CALENDAR As you'll see form the festivals calendar , there are a lot of upcoming beer festivals. hopefully, one is near you. Worth noting is the emergence of 3 new festival this year (Greenville SC, Nashville TN and Myrtle Beach SC). We think this bodes well for the art of craft brewing. Additional details and festival websites can be found on the Beer South Calendar. 6/29 - 2nd Shenandoah Valley Beer & Wine Festival - Elkton VA This was a new one to us, and it looks like a good one - beer and wine! If you were not aware of it, central Virginia has become something of a noted boutique wine-producing region. And the craft brewers ain't bad. 7/6 - Old Dominion Beer Fest Series - Ashburn VA The continuation of their summer-long mini-fests. 7/12 - 8th International Beer & Food Festival - Jacksonville FL 7/26-28 - Oregon Beer Festival - Portland OR This is one of the eventual must-do's for all festival trekkies. 7/27 - 1st Music City Brewers Festival - Nashville TN Another new southern festival in the heart of music country sponsored by Clear Channel Communications. Look for 20+ craft brewers. 8/3 - Old Dominion Beer Fest Series - Ashburn VA The last in their summer series. 8/17 - 5th Microfestivus - Roanoke VA A craft-beer fest that continues to expand in the heart of Virginia's central valley area. 8/24 - 1st Myrtle Beach Beer Festival - Myrtle Beach SC And yet one more new festival, in the heart of the Grand Strand. 8/24 - 9th Southern Brewer's Festival - Chattanooga TN 9/4 - 8 - National Brewery Collectibles CanVention - Lexington KY While this is not technically a craft beer event, brewerania (the collecting of anything related to beer) is a big deal among a lot of people. It should be fun to see what your attic could look like. 9/14 - 6th Great Smokies Brewgrass Festival - Asheville NC One of the most-anticipated southern festivals, this year with headliner Tony Trischka re-scheduled. Last year's festival not only when on, but attracted more people than ever, just four days after September 11. 9/21 - World Beer Festival - Durham NC One of the South's largest festival continues to get bigger, if not better, with increased emphasis on regional craft brewers. 9/27 - Brewer's Ball - Atlanta GA Get out your fancy duds for this hoity-toity homage to local craft brewers. |
RESOURCES Thanks to the contributions of several shutterbugs, we have pictures of the following recent beer festivals: the Orlando (FL) International Beer Festival, the Southeastern Microbrewer's Festival - Chapel Hill NC, the Hollywood (FL) Beerfest, the Greenville (SC) International Beer Festival, and the Knoxville (TN) Brewers' Jam. You may find them at Beer South Pix. |
NEWS The 2002 World Beer Cup winners list has just been issued and Southern brewers took home a total of 9 medals: 1 Gold, 5 Silver, and 3 Bronze. Congrats to all! Category: Vienna-Style Lager - 17 Entries Bronze: Vienna Lager - Gordon Biersch Brewpubs / Chattanooga TN Category: English-Style India Pale Ale - 12 Entries Silver St. George IPA - St. George Brewing Company / Hampton VA Category: (Special) Best Bitter - 11 Entries Silver: ESB - Sweetwater Brewing Company / Atlanta GA Category: Robust Porter - 30 Entries Silver: Billy Bowlegs Buffalo Beer - Spanish Springs Brewing Company / The Villages FL Category: Brown Porter - 20 Entries Silver: Exodus Porter - Sweetwater Brewing Company / Atlanta GA Category: Sweet Stout - 11 Entries Gold: Iron Horse Stout - Gordon Biersch Brewpubs / Chattanooga TN Category: South German-Style Weizenbock/Weissbock - 10 Entries Bronze: St. Nick's Weizenbock - Sweetwater Tavern & Brewery / Centreville VA Category: Irish-Style Red Ale - 15 Entries Silver: Red Hills Amber - Buckhead Brewery & Grill / Stockbridge GA Bronze: Amber Ale - Starr Hill Restaurant & Brewery / Charlottesville VA ----- Rock Bottom is the nation's top-selling brewpub chain The Institute for Brewing Studies has releasd its annual review of industry statistics and determined that Rock Bottom Restaurants, Inc., with 31 locations is the top-selling brewpub concern in the USA, selling over 39,342 barrels of beer. (A barrel contains 31 gallons of beer.) The institute's list for 2001's top Brewpub Groups (Measured by total volume of beer sold; not including production-only breweries.) 1. Rock Bottom Restaurants Does not include Atlanta & Charlotte locations, see Gordon Biersch. 