Steven Lyerly and Jason Yates founded Olde Hickory Brewery in Hickory, NC, in 1994 on a seven-barrel converted dairy system. Since then, they have been continuously crafting unique, traditional ales and lagers in the western part of the state that have become even more cherished with the brewery’s recent expanded distribution to the Triangle. Continue Reading »

On Wednesday, January 18, 2012, at 8:00 p.m., HDNet will air the latest episode of Drinking Made Easy, a television show about ”traveling the United States to find the best drinks, pubs, bars and distilleries.” In this episode, host Zane Lamprey and his friends visit Asheville, NC, “and try to get to all 9 breweries in one day.” Continue Reading »

On Friday, January 20, 2012, Mother Earth Brewing Co. and Terrapin Beer Co. will host a Beer Benefit at the Mother Earth taproom at 5:00 p.m. in downtown Kinston to raise money for Chef & the Farmer, a local restaurant that recently caught on fire.

Trent Mooring, Mother Earth’s co-founder and president, writes in a recent blog post that Chef & the Farmer “suffered a fire in their kitchen during the early morning hours of Saturday, Jan. 7. Although the fire was quickly contained, this top-notch, award-winning eatery suffered extensive smoke and water damage[] and remains closed for the foreseeable future while the damage is assessed and cleanup begins.” Continue Reading »

I’ve written several times about the Small Brewer Reinvestment and Expanding Workforce Act, or the Small BREW Act, and its potential effect on the craft beer industry in North Carolina. In short, the Act

would reduce the excise tax rate of small breweries in the United States on their first 60,000 barrels of beer by 50 percent (from $7 to $3.50 per barrel). For every barrel over 60,000 and up to 2 million, a new rate of $16 per barrel would be imposed, as opposed to the rate of $18 per barrel that currently applies even to breweries that produce over 100 million barrels. To qualify for the reduced and new tax rates, a brewery could not produce greater than 6 million barrels per year.

Continue Reading »

In early December, I posted a Facebook status update about U.S. Representative Brad Miller‘s (D-NC13) sponsorship of the Small Brewer Reinvestment and Expanding Workforce Act, or the Small BREW Act, which cuts the excise tax rate of small breweries in the United States in half. (Read more about the Act in my op-ed in the News & Observer.)

Rep. Miller’s office immediately “liked” my post, so I contacted the Congressman to schedule an interview to discuss his sponsorship of the legislation. Continue Reading »