Law stokes niche beer market

North Carolina's beer selection is more diverse and more potent than it was a year ago. But unless you're a beer connoisseur, you might not have even noticed.

Area stores and restaurants have slowly added more premium craft beers and imports, exploring new liberties granted by the "Pop the Cap" legislation that went into effect in August 2005.

Pop the Cap raised the alcohol-content limit for beer and other malt beverages sold in North Carolina from 6 percent alcohol by volume to 15 percent, clearing the way for a whole new world of beers.

The new rules changed very little in the big picture. Neighborhood grocery stores still stock the typical varieties of Budweiser and Miller, and beer sales for the state have remained flat.

But Sean Wilson, co-founder of the group of beer enthusiasts who pushed the legislation through, said increased sales were never the goal. The group simply wanted to improve the beer selection in the state and refresh an outdated law. "We didn't want to make the thing out to be bigger than it was," he said. "This is a niche. It's a small market."

Still, if you are in the specialty beer business, it has been quite a year.

At Edenton Brewing on Wicker Drive in Raleigh, co-owner and brew master Brad Wynn estimates that he will sell 1,500 barrels of beer this year, up from 1,200 last year.

Edenton ships beer to stores and restaurants in North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Virginia, and sells its creations at Horniblow's Tavern, the bar attached to the brewery."We're packing this place now," Wynn said. "I think it will only get better for us as a company."

His top seller is Big Boss, which is 6.75 percent alcohol by volume.

"We couldn't even make it before," Wynn said. "Now it's outselling everything else, by like three-to-one."

Wynn is also planning a double India Pale Ale that will contain 8 percent to 10 percent alcohol. He has already sold his entire supply of an 8-percent beer, Surrender Monkey, to area restaurants, including the Raleigh Times Bar and 42nd Street Oyster Bar, both in Raleigh.

"I wish I'd known so I could have made more," he said. "But it shows us that we're headed in the right direction."

On Main Street in Carrboro, the Milltown bar and restaurant wouldn't have opened if the alcohol content law had failed, co-owner Scott Richie said. "We actually started building Milltown about a month after Pop the Cap," he said. "We've got over 150 beers, and a lot of those we couldn't have brought in a year ago. It's easily a third of the menu."

Milltown has been open just four months. The high-end beers are more pricey but gaining momentum, Richie said. They range from $4 or $5, to $39 for a 750-milliliter bottle of Belgian beer.

"We've been fortunate enough that there hasn't been a giant influx of high-end beer bars, so it's still possible to keep demand high," he said.

However, more variety doesn't necessarily mean more profit.

At Sam's Quik Shop on Erwin Road in Durham, owner John Boy brought in about 300 new varieties after the law passed, bringing the store's total to more than 700. His shelves are lined with ales and beers from all over the world, some with alcohol contents of 10 percent or more.

"We were making changes almost on a weekly basis," he said. "Stuff was coming in in massive amounts. It's amazing what's out there."

Boy is enjoying selling and drinking the new beers, but he said profits have remained even.

"Sales did definitely increase, but also the cost of the goods increased," he said. "These beers aren't cheap."

Still, he remains adamant that the alcohol-content law is good for the beer industry in North Carolina.

"It just turned a stagnant market with nothing exciting and interesting, and turned it upside down," he said.

Ed Donegan can think of other reasons Pop the Cap has been good for the state.

A regional manager for Tryon Distributing of Charlotte, Donegan said the number of products Tryon supplies is up 40 percent, and business has doubled.

"We've bought more trucks, we've hired a lot more people," he said. "I personally have hired five more people due to the passage of the law, both sales managers and drivers. We have two more people being planned to bring into the company by April 1 of next year."

Wilson said the craft beer sector has flourished in North Carolina in the past year.

"Georgia lifted the cap in 2004, and they saw 300 new craft beers entering into the market," he said. "There are no real estimates yet, but in the past year, you've seen the same exact kind of thing happening here."

And as a beer lover, the influx of previously unavailable beers has been great, Wilson said.

"It's been hard on the wallet," he said.