New South Has Can-Do Spirit

It was late on deadline day when I picked up a voicemail from Dave Epstein, owner of New South Brewing Co. in Myrtle Beach. Epstein said his canning operation is now underway. White Ale, New South's most popular beer at the taps, has started to appear in...

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from bakery to bar

If you've lived on the Grand Strand for any length of time, you know exactly how to follow a cup of coffee and a cannoli. You follow them with a beer.

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on an oktoberfest mission

A friend sent me a text message on Oct. 3 around 1:30 p.m., asking me if I was at the Oktoberfest at The Market Common. I typed back to inform him that the Oktoberfest didn't begin until 3 p.m.

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achtung baby: oktoberfest is here

Thanks to pop culture, most Americans know three German words:

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birthdays and oktoberfests to celebrate

I hit 40 this month. I was born in Oktoberfest season. German Oktoberfests, historically, have begun in September, and that is the cosmic significance of my birthday.

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Calculating Blood Alcohol Level is Sobering

It was September 28, 1989, and I was getting my North Carolina drivers license renewed. An old high-school friend tagged along to renew his license, too. I know it’s really, really, hard to believe this, but I can’t take a good photo. After standing in front of the blue backdrop and suffering the flash bulb . . .

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Pick Me Up, or Put Me Down?

My wife recently spent two weeks in Chicago for job training – at least I hope that’s what she was there for – and she brought me back a black, tube-like, metallic bottle with 375 milliliters of a beverage called “A:M” inside. The black-raspberry flavored drink claimed to be made with “premium vodka,” caffeine, and taurine, with the alcohol by volume at 9 percent. It had cost her $6.99.

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From Freestyle to Freeze-Style

You have to see Freestyle Music Park’s fireworks show at least once. Synchronized with clips of famous tunes by Van Halen, Motley Crüe, Guns n’ Roses, Nirvana, Queen, and other bands, “Kiss the Sky Rock N’ Roll Nighttime Spectacular” goes off at 10 each night, and luckily, you can drink beer while watching.

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trip west offers sampling opportunities

It seemed like a good idea at the time. While three friends from my graduate school were flying out to Bozeman, Mont., to visit a fourth friend from the same program, I thought I would drive it. I've flown over the Atlantic three times, but I never realized how...

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cider house rules

You would have to know Kristi to understand how she, my wife, would be a proper connoisseur of hard ciders. Woodchuck Amber is her favorite, but she'll settle for Hornby's Crisp Apple in a pinch, and she thought Original Sin Hard Cider was OK.

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save the dates: brew events on tap

The Grand Strand’s Beer Renaissance continues.
 
Remember Mike Shank of Festival Promotions? . . .

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welcome to the machine

New South Brewing Co.’s label for its canned White Ale has been – finally – approved by the ominous-sounding Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau . . .

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Scouting out baseball brew

It was Girl Scout night at the BB&T Coastal Field, and my wife has been leading Troop 95, in which I have two daughters, so I headed for the Myrtle Beach Pelicans game on Saturday . . .

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Beer Culture is Changing?

You might not have noticed, but two brewmaster dinners were held a month apart on the Grand Strand, and that’s got me thinking the beer culture around here is changing . . .

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Scholarship stout

As summer approaches, fewer beer drinkers will choose stouts and porters. Those darker, heavier brews don’t seem as appealing in the warming weather . . .

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