MOORESVILLE — Mike Smith says that when you get right down to it, there are few things in life simpler than beer.
“All it is is water, barley, hops and yeast,” he says of the ingredients that make up every mug of beer ever poured. “It’s not brain surgery.”
Maybe not, but Smith has tasted plenty of beer — good and bad — and insists the brew his company, Carolina Beer & Beverage, produces is among the best.
The company churns out a variety of regional beers and ales, stuff with catchy names like Carolina Light and Charleston Ale. Carolina Beer’s most popular offering is Carolina Blonde, a brew that accounts for 65 percent of the company’s sales.
Smith says that before the year is through, Carolina Beer will produce 15,000 barrels of beer that will be shipped in everything from kegs to bottles to restaurants and bars throughout much of the southeastern United States.
“Things are going real well,” says Smith, a 40-year-old Charlotte native who once pitched baseball for the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. “It’s hectic, but it’s a lot of fun.”
Carolina Beer was founded in 1997 by Smith and his sidekick, John Stritch. Nowadays, Smith holds the lofty title of chief executive officer of Carolina Beer while Stritch is the company’s president.
But a few years ago, they were just two guys struggling to find a niche for their product in the highly competitive world of beer sales.
Several days a week, the pair would pound the streets of Charlotte and surrounding municipalities, stopping in bars and restaurants to introduce themselves and their beer.
“Mike came in and impressed the heck out of me,” says Larry Sponaugle, co-owner of Mickey & Mooch, a restaurant in Cornelius. “He’s a hands-on guy.”
Sponaugle agreed to give Carolina Blonde a shot, and the beer has since become one of his restaurant’s most popular offerings. He says the naming of Carolina Blonde was a stroke of genius.
“Have you ever heard a guy turn down an offer for a Carolina Blonde?” Sponaugle asks, laughing as he speaks.
Ed Cook, beer and wine distributor for Harris-Teeter in Charlotte, says he was equally impressed by Smith and Stritch’s commitment to their company.
“It means something when the guy who’s got his money invested comes calling,” he says. “It means he believes in what he’s selling.”
The work of Smith and Stritch has paid dividends.
After founding their business in a small brewery in Charlotte, they have since moved to a spotless 25,000-square-foot, state-of-the-art facility in Mooresville. There, they produce beer at a pace they wouldn’t have believed possible a few years back.
The brewery operates six days a week, with 12-hour workdays not uncommon. On a typical day, the brewery’s 16 workers will churn out 3,000 cases of beer.
The company’s success has made Carolina Beer the second-largest brewery in North Carolina, trailing only the Miller Beer goliath in Eden.
Beers brewed by Carolina Beer can be found in Ericsson Stadium, the Charlotte Coliseum, Blockbuster Pavilion and Walnut Creek Amphitheater near Raleigh.
The company’s products are distributed throughout North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Tennessee and Virginia. At Charlotte’s Douglas International Airport, Carolina Blonde is the second-most popular beer, trailing only Budweiser.
In all of metro Charlotte, Carolina Blonde is the second most popular regional beer, finishing second to Samuel Adams, a product that benefits from a national advertising campaign. Carolina Beer products can be found at such major retailers as Lowe’s Foods, Harris-Teeter and Kroger.
The task of creating a beer, Smith explains, takes 21 days from beginning to end. He and Stritch keep track of the process like a couple of proud parents, occasionally pulling a beer off the production line for a sample.
“We’re too big to be a microbrewery and too small to give Budweiser a problem,” Smith says of his company.
He says much of the success of Carolina Beer stems from its ability to move the beer from brewery to store with the speed it does. Once the company produces a beer, Smith says, it’s typically on a store shelf within a week.
“Freshness in beer is absolutely critical,” Smith says. “The quicker you can get it to the consumer, the better it’s going to taste.”
He says he and Stritch got interested in starting a brewery after witnessing the successes of similar operations in the Pacific Northwest.
“North Carolina has never had a true regional brewery,” Smith says. “We’re excited about becoming that.”
Smith says it’s impossible to stereotype drinkers of Carolina Beer products, though there are distinctions.
“Our customers are a little more sophisticated,” he said of the type person typically found sipping a Carolina Blonde, Carolina Light or some similar offering. “A lot of them are college-educated, but I wouldn’t consider them beer snobs.”
He said the company hopes to continue its expansion. A plastic bottle the company will introduce in May should help Carolina Beer moves its products to more sporting arenas.
In the meantime, Smith said he and Stritch will continue to aggressively market their product, still pounding the streets on occasion to introduce their beers to a variety of shop owners.
“We fight for our supper every day,” Smith says. “There are no ties in this business. You either win or you lose.”
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