LOCAL BREW GETS REGIONAL EXPOSURE

By Colin Burch
For Weekly Surge

Dave Epstein of New South Brewing Co. in Myrtle Beach took four kegs to the World Beer Festival in Raleigh, N.C., last Saturday (April 26): his white ale, ESB (extra special bitter), porter, and India pale ale.

He almost emptied three of them. Guess which one ran dry? The white ale, of course, proving that New South's most-popular beer around here is equally loved elsewhere.

Four kegs might not sound like much, considering there were two sessions at the festival, both of which, separately, drew about 4,000 people.

But Epstein said breweries were limited to two-ounce pours, so each person was getting between an ounce and two ounces of actual beer.

There are 1,984 fluid ounces per keg. Multiply that by four, and you've got a number far larger than anything I saw while getting my English degree. So even if every person got a full two ounces, a whole heckuva lot of people tried New South at the World Beer Festival.

Epstein's decision to take New South to a beer fest in Raleigh is a marketing move, and a smart one, too. "A lot of people from that area vacation down here," Epstein said.

Liberty Steakhouse and Brewery in Myrtle Beach was also at the fest, but I was not able to reach brewmeister Eric Lamb before deadline for this column - maybe he took the long way home. Other South Carolina breweries at the fest included Charleston Brewing Co. from Charleston; Blue Ridge Brewing Co. from Greenville; and Thomas Creek Brewing Co. from Greenville.

UPSTATE BREWERY EXPANDS

You've probably seen Thomas Creek's bottled six-packs. I've seen them at Green's Discount Beer and Wine, 2850 North Kings Highway, and at World Market in Seaboard Commons between 21st Avenue North and 29th Avenue North in Myrtle Beach.

Co-owner Tom Davis said the microbrewery ran through six kegs at the Raleigh fest.

And 10-year-old Thomas Creek is running through an amazing expansion as we speak.

Within the last year, Davis said, he added four new fermentation tanks with the capacity of 6,000 barrels of beer. He upgraded the brewery's bottling equipment within the past four months, moving its capacity from 18 bottles per minute to 49 bottles per minute.

Part of the expansion is due to contract work. Thomas Creek is brewing for Orange Blossom Pilsner out of Florida.

But the microbrewery has plenty going on with its own label - a logo change, for one thing, and a new graphic design for packaging. The first beer with the new logo and design went out Thomas Creek's door about four weeks ago. New t-shirts arrived at the brewery three weeks ago, and logo glasses arrived earlier this week.

Davis has also made small changes in the flavor profiles of his beers, but "nothing major," he said. He also decided to drop his multi-grain beer, but he has added an India pale ale and a porter.

Davis said his Up the Creek Extreme IPA - a 12-percent beer, separate from his standard IPA - will be released either in a four-pack or in a special corked bottle, tentatively in the fall.

Also for autumn, Thomas Creek is planning a "Trail Mix" variety 12-pack of the brewery's beers.

"Ten years," Davis said. "Slowly, slowly growing for ten years. Now we've reached what my father calls the tipping point." His father, Bill Davis, is co-owner.

For more information on Thomas Creek, visit www.thomascreekbeer.com.

CINCO DE MAYO

For this year's Cinco de Mayo, I promise to taste the new Bud Light Lime with an open mind, and to give Miller Chill Chelado Style another try. How about you promise not to drink and drive?

Contact Colin Burch - the Beerman - at beerpour@yahoo.com or visit his beer blog at http://maltyhops.blogspot.com.