Hickory Hops * First Annual Brew Festival *

	Carolina Beer & Beverage (m) 110 Barley Park Lane Mooresville, NC 28115 (704) 799-2337 www.carolinabeer.com
Brewers of popular Carolina Blonde and Carolina Light, Carolina Beer has distinguished itself with the award-winning Cottonwood line, which includes seasonals such as Frostbite Winter Brew, Pumpkin Spiced Ale and the recently released Scotch Ale. The Charleston brand, including Charleston Pale Ale and Charleston Brown, features European-style ales.
Brewer: Don Richardson
Carolina Blonde - a silky, crisp-finishing pilsner, perfect for beginners and hot summer days. Charleston Wheat - spiced with coriander and lightly hopped, Wheat is an American version of a Belgian White Beer. Endo India Pale Ale - Endo is mountain biker lingo for “over the handlebars.” Endo is also a grapefruit-esque hoppy Pacific Northwest-style IPA. Cottonwood Low Down Brown - an American Brown Ale, meaning less sweetness and more bitterness than traditional English Brown Ale.

	Catawba Valley Brewing Company (m) 204 E. Main Street Glen Alpine, NC 28628 (828) 584-9400 www.catawbavalleybrewing.com
Founded in a dry county in the NC foothills in 1999, Catawba Valley Brewing is a labor of love and creative beer. Brewer Scott Pyatt recently introduced King Coconut Ale, the first of his new King Beverage line of naturally flavored specialty ales.
Brewer: Scott Pyatt
Buffalo Nickel - a crisp finishing, light pale ale with a healthy addition of hops. Indian Head Red - deep amber in hue, this medium mouthfeel brew sports a well balanced malt profile and finishes sweetly. Brown Bear Ale - this British-influenced ale combines pleasing malt flavor with low bittering quotient, closing with subtle coffee taste. Fire Water IPA - utilizes five different malts and six hops additions, along with a proprietary hops infusion process, resulting in a potent hops floral and bitter presentation. Honest Injun Stout - brewed with organic malt, river water and free range yeast, Honest Injun revels in sweet malt complexity partially offset by hops bitterness.

	Chesapeake Bay Brewing Company (m) 1249 Wicker Dr. Raleigh, NC 27604 (919) 834-9200 www.chesbaybrewing.com
A multi-brand microbrewery, Chesapeake Bay brews the Rock Creek line for North Carolina beerdrinkers. Potomac River (Patowmack Pale Ale, Rappahannock Red) and several under the Chesapeake Bay label (ChesBay Pilsner, Oyster Stout, Old Goose) are available in the Virginia, Pennsylvania and Maryland markets. The adjacent ChesBay Taproom opened last year.
Brewer: Darryl Nutter
Devil’s Elbow IPA - brewed to traditional English India Pale Ale style, this deep gold brew utilizes British malts and hops, resulting in a fruity front, bitter middle and floral hop finishing drink. Less bitter than an American IPA. Nuttrageous Brown Ale - medium bodied, this chestnut-hued ale offers rich malt flavors in the chocolate, roasted and black patent shades. Black Raven Porter - chocolate and licorice notes appear in the aroma of this reddish-black London Robust Porter-style brew. All American Ale - loaded with Cascade hops-inspired grapefruit taste, All American is a powerfully hopped Americanized IPA. A mouthful of flavor.

	French Broad River Brewery (m) 101-D Fairview Rd. Asheville, NC 28803 (828) 277-0222 www.frenchbroadbrewery.com
French Broad River is a 15 barrel microbrewery crafting fine lagers and specialty ales that reflect a blend of local taste with the best of European brewing tradition. “One of Europe’s best breweries… in the mountains of North Carolina.”
Brewer: Jonas Rembert
Goldenrod Pilsner – a smooth session beer with crisp flavor and spicy hop character. A highly drinkable lager with plenty of character. Watershed Bock - a dark lager adhering to traditional German malt profiles with full flavor and chocolate notes.

