Carolina Beer

Carolina Beer Company is proud to be celebrating a decade of bringing high-quality, craft brews to beer drinkers along the mid-Atlantic. Founded in 1997 by CEO J.Michael Smith and President John Stritch, the duo is behind the creation of nearly a dozen beers sold under the Carolina Blonde and Cottonwood Ales brands. Smith, an avid outdoorsman who enjoys a cold beer at the end of the day, admits he’s the business and mechanical guy behind the beers (His family was in the beverage business. He sold his stake in a successful business before starting the Beer Company). Stritch is a California native that has always had beer in his blood. He helped deliver kegs in college and then spent the following two decades in sales and distribution with one of the world’s leading beer brands.

Carolina Beer Company produces about 60,000 barrels of beer annually. Its flagship beer is its Carolina Blonde, a full-bodied golden ale symbolized by its signature gold and black logo featuring a lighthouse. It has a lighter version of its signature ale sold under the Carolina Lighthouse brand as well as a Carolina Strawberry Ale, which was introduced in summer 2007. Under its Cottonwood Ale label, the company offers a variety of beers including the Endo IPA, Low Down Brown and award-winning seasonal varieties including Pumpkin Ale, Irish Style Red, Great American Wheat, Scottish Ale and Frostbite.