida

Age: Must be over 21.

Time: 7 p.m. to 10 p.m.

Tickets: General admission is $45 online and $50 at the event. Designated driver tickets are $15.

Age: Must be over 21.

VIP: Tickets are $70 and only 125 are available.

Includes one-hour early admission, exclusive beer offering, discount merchandise voucher and complimentary snacks and food.

Key Information: The proceeds of this event go to the Old McMicky’s Farm Foundation, which is dedicated to helping kids and families in the Tampa Bay community. It will be held on an old farm in a large red barn on a picturesque 40-acre lake, and festivalgoers will get to sample more than 75 craft beers and wine. Live music will be provided by Soul Circus Cowboys (voted best country band in Tampa Bay).

Key Information: There will be more than 200 beers from brewers like Tampa Bay Brewing Company and Green Man Brewing, and also ciders to sample. One hundred percent of proceeds from Bonita Brew will benefit Salt Warriors, a nonprofit organization that helps local charities, families and organizations. Twelve hundred general admission tickets will sell out.

Other Features: Unlimited sampling, eight food trucks including Sweet Odin’s Bakery and Nawty Hogg BBQ, live music and souvenir pint glasses.

RIVERSIDE CRAFT BEER FESTIVAL Date: February 25 2017 Location: Riverside Arts Market, Jacksonville, Florida Time: 4 p.m. to 7 p.m.

VIP: Includes one-hour early admission.

Other Features: Live music, local food trucks, games such as the egg races, a barn maze, silent auctions, a mechanical bull, lighted hayride and photo opportunities with hay boards, photo boards, farm animal faces and more.

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BRINGING YOU THE TASTES OF A CITY

Cooking with

beer and

WINE

Beer and wine lovers of America, I’m here to present a novel idea to you: Don’t drink beer and wine. Eat it.

Story by Logan Ulrich | Design by Allegra Cook

XX | APRIL 2014

SPRING 2017 75

Chefs throughout the country have experimented with a host of delicious dishes using your favorite adult beverages.

The flavors that can be created during the brewing process translate wonderfully to cooked dishes. And fortunately for me — or unfortunately for you, perhaps — cooking removes my least favorite thing about beer and wine. The alcohol. To show you just how much fun cooking with alcohol can be, I prepared a three-course meal using either beer or wine in each dish. My wife served as a taste-tester for my experimentation with little convincing (after spending a semester eating mostly cereal and EasyMac, my culinary skills sealed the deal for her). Here’s how it turned out:

What’s Cooking?

Beer-battered Green Beans Pilsner beer, flour, salt and pepper are mixed into a batter. Cleaned green beans are then dipped into the batter, fried to a golden brown in vegetable oil, and served with ranch dressing for a crisp snack that’s healthier than it tastes.

Why it Works Beer is a superior liquid component in batter for three reasons: carbon dioxide, foaming agents and alcohol. The carbonation in beer is provided by carbon dioxide (CO2), and CO2 is a gas. Gases tend to dissolve at low temperatures, which means that as soon as the beer batter is put into the hot oil, the solubility of the CO2 increases and bubbles froth in the batter. This causes the batter to expand as it cooks and gives the batter a lacy, crispy texture that’s light instead of heavy.

This strategy works hand-in-hand with the foaming agents in beer. When certain types of beer are poured, the foam that sits at the top of the glass is called the head. Those bubbles last longer because of proteins that occur naturally in beer, or other ingredients added by brewers trying to create a heady beer, that coat the film around the bubbles. Soda and champagne, while carbonated, lack those elements, which is why beer works better in batter.

The foaming agents also help the batter act as a heat insulator for whatever it is it coats, making the cooking process gentler. That’s how the green beans can retain their fresh-from-the-garden flavor. The alcohol in the batter from the beer also helps this process. Alcohol

76 POUR.

evaporates faster than water, drying out and cooking the batter faster and making it easier not to overcook the food.

What the Wife Says I feel like they remind me of some really yummy appetizer you get at a steakhouse, like an onion ring or a blooming onion. Only it’s beans, so maybe I get to feel less bad about eating a fried food.

What’s Cooking?

Sautéed Chicken with Shiitake Mushrooms and White Wine Cream Sauce over Farfalle Chicken breasts are diced, seasoned and lightly coated with flour, then sautéed with garlic, onion, herbs and mushrooms to create a homey and earthy flavor.

Sauvignon Blanc, chicken broth and half-and-half are added and reduced to form a sauce, and the dish is topped with fresh Parmesan cheese.

Why it Works Wine has three main uses in cooking.

It can be used as a marinade, as a cooking liquid or as a flavoring in a finished dish. All three serve the same function of intensifying, enhancing or accenting the flavors of whatever dish it’s used in. As the alcohol evaporates and the wine reduces, the flavors are intensified.

A general rule of thumb is not to use a wine you wouldn’t drink yourself. It’s also not necessary to use a top-quality wine in cooking. Cooking intensifies whatever flavors are already present in wine, so it won’t cover up for a bad wine. On the other hand, a $10 bottle you like will do the same thing in your dish as a $100 bottle.

In this dish, the white wine serves as an acidic component that “cuts” the richness of the mushrooms and cream while pairing well with the chicken. White wines that are dry and crisp work better, as varieties that are sweeter or oaky can throw off the flavor of a dish with sweetness or bitterness. Out of the dry white wines, Sauvignon Blanc has the most acidity, which works well with the richness of the cream sauce.

nearly boils, then pouring it over chopped bittersweet chocolate and stirring to combine. After cooling, the icing is spread over the cake.

What the Wife Says It feels like something your Italian grandmother makes so you can feel better — minus the cash gift. It reminded me of fettucine alfredo.

chocolate in the cake and the icing to create layers of rich flavor. The carbonation in beer also aids in the baking process, making a fluffy cake that can stand up well to the boldness of the chocolate.

What’s Cooking?

Chocolate Cake with Chocolate Stout, Raspberry Filling with Moscato and Chocolate Ganache.

Butter and stout are simmered together in a pan, mixed with cocoa powder, then added to a whipped egg and sour cream mixture. The wet ingredients are folded with the dry ingredients and the batter is cooked on a sheet pan, cooled, then cut into squares for layering.

The raspberry filling is made with raspberries, cornstarch, lemon juice, Moscato and sugar, and is simmered together before cooling and spreading between the cake layers. The chocolate ganache icing is made by simmering whipping cream until it

Why it Works This dessert brings principles from the first two courses together into one beautiful, tasty harmony. Stout beers are noted for their rich coffee and chocolate-like flavors, which match up well with the

Red berries with chocolate is one of my favorite food pairings of all time. In a similar vein to how acidity from the white wine was used to counterbalance the richness of the cream and earthiness of the mushrooms in the main course, the raspberry filling is used to provide a tart balance to the chocolate cake.

Raspberries are more tart than other berries, such as strawberries or blueberries, and the lemon juice accents that flavor, while the Moscato — a naturally sweet wine — becomes even sweeter as it reduces to bring out the fruitiness of the berry.

What the Wife Says It’s like a spongey, chocolate pillow for my tongue (after scoffing at the idea of cake for breakfast).

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this beer was a person, { Ifit wouldn’t hang out with you. }

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