2. Hops Restaurant, Bar and Brewery - based in Tampa FL Over 70 locations, around 50 of which are in the South 3. Gordon Biersch Brewery Restaurants - based in Chattanooga TN Includes Big River Grille & Brewing Works Brewpubs, Rock Bottom Breweries of Charlotte and Atlanta, A1A Alehouse, Ragtime Tavern and Seven Bridges Grille & Brewery 4. McMenamin's Breweries 5. Big Horn Brewery 6. BJ's Restaurant and Brewery 7. Big Buck Brewery and Steakhouse One potential location has been long-planned for Nashville 8. John Harvard's Brewhouse Their 2 Southern locations in Atlanta closed last year. 9. Wynkoop Brewing Company 10. Pyramid Alehouse ----- Hofbräuhaus sets Newport, Kentucky, groundbreaking The Hofbräuhaus has announced plans to break ground May 24 on its first U.S. location in Newport, Kentucky, just across the river from Cincinnati, Ohio. The Hofbräuhaus, which also has locations in Munich and Hong Kong, will feature a 2,450-square-foot brewery, seating for up to 268 in the beer hall, a beer restaurant with seating for 108 and an outside beer garden that will hold 344. The 13,315 sq. ft. facility will be situated across the street from Newport on the Levee. "The prospect of having another major venue coming into our area continues our development momentum," said Newport Mayor Tom Guidugli in a news release. "With the obvious tourism attraction of a Hofbräuhaus, we look forward to a real cosmopolitan theme in our entertainment district." Construction will begin in July, with a target completion date of December. Source: Cincinnati Business Courier ----- America's beer history featured in national magazine The current edition of American Heritage magazine has a very good in-depth cover story on the history of beer in America. Along with the article is a review of the birth of craft brewing andd Michael Jackson's list of the top ten American brews. We suggestyou head to your local newsstand to pick up a copy (US$4.99), which includes several photographs, including one Barley's Taproom in Asheville NC, not contained in the online article, which may be found at: http://www.americanheritage.com/AMHER/2002/03/beer.shtml July is American Beer month And finally, numerous bars and brewing establishment are planning month-long celebration of American Beer month with specials and celebrations. For more info, go to: http://www.americanbeermonth.org |
PROFILES IN BREWING by Bobby Bush, author of Beer & Loafing Jamie Bartholomaus - Olde Hickory Brewery - Hickory, North Carolina Born in Queens NY, but raised in Delaware and Pennsylvania, Jamie Bartholomaus attended the University of Georgia in Athens, choosing anthropology as his major. Moving from dormitory to apartment for the sophomore semesters, Jamie and his roommates spontaneously began homebrewing. The local homebrew supply store, became their hangout. When the store owner left to brew for Atlanta's Blind Man Brewing in 1994 or so, Jamie followed as an unpaid assistant who became intimately involved with the labor-intensive bottling process. Graduation in June 1996 changed the game a bit when the underpaid gopher became a full fledged though still insufficiently compensated Blind Man brewer. Just a few months later he found a real job digging through historic sites for Southeast Archeological Services. But beer still pumped steadily through his veins. So when the head brewer slot at Vista Brewing in Columbia SC opened, Jamie jumped at the chance to re-enter the brewing world. Leaving bones and artifacts behind, Jamie took the summer of 1998 off. He moved to Bat Cave, near Asheville, and commuted to Columbia to brew a Vista beer each week. Once, while on a trip to visit his sister in Greensboro, Jamie stopped in for a beer at Olde Hickory Brewing and happened to meet owners Steven Lyerly and Jason Yates. Five interviews later, the slender northerner-turned-Georgia boy landed the job at the west Hickory brewpub. That was October, 1998. In short time, Jamie learned the peculiarities of the OHB seven barrel system and the taste preferences of his brewpub customers. His brewing touch was immediately noticeable as he tweaked the Olde Hickory extract recipes ever so slightly. A moderately bitter IPA, Table Rock Pale Ale is the brewery's best seller. Brown Mountain Light and Piedmont Ale are easy-drinking beers, designed for beginners and budmillercoors drinkers. Crawdad Red is malty, revealing only a faint hops flirtation. Big, bold and slightly harsh from black patent and chocolate malts, Hickory Stick Stout rounds out the brewery's regular offerings. Well versed as brewpub brewer, Jamie's responsibilities grew when Olde Hickory Brewery opened a second facility in 1999, a kegging/soon-bottling microbrewery in downtown Hickory. This all-grain brewery, which acquired the brewpub's name, has a 22 barrel brewhouse, plenty of cylindro-conical fermenters, multiple conditioning tanks, glycol coolant system, grain mill and plenty of room to grow. A bottling system is current being installed. The original OHB brewpub usurped