	Highland Brewing Company (mb) 42 Biltmore Avenue Asheville, NC 28802 (828) 255-8240 www.highlandbrewing.com
Western North Carolina’s oldest brewery, this basement microbrewery gained renown as a purveyor of fine ales. It is Highland’s goal to be the microbrewery of choice for discerning beer drinkers in the southeast, producing only the finest quality, hand crafted beers.
Brewer: John Lyda
Gaelic Ale - a deep amber colored American ale, featuring a rich malty body with complex hop flavor and aroma. Gaelic is exceptionally balanced between malty sweetness and delicate hop bitterness. St. Terese’s Pale Ale - golden pale with a slightly malty body balanced by an assertive American hops obvious in its delicate hop nose. Kashmir IPA - a brilliant, dry pale ale with an aggressive hop character balanced with a smooth finish. A bold beer best consumed with a stiff upper lip. Oatmeal Porter - a unique Highland creation, this robust beer is black in color, very malty with hints of chocolate and roasted flavor and well balanced hop character.

	The Mash House Restaurant & Brewery (bp) 4150 Sycamore Dairy Road Fayetteville, NC 28303 (910) 867-9223 www.themashhouse.com
The Mash House Restaurant and Brewing Company is dedicated to brewing beers of premium quality and character. Utilizing time-tested traditional methods that Old World brewers have followed for centuries, Mash House beers are distributed in kegs – and soon in bottles – in many North Carolina counties.
Brewer: Zach Hart
Loki Maibock - malty richness pushes this German-style lager into the slightly sweet category. Ravishing Red - brewed in the tradition of the ales of Ireland, domestic hybrid hops and imported malt make Ravishing Red light-bodied and very drinkable. Hoppyhour IPA - only true hop-heads apply! This award-winning IPA is copper colored and big in hop bitterness, flavor and aroma. Mash House Brown Porter - a pleasing balance of caramel and chocolate malts contrasted by Cascade hops makes this dark brown beer surprisingly smooth and easy drinking.

	New South Brewing Company (m) 851 Campbell Street Myrtle Beach, SC 29577 (843) 916-2337
This busy Myrtle Beach microbrewery produces house beers for the T-Bonz Steakhouse chain, which has seven restaurants in Charleston, Myrtle Beach and Augusta. The company also markets its own brand of New South beers, serving the local Grand Strand and coastal South Carolina.
Brewer: David Epstein
New South Brown Ale - close to mild English Nut Brown in style, this Brown Ale shines in the lighter end of the Brown spectrum and is lightly hopped. New South Lager - splitting the difference between American lagers and European pilsners, this golden lager is a light but biting mouth feast. New South Pale Ale - a hybrid of British and American styles, Pale Ale holds moderate bitterness in its copper hued medium body. White Ale - this cloudy gold wheat ale is light and spicy, with pleasant yeasty nose and flavor.

	Olde Hickory Brewery (mb) 2 Third Street SW Hickory, NC 28602 (828) 323-8573 www.oldehickorybrewery.com
Festival host Olde Hickory was founded as a brewpub in west Hickory. The company now incorporates that renamed establishment, Amos Howards Brew Works, the downtown microbrewery and one of the city’s most popular restaurants, Olde Hickory Tap Room.
Brewer: Steven Lyerly
Piedmont Pilsner - a clean, thirst quenching lager based on the ancient European style, this local version is true to form with malty body and crisp, but short hop bitter snap at final swallow. Brown Mountain Light - a marriage of wheat and barley malts gives this American Wheat Beer unique character: light malty sweetness followed by crisp, clean, uplifting taste. Crawdad Red Ale - Olde Hickory’s traditional Red Ale offers slight sweetness paired with spicy hoppiness. A satisfying session beer. Ruby Lager - a malty, cold-fermenting German-style lager that’s low in bitterness and balanced toward the sweet side of the scale. Table Rock Pale Ale - OHB’s India Pale Ale, this popular brew is highly hopped but not obnoxiously bitter. Nut Brown Ale - don’t let the color deceive you, Nut Brown is a lightly-hopped, sweet, full-bodied brew with strong malt flavor. Paddy’s Irish Stout - a cream stout similar to Guinness, Paddy’s is slightly bigger and more flavorful than the popular Dublin ale. Hickory Stick Stout - hoppier than cream stouts, this Imperial Stout-style brew has supple mouthfeel and some harshness in its dark, rich flavor.

