Day 3 (Asheville, NC to Savannah, GA)

The next day we made our way out of NC into SC, the Land of Double-Wides and Churches. “HalleBrewia” (I’m feeling the faith, sing it with me now!), the first stop was the Thomas Creek Brewery, an operation in an industrial park with just a pintsized sign to announce their location. While not exactly the easiest thing to spot on its own, a sheriff’s car parked directly in front helped direct my attention… Either way, a nice sized operation that specializes in a lot of contract brewing for other businesses. Thomas Creek will provide the ingredients (strict ban on Lactobacillus to prevent brewing a petri-dish beer and infecting an entire line) while the other brewers provide the recipe. You can call ahead for a private tour but we stumbled in unannounced during the middle of the day and received an impromptu guided visit past the fermenting tanks and the automated bottling line. Thomas Creek brews 8 of their own beers year round with different seasonal beers throughout the year. While distribution is mostly in the southeast US, they are currently in discussions about distribution up the East Coast. We joked about the recent repeal of the SC ban on brews above 5% alcohol by weight. Since NC and GA, SC’s two bordering states, repealed their antiquated blue law ridiculousness on alcohol percentages and started offering more potent potables, SC brewers appealed to lawmakers that the state was losing good tax revenue to their neighbors. The state agreed to a compromise and raised the limit to the lower of the two states, not realizing the slight discrepancy between basing the limit on weight (SC) versus volume (GA). ABV = ABW * 1.25. The SC brewers are a calculating group, as Georgia’s 14% limit, now SC’s 14% ABW, corresponds to a 17.5% ABV!

Last stop of the day was lunch at the only brewpub along the way, Blue Ridge Brewing in Greenville, South Carolina. Blue Ridge offers a selection of beers and a menu with some local fare (Cajun fried crawfish tails and spicy fried okra fingers) and southern BBQ. They also offer some rules to live by, including “Never leave a pint undrained; it gives the glass low self-esteem,” and “Always choose your words carefully, especially if you’re slurring.” Great advice, don’t you think? The Kurli Blonde, the Col. Paris Pale Ale, the Rainbow Trout ESB, and the Total Eclipse Stout are available year round. The brewing equipment bordered the periphery of the dining tables and made brewing a chore of chaotic methodology during a busy lunch rush. Finally arriving in Savannah, free drink tickets at the hotel bar were included in the room. Local beer Sweetwater 420 (Extra Pale Ale) was available in bottles, yet the barkeep would only redeem them with Butt and Butt Wipe (er, Bud and Bud Light). Luckily, the hotel rooms also came with fridges and a raid on the secret stash in the trunk produced some local Southern Comfort in beer form.