its owners' middle names and is now known as Amos Howard's Restaurant & Brew Works. An energetic brewer, Jamie Bartholomaus is "focused on making beer" and pleased to be brewing all-grain again. The "beer just taste better," he exclaims. Old Hickory Brewery (micro) 2 Third Street, Hickory, NC 28601 - (828) 322-3309 Amos Howard's Restaurant & Brew Works (brewpub) 2828 W. Highway 70, Hickory, NC 28602 - (828) 323-8573 Olde Hickory Taproom (restaurant and 20-tap beer bar) 222 Union Square, Hickory, NC 28601 - (828) 322-1965 Read more by nationally recognized beer writer Bobby Bush at: ========================================================================= Thanks to: Dennis Burnett, Renee Coley, Chuck Fazio, Gary Fritze, Dave Gausepohl, Adam Krizbai, J. Michael Lenninger, Lynn Penyak, Robert Stowe. Until July, cheers, The Beer Bwana |
The material presented on this site is based on information believed to be correct, but is subject to change at anytime. If you have an update, correction, suggestion or any other contribution, please send it to us at: beersouth@mindspring.com. We welcome your input. (c) 1999 - 2002 by Beer South. All Rights Reserved. |
The material presented on this site is based on information believed to be correct, but is subject to change at anytime. If you have an update, correction, suggestion or any other contribution, please send it to us at: beersouth@mindspring.com. We welcome your input. (c) 1999 - 2002 by Beer South. All Rights Reserved. |
June 2002 Newsletter |
PROFILES IN BREWING by Bobby Bush, author of Beer & Loafing Jamie Bartholomaus - Olde Hickory Brewery - Hickory, North Carolina Born in Queens NY, but raised in Delaware and Pennsylvania, Jamie Bartholomaus attended the University of Georgia in Athens, choosing anthropology as his major. Moving from dormitory to apartment for the sophomore semesters, Jamie and his roommates spontaneously began homebrewing. The local homebrew supply store, became their hangout. When the store owner left to brew for Atlanta's Blind Man Brewing in 1994 or so, Jamie followed as an unpaid assistant who became intimately involved with the labor-intensive bottling process. Graduation in June 1996 changed the game a bit when the underpaid gopher became a full fledged though still insufficiently compensated Blind Man brewer. Just a few months later he found a real job digging through historic sites for Southeast Archeological Services. But beer still pumped steadily through his veins. So when the head brewer slot at Vista Brewing in Columbia SC opened, Jamie jumped at the chance to re-enter the brewing world. Leaving bones and artifacts behind, Jamie took the summer of 1998 off. He moved to Bat Cave, near Asheville, and commuted to Columbia to brew a Vista beer each week. Once, while on a trip to visit his sister in Greensboro, Jamie stopped in for a beer at Olde Hickory Brewing and happened to meet owners Steven Lyerly and Jason Yates. Five interviews later, the slender northerner-turned-Georgia boy landed the job at the west Hickory brewpub. That was October, 1998. In short time, Jamie learned the peculiarities of the OHB seven barrel system and the taste preferences of his brewpub customers. His brewing touch was immediately noticeable as he tweaked the Olde Hickory extract recipes ever so slightly. A moderately bitter IPA, Table Rock Pale Ale is the brewery's best seller. Brown Mountain Light and Piedmont Ale are easy-drinking beers, designed for beginners and budmillercoors drinkers. Crawdad Red is malty, revealing only a faint hops flirtation. Big, bold and slightly harsh from black patent and chocolate malts, Hickory Stick Stout rounds out the brewery's regular offerings. Well versed as brewpub brewer, Jamie's responsibilities grew when Olde Hickory Brewery opened a second facility in 1999, a kegging/soon-bottling microbrewery in downtown Hickory. This all-grain brewery, which acquired the brewpub's name, has a 22 barrel brewhouse, plenty of cylindro-conical fermenters, multiple conditioning tanks, glycol coolant system, grain mill and plenty of room to grow. A bottling system is current being installed. The original OHB brewpub usurped its owners' middle names and is now known as Amos Howard's Restaurant & Brew Works. An energetic brewer, Jamie Bartholomaus is "focused on making beer" and pleased to be brewing all-grain again. The "beer just taste better," he exclaims. Old Hickory Brewery (micro) 2 Third Street, Hickory, NC 28601 - (828) 322-3309 Amos Howard's Restaurant & Brew Works (brewpub) 2828 W. Highway 70, Hickory, NC 28602 - (828) 323-8573 Olde Hickory Taproom (restaurant and 20-tap beer bar) 222 Union Square, Hickory, NC 28601 - (828) 322-1965 Read more by nationally recognized beer writer Bobby Bush at: ========================================================================= Thanks to: Dennis Burnett, Renee Coley, Chuck Fazio, Gary Fritze, Dave Gausepohl, Adam Krizbai, J. Michael Lenninger, Lynn Penyak, Robert Stowe. Until July, cheers, The Beer Bwana |
