There are a million stories in the rubber-booted brewing world; each one unique and interesting. This is The Slayer's beat, he wears a church key (around his neck). His duty is to bring those stories to you, the Slayerites. It can be a thankless, dirty job, at times. No matter how ugly it gets, The Slayer took an oath to uphold the values and virtues of flavorful beer at all times.

It was 3:00 PM. The Slayer was working the North Carolina brews at the Southeastern Microbrewers' Invitational, when he happened upon the Old North State Brewing Company booth. Suspicious, for he was not familiar with this brewery or its beer, he decided to stop and take a closer look.

Behind the table were two malt beverage types; one male, one female. A large crowd stood between him and the front of the booth. The Slayer quickly dispersed the casual quaffers by shouting, "Move it along, nothing to drink here."

Now alone with the subjects, he began the investigation. The Slayer asked the gentleman, "If your brewery is from North Carolina, as you claim, where were your beers on July 15, 1996? They obviously were not in the Wilmington area."

He responded, "I'm really not sure, perhaps, you should ask the head brewer, my wife Suzanne James. Since she also distributes the beer, she would have a better idea of its whereabouts on that particular day."

The Slayer was momentarily taken aback by the fact that the company's head brewer was a woman. Other lesser experienced brew investigative reporters would have become so intrigued by the fact that this brewery has a woman brewer that their attention would be diverted. Most of them would grab this morsel of information and began writing some sappy feature about the life of a woman in the male dominated brewing world. Because The Slayer is well schooled in beer history, he does not find a female brewer to be a novelty; for all brewers were women up until the art was taken from the home and made into a business venture.

His focus remaining on the matter at hand, The Slayer turned to Mike's Wife, Suzanne, and posed the same question to her. She smiled as only a Southern Belle can and answered him with, "Do you really want to know? For if you do, I have a story to tell you. It's going to take more time than I have right now. However, I would be glad to share our tale of woe with you at a later date."

Not knowing what to make of her peculiar answer to what seemed a fairly straight forward question, The Slayer replied, "I do want explanation as to the whereabouts of your beer on that date. I will call you next week for it. Right now, I'll be happy with just the beer, maam."

With a sweep of the hand so graceful it would make Vanna White green with envy, Suzanne showed The Slayer Old North State's stable of brews. Then, in a drawl as sweet as the tea (iced, of course, this is the South) at a Spivey's Corners diner, she said, "Which would you like to try first, Mr. Slayer?"

Trying not be plied by Suzanne's obvious Southern Charm, The Slayer deliberately focused his attention on the bottles before him. Old North State has four different brews from which to choose: Red Drum Amber Ale; Box Turtle Brown Ale; Honey Bee Wheat and, new for the 1998 Southeastern Microbrewers' Invitational, Plott Hound Muzzle Ale.

The Slayer started with the Red Drum Amber Ale. This example of one of the most ubiquitous styles in microbrewing was the color of a field of red wheat on an August afternoon. It had a satisfactory, but not impressive, light, frothy, white head. The brew's aroma was bitter but citrusy, like that of lemon zest; clearly from the use of Cascade hops. Red Drum's palate began with an impressive malty sweetness and finished with the flavors found in the nose. For an Amber Ale, The Slayer found this brew to be quite pleasing.

The Box Turtle Brown Ale had a warm pecan shell hue with an adequate egg shell, or was it sheet rock, white head. It had little aroma, but what was discovered was malty in nature. This Brown Ale did not have the highly hopped flavor an American Brown, yet it's hoppiness was more than would be found in English beers of this style. It was this brew's inability to be pigeon-holed ( a true ëtweener) that put a smile of gustatory satisfaction on The Slayer. Box Turtle was truly a unique Brown Ale. The Slayer considered the words "unique" and "Brown Ale" to be mutually exclusive until he supped of this nectar.

Reluctantly, The Slayer decided to sample the Honey Bee Wheat. He is not a big fan of American Wheat Beers and had never really enjoyed any malt beverage brewed with honey. This brew, like any American Wheat, took on the color of it's additive, honey. It was topped with a very nice, frothy white head that had good retention for a brew with little hop content. Honey Bee's aroma was that of the honey in its name. It was The beer's flavor that truly caught The Slayer's attention. The brew had a light, clean honey taste that finished with a pleasant hop herbal bitterness. The honey flavor did not overpower the Wheat Beer base. It completely complimented it with a sweetness that was so natural that The Slayer imagines the bees must feel honored to lend their nectar to this beverage. Without a doubt, it is the best Honey Wheat The Slayer has ever placed on his tongue.

Finally, the Plott Hound Muzzle Ale was another beer from this brewery which could not be accurately classified. It had the color, head and malt/hop aroma of an Extra Special Bitter (ESB). However, it's flavor did not carry enough hop punch to be classified under this style. The Slayer could best describe it as an ESB without the B. Though another peg without a hole of the same shape, The Slayer found the maltiness of this beer quite pleasing.

On Monday, after The Slayer returned home to his hovel, he gave Suzanne a call to get the rest of the story (sorry, Paul Harvey, he just couldn't resist). It took all of forty-five minutes for her to recite the tale of misfortune. In the process, she explained that Old North State had no beer for sale on July 15, 1996 because nearby construction had severed the brewery's water line in June of that year. That was just one of mishaps that befell the James' since the opening of brewery in 1995.

They also had financial set backs because of the incompetence of the Small Business Administration and a death in the family (which further complicated these matters). Suzanne told The Slayer that over the course of company's existence they have had to dump several hundred barrels of beer because they did not have the money to bottle it or other mishaps occured.

She and her mother and father actually constructed much of the brewery themselves because they did not the money to pay for its building. Mike, who one day dreamt of working at the business full-time, continues to labor as a pharmacologist just so they can pay the bills. In the meantime, Suzanne has to brew and bottle all the beer virtually by herself and distribute it too. These long hours of work have taken their toll on this petite Southern Belle. Yet, even though suffering from chronic fatigue syndrome, she continues.

She ended the conversation by saying, ìWe had always dreamt of having a brewery. Sometimes, dreams can become nightmares.î

Unfortunately, the James' got what they wished for. Yet, even in light of the hardships they have had to overcome, Old North State Brewing Company produces some of the finest beer in all of North Carolina. The Slayer knows it is the consumer who made out best in this deal. Hopefully, the brewery can stay afloat long enough so that others can taste that which he has tasted.