	R.J. Rockers Brewing Co. (m) 113D Belton Dr. Spartanburg, SC 29301 (864) 587-1435 www.rjrockers.com
Originally a downtown Spartanburg brewpub, R.J. Rockers closed last November. Frustrated with the restaurant business, owner Mark Johnsen recently reinvented and relocated R.J. Rockers as a distributing microbrewery. “There’s nothing R.J. Rockers can’t do with beer.”
Brewer: Mark Johnsen
Liberty Light - light bodied ale brewed in the tradition of a German Kölsch. A perfect post-lawnmowing beer. Patriot Pale Ale - an aggressively hopped American Pale Ale. Finishes with a sweet caramel taste. Bald Eagle Brown - traditional deep brown English Brown Ale with a slightly bigger mouthfeel. Rockers Red Glare - in bold Irish Red-style, Red Glare is malty though pleasantly hopped.

	Rock Bottom Brewery (bp) 401 N. Tryon Street Charlotte, NC 28202 (704) 334-2739 www.rockbottom.com
Owned by Gordon Biersch/Big River, a Chattanooga-based brewing conglomerate with over 25 brewpubs, Rock Bottom is located in the hub of Charlotte banking commerce. Not another cookie-cutter chain restaurant, Rock Bottom makes distinctive and interesting beer.
Brewer: Dave Gonzalez
Sweet Magnolia Brown - brown in color with medium body and floral hop aroma, Sweet Magnolia is indeed sweet with soothing malty flavors courtesy of English-grown barley. Irish Red Lager - a medium bodied, auburn colored lager with a hint of caramel malt sweetness and subdued hop character.

	Rocky River Brewing Company (bp) 1444 Hurley Drive Sevierville, TN 37862 (865) 908-3727 www.rockyriverbrewingcompany.com
The newest and largest craft brewery in Tennessee, Rocky River brews ales and lagers for sale at its own bars (there are three in the huge brewpub) and distribution in Tennessee, and both Carolinas.
Brewer: Ron Downer
Smoky Mountain Blonde - a light-bodied, German-style ale modeled after the famous Kölsch beers of Cologne, Germany. Smoky Mountain Blonde is cold aged, like a lager, to enhance its smooth flavor and light body. Heidelberg Hefeweizen - a traditional unfiltered German-style wheat beer brewed with a 50/50 blend of barley and German wheat malt. Copperhead Red - this red ale has malty intricacy similar to the special “Sticke” Altbiers brewed on special occasions by brewers in Dusseldorf, Germany. Mad Wolf IPA - a maltier version of the typically dry, hoppy India Pale Ales of British origin. Mad Wolf is nearly full bodied with good hop flavor and 6% alcohol content. Panther Creek Porter - a dark, robust Porter brewed with just enough smoked malt to impart an underlying smoky flavor. A big, sweet drink, look for hints of dark chocolate and coffee in this beer’s complex flavor profile. Rocky River Grand Cru - a Belgian-style Strong Ale called Trippel, Grand Cru is a special winter seasonal brew that provides fruity malt overtones often described in terms of peach, honey dew melon and citrus flavors.

	Smoky Mountain Brewery (bp) 1004 Parkway, #1501 Gatlinburg, TN 37862 (865) 436-4200 www.smoky-mtn-brewery.com
Located a stone’s throw away from the entrance to the Great Smoky Mountain National Park, Smoky Mountain Brewery brings a little bit of sanity to this hectic tourist town. Smoky Mountain is part of the Copper Cellar Group, which also owns a brewpub, Calhoun’s BBQ & Brew, in Knoxville.
Brewer: Marty Velas
Mountain Light - a summertime best seller, Mountain Light is a light beer with flavor. Thunder Road Bohemian Pilsner - a traditional Pilsner that starts smooth, almost sweet, and closes with a thunderous and crispy bitter zap. Hmmm. Appalachian Pale Ale - slightly hoppy, slightly sweet, Appalachian Pale is a well balanced medium bodied ale of some repute. Capricator Bock - rich and effervescent, this springtime lager is pleasingly smooth with caramel and a hint of chocolate crescendo from mid-mouth onward. Velas Helles - named after its creator, Velas Helles is a golden Bavarian lager rich with flavor and light in body.