Greetings all, We think the readers of Beer South know the site is as up-to-date and current as any beer-related site on the internet, if not the best of the lot. As simple as the job of staying current might seem, it's not always that easy, even with the help of numerous contributions, folks we like to refer to as our Beer Scouts. That fact was never more apparent than when learned recently (from a contributor) about Sebastian and Diana's brewpub in Murfreesboro TN. It has been in operation for FOUR years and we had never heard of them. Neither, it seems, had anyone else. Not Pubcrawler, Real Beer, Beer Travelers, or any other standard reference. In this day and age, that's mighty odd stuff. Maybe they wanted to keep a good thing to themselves. Rather, the owners of must have been content to toil in anonymity. Whatever, it was a bit of a blow to our self-esteem to have overlooked them and we felt a bit like the blind squirrel that had unearthed a chestnut. Regardless, that omission has now been corrected thanks to the diligence of a beer fan. We thank you. ...The Beer Bwana |
NEWS The 2002 World Beer Cup winners list has just been issued and Southern brewers took home a total of 9 medals: 1 Gold, 5 Silver, and 3 Bronze. Congrats to all! Category: Vienna-Style Lager - 17 Entries Bronze: Vienna Lager - Gordon Biersch Brewpubs / Chattanooga TN Category: English-Style India Pale Ale - 12 Entries Silver St. George IPA - St. George Brewing Company / Hampton VA Category: (Special) Best Bitter - 11 Entries Silver: ESB - Sweetwater Brewing Company / Atlanta GA Category: Robust Porter - 30 Entries Silver: Billy Bowlegs Buffalo Beer - Spanish Springs Brewing Company / The Villages FL Category: Brown Porter - 20 Entries Silver: Exodus Porter - Sweetwater Brewing Company / Atlanta GA Category: Sweet Stout - 11 Entries Gold: Iron Horse Stout - Gordon Biersch Brewpubs / Chattanooga TN Category: South German-Style Weizenbock/Weissbock - 10 Entries Bronze: St. Nick's Weizenbock - Sweetwater Tavern & Brewery / Centreville VA Category: Irish-Style Red Ale - 15 Entries Silver: Red Hills Amber - Buckhead Brewery & Grill / Stockbridge GA Bronze: Amber Ale - Starr Hill Restaurant & Brewery / Charlottesville VA ----- Rock Bottom is the nation's top-selling brewpub chain The Institute for Brewing Studies has releasd its annual review of industry statistics and determined that Rock Bottom Restaurants, Inc., with 31 locations is the top-selling brewpub concern in the USA, selling over 39,342 barrels of beer. (A barrel contains 31 gallons of beer.) The institute's list for 2001's top Brewpub Groups (Measured by total volume of beer sold; not including production-only breweries.) 1. Rock Bottom Restaurants Does not include Atlanta & Charlotte locations, see Gordon Biersch. 2. Hops Restaurant, Bar and Brewery - based in Tampa FL Over 70 locations, around 50 of which are in the South 3. Gordon Biersch Brewery Restaurants - based in Chattanooga TN Includes Big River Grille & Brewing Works Brewpubs, Rock Bottom Breweries of Charlotte and Atlanta, A1A Alehouse, Ragtime Tavern and Seven Bridges Grille & Brewery 4. McMenamin's Breweries 5. Big Horn Brewery 6. BJ's Restaurant and Brewery 7. Big Buck Brewery and Steakhouse One potential location has been long-planned for Nashville 8. John Harvard's Brewhouse Their 2 Southern locations in Atlanta closed last year. 9. Wynkoop Brewing Company 10. Pyramid Alehouse ----- Hofbräuhaus sets Newport, Kentucky, groundbreaking The Hofbräuhaus has announced plans to break ground May 24 on its first U.S. location in Newport, Kentucky, just across the river from Cincinnati, Ohio. The Hofbräuhaus, which also has locations in Munich and Hong Kong, will feature a 2,450-square-foot brewery, seating for up to 268 in the beer hall, a beer restaurant with seating for 108 and an outside beer garden that will hold 344. The 13,315 sq. ft. facility will be situated across the street from Newport on the Levee. "The prospect of having another major venue coming into our area continues our development momentum," said Newport Mayor Tom Guidugli in a news release. "With the obvious tourism attraction of a Hofbräuhaus, we look forward to a real cosmopolitan theme in our entertainment district." Construction will begin in July, with a target completion date of December. Source: Cincinnati Business Courier ----- America's beer history featured in national magazine The current edition of American Heritage magazine has a very good in-depth cover story on the history of beer in America. Along with the article is a review of the birth of craft brewing andd Michael Jackson's list of the top ten American brews. We suggestyou head to your local newsstand to pick up a copy (US$4.99), which includes several photographs, including one Barley's Taproom in Asheville NC, not contained in the online article, which may be found at: http://www.americanheritage.com/AMHER/2002/03/beer.shtml July is American Beer month And finally, numerous bars and brewing establishment are planning month-long celebration of American Beer month with specials and celebrations. For more info, go to: http://www.americanbeermonth.org |
BREWING CHANGES New brewing operations added to the Beer South data base FL / Stuart - Bare Bones Grill & Brewery. The southern sister of two brewpubs in Maryland FL / Trinity - Hooper's Grill & Brewery. Brewer Franz Rothschadl and partners have opened the second brewpub of this now 3-unit group. KY / Louisville - Browning's Brewpub. We have had this on the "coming soon" list for some time, and it finally opened at the city's stadium in time for the baseball season. TN / Murfreesboro - Sebastian and Diana's. This is the place that has magically appeared on our radar. Spooky. A trip to the debut Nashville beerfest (see calendar) looks like just the opportunity we need to check them out. Closings FL / Orlando - Shipyard Brewing. The brewery and pub's airport lease has expired and all brewing is currently being done at the original brewery in Portland, Maine. Plans call for finding a replacement location in the Orlando area. Personnel NC / Greensboro - Red Oak Brewing - Christian Boos, head brewer, has left. Plans unknown. NC / Greensboro - Red Oak Brewing - Henryk Orlik to head brewer, from Abita Brewing. SC / Myrtle Beach - Mad Boar Brewpub - David Fowlkes, head brewer, has left to enter non-brewing related employment. Replacement not yet known. |
RESOURCES Thanks to the contributions of several shutterbugs, we have pictures of the following recent beer festivals: the Orlando (FL) International Beer Festival, the Southeastern Microbrewer's Festival - Chapel Hill NC, the Hollywood (FL) Beerfest, the Greenville (SC) International Beer Festival, and the Knoxville (TN) Brewers' Jam. You may find them at Beer South Pix. |
CALENDAR As you'll see form the festivals calendar , there are a lot of upcoming beer festivals. hopefully, one is near you. Worth noting is the emergence of 3 new festival this year (Greenville SC, Nashville TN and Myrtle Beach SC). We think this bodes well for the art of craft brewing. Additional details and festival websites can be found on the Beer South Calendar. 6/29 - 2nd Shenandoah Valley Beer & Wine Festival - Elkton VA This was a new one to us, and it looks like a good one - beer and wine! If you were not aware of it, central Virginia has become something of a noted boutique wine-producing region. And the craft brewers ain't bad. 7/6 - Old Dominion Beer Fest Series - Ashburn VA The continuation of their summer-long mini-fests. 7/12 - 8th International Beer & Food Festival - Jacksonville FL 7/26-28 - Oregon Beer Festival - Portland OR This is one of the eventual must-do's for all festival trekkies. 7/27 - 1st Music City Brewers Festival - Nashville TN Another new southern festival in the heart of music country sponsored by Clear Channel Communications. Look for 20+ craft brewers. 8/3 - Old Dominion Beer Fest Series - Ashburn VA The last in their summer series. 8/17 - 5th Microfestivus - Roanoke VA A craft-beer fest that continues to expand in the heart of Virginia's central valley area. 8/24 - 1st Myrtle Beach Beer Festival - Myrtle Beach SC And yet one more new festival, in the heart of the Grand Strand. 8/24 - 9th Southern Brewer's Festival - Chattanooga TN 9/4 - 8 - National Brewery Collectibles CanVention - Lexington KY While this is not technically a craft beer event, brewerania (the collecting of anything related to beer) is a big deal among a lot of people. It should be fun to see what your attic could look like. 9/14 - 6th Great Smokies Brewgrass Festival - Asheville NC One of the most-anticipated southern festivals, this year with headliner Tony Trischka re-scheduled. Last year's festival not only when on, but attracted more people than ever, just four days after September 11. 9/21 - World Beer Festival - Durham NC One of the South's largest festival continues to get bigger, if not better, with increased emphasis on regional craft brewers. 9/27 - Brewer's Ball - Atlanta GA Get out your fancy duds for this hoity-toity homage to local craft brewers. |