	SweetWater Brewing Company (mb) 900 Wendell Court SW Atlanta, GA 30336 (404) 691-2537 www.SweetWaterbrew.com
Located in an Atlanta industrial park, SweetWater Brewery was selected as Best Small Brewery of the Year at the 2002 Great American Beer Festival. The microbrewery specializes in producing aggressive West Coast style beers.
Brewer: Kevin McNerney
SweetWater Blue - a light American Wheat style ale enhanced with a touch of blueberry. 420 Extra Pale Ale - a crisp, refreshing Pale Ale accentuated by a stimulating hop character. SweetWater IPA - defined by generous quantities of premium hops, this mammoth IPA has very intense hop character. Sweet Georgia Brown - SweetWater’s newest beer, this deep copper, mild English style Brown Ale is accentuated with slight nuttiness and mouth watering notes from honey malt. SweetWater Exodus Porter - a rich, smooth, medium-bodied Porter defined by generous amounts of chocolate malt.

	Thomas Creek Brewing Company (m) 2054 Piedmont Highway Greenville, SC 29605 (864) 605-1160 www.thomascreekbeer.com
With assistance from his wife, daughter, father and cousin, Tom Davis established his family brewing business in 1998. Today, Thomas Creek beers, in bottles and kegs, are distributed throughout South Carolina, Georgia, Western North Carolina and Eastern Tennessee. “Seek the Creek!”
Brewer: Tom Davis
Thomas Creek Pilsner - a light-bodied golden color beer with just enough hops to retain its micro-brewed integrity. Thomas Creek Red Ale - A medium-bodied, Irish-style red ale with a smooth character throughout. The Flagship of the Thomas Creek line. Thomas Creek Amber - full-bodied ale with malty flavor, this rich caramel colored ale has a smooth aromatic finish. Thomas Creek IPA - this medium mouthfeel ale leans toward the bitter side of the sweet/bitter axis. Thomas Creek Vanilla Cream Ale - A light-bodied, golden Cream Ale with a subtle undertone of vanilla. Highly refreshing! Thomas Creek Dopplebock - a traditional German-style lager that’s hefty and challenging in strength. Sports luscious malty flavor.

	Top of the Hill Brewery (bp) 100 E. Franklin Street Chapel Hill, NC 27514 (919) 929-8676 www.topofthehillrestaurant.com
Top of the Hill brews some surprisingly big beers for a college town brewpub. Born and trained in England, brewmaster John Withey brought decades of experience to this second floor Chapel Hill brewpub and still takes pleasure in brewing traditional English ales.
Brewer: John Withey
Keenan Summer Lager - available year round, this light beer is “the default beer for Bud drinkers.” The Hill’s best seller by far. Davie Poplar IPA - with “pounds and pounds” of hops in the brew, this IPA wafts a bitter floral aroma above a well-rounded hoppy beer. Frank Graham Porter - a scaled-down stout for the college crowd, Frank Graham is resplendent with black roasted barley. A tinge of harshness appears in the finish. Ellie’s ESB - malty with hops effect relegated to the latter half of each swallow, this Extra Special Bitter is not as bitter as the name implies.

	Williamsville Brewing Company (m) 804 W. Pine Street Farmville, NC 27828 (252)-753-7745 www.willbrew.com
Originally located in Wilmington, Williamsville moved to rural Farmville several years ago. The microbrewery produces the Dergy’s line (Golden, Amber, Honey Blonde and Porter) of beers along with a wide variety of interesting beers, including a tropical Mango Ale.
Brewer: Paul Phillipon
Amelia Ale - medium bodied and moderately hopped, this crisp golden ale is brewed in the German Kölsch style. Dergy’s Amber Ale - Williamsville’s best selling beer, Amber balances malt complexity with just the right level of hop bitterness. Cabo Pale Ale - dominated by hops flavors and aromas, Cabo is a medium mouthfeel, precisely balanced English Pale Ale. Dergy’s Porter - a classic Brown Porter brewed from five different malts. Roasted barley and dark chocolate are but two of many flavor components in this intriguing, traditional ale.

	The Weeping Radish Brewery and Bavarian Restaurant (bp) US Highway 64 Manteo, NC 27954 (800) 896-5403 www.weepingradish.com
One of America’s oldest operating breweries, Weeping Radish was founded by German immigrant Uli Bennewitz in 1986 in coastal Manteo. Adhering to the Bavarian Purity Law of 1516, Weeping Radish utilizes only malt, hops, yeast and water in the creation of its authentic German-style beers. The company is currently constructing a new microbrewery and eco-farm near Grandy, NC.
Brewer: Andy Duck
Weizen - a true Bavarian Wheat beer, this unfiltered and hazy ale is made with 70% wheat malt and proprietary yeast which results in a very spicy and fruity character. Black Radish - deep brown, sweet, bready and malty, this Munich dark lager has a subtle roasted malt lingering finish.

	Wedge Brewing Company
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	Terrapin Beer Co.
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	Best of Beers
Michelob Amber Bock - an Anheuser-Busch product brewed in the traditional German spring-time lager style, without corn or rice adjuncts. Widmer Hefeweizen - the top selling draft beer in Oregon, this Americanized unfiltered German wheat beer put the Widmer Brothers on the map.

	United Beverages Blue Ridge Distributing
Anchor Steam - the original post-prohibition microbrew. Fritz Maytag, of the washing machine family, resurrected this almost-bankrupt San Francisco brewery in 1969. It is now the epitome of craft brewery success. The mild and malty flavor of Anchor Steam is just as original, representing one of the few indigenous American beer styles.

	United Beverages Proctor Wholesale
Blue Moon Belgian White Ale - brewed by Coors in Memphis, this unfiltered cloudy traditional-style Belgian ale is “spiced” with coriander and dried sour orange peel. It’s light and refreshing with a mouthful of flavor.

You can’t judge a beer by its color. Just because a translucent gold ale appears unassuming and dull like many near-tasteless light beers, its actual flavor may very well be unrelated to its hue.

Pale yellow to bright gold colored beers are generally inviting in appeal, though color can be deceiving. Take a golden Czech Pilsner, for instance. Made to style, this thin yellow lager hides a playful punch, thanks to Czech-grown Saaz hops, in its quick bitter finish. Almost as pale in goldness, a potent Belgian Trippel is far-from-harmless. Extremely malty, this beer of the Abbeys is so sweet that its 8% to 12% alcohol content gets lost in the flavor profile.

Don’t be intimidated by dark beer. Brown Ales, like the popular imports Newcastle Brown Ale and Samuel Smith’s Nut Brown Ale, look challenging in their chestnut tinted richness. But the English Brown style leaves little room for bitterness. Friendly caramel sweetness is the dominant flavor in these "dark" beers. Many German lagers also avoid bitterness.

Black beer creates even more apprehension for unschooled beer drinkers. Take Dublin-brewed Guinness Draught Stout. Contrary to its heavy/harsh perception, a result of its opaque bubbling blackness, a pint of Guinness offers creamy mouthfeel and luscious dark chocolate malt flavor, all with only 4.2% alcohol. That’s less alcohol than many of the most popular mega-brewed domestic beers.

And what about those cloudy gold wheat beers? Unfiltered and unabashed, live yeast creates foggy turbidity and contributes greatly to the earthy, spicy flavor profile of traditional Hefeweizens and other wheat beers. A ton of taste hides within this murky brew.

Please be a non-discriminating, color-blind beer drinker. Taste is the most important of the senses when it comes to beer. Don’t let appearance stand in the way of the taste experience. Give every beer a chance. Cheers!