"Roots" Beer
by Kurt Epps—The PubScout 5.21.21
At the urging of the missus, an avid “Ancestry” fan, we took a trip to the back country of the Tar Heel State to learn more about my ancestors and heritage. That required a nearly four-hour drive from the southeast coast to the northwest section of the state near the Virginia border.
I had long known I had Indian blood, as a copy of my dad’s birth certificate from Person County clearly stated he was an Indian, a full-blooded member of the Sappony tribe. After mounds of research, my dedicated squaw planned a trip to visit the area of the High Plains Indians outside Roxboro, NC.
We explored a few cemeteries for family headstones (the one at the top is that of my great-great-grandfather Jasper), sometimes having to travel dusty dirt roads for a couple of miles to find them. We tramped the grounds and saw the land and forests where my ancestors farmed, planted, lived and died.
It’s a decidedly beautiful area, with most roads designed to make driving an aesthetic pleasure. But some roads require dusty tramping, and that can generate a big thirst. Thankfully, Roxboro had some good beer places—and one absolutely phenomenal restaurant with the best beer I had the whole trip—and maybe so far in 2021.
1792 Beer Company
This little storefront operation right on Roxboro’s Main St. is the brainchild of Kyle James and Eric Wynne. It’s a bottle shop, actually, with a nice selection of eight beers on tap and a wide variety of bottled (duh) and canned beer.
In existence since 2018, it’s a family-and-dog-friendly place, with limited outdoor seating, but with a comfortable bar and some chairs and tables set in the back for quaffing, game-playing and conversation.
Kyle, the affable part owner and bartender this day, was most hospitable. He is the “beer brain” behind what goes on tap or on the shelves, as Eric doesn’t drink, but still is an integral part of the ordering process.“He sometimes tries to get there by sampling different stuff,” said Kyle, “But so far, the bug hasn’t bit him, ” Kyle offered.
The shop, named for the year Person County was founded, offers wine by the glass, keg rentals, mimosa buckets and flights in a very comfortable setting. According to posts on their FaceBook site, it’s a place much loved by locals and visitors alike, and it’s not hard to see why.
Asked where he he sees the 1792 Beer Company in the next few years, Kyle allowed that they might move to a different location with more outdoor space they could use to improve the customer’s experience.
No food is served, though there is a variety of munchies available. And there is merchandise available for purchase…like the sticker Kyle gave me that said, “I’m Drinking Beer in Person.”
Took me a minute to figure out that meant Person County, too. Apparently “dusty traipsing” can cloud the brain.
Black Creek Brewery
Right around the corner from 1792 is the Black Creek Brewery, owned by Mike and Dan Lagaly. You can read how they got started and what they’re about on their FaceBook page. But apparently, brewing beer, while an art and a craft, isn't rocket science. We didn’t get to meet the “official” brewer (and former rocket scientist) Dan, but Mike was on hand, most informative and friendly.
The missus, as is her wont, bellied right up to the bar and asked for a Blue Heron Wit, which she pronounced to be very good and “on-style.” (See? She just doesn’t know Ancestry leaves.) I had to try it, and she was right. Clove, banana and bubblegum came through very clearly and refreshingly, due to a bit of higher carbonation
But, as is MY wont when in a brewery, I ask whoever’s in charge to pick out a flight for me which reflects the four beers that are not necessarily best sellers, but beers of which the brewer is proudest. Mike took a step back with his flight board and a piece of chalk to scan the twenty beers available, and delivered four to my table.
The first was an absolute winner, a superb, 4.9% transitional beer called “Endless Summer.” Great nose, crisp and the Maris Otter malts played very nicely with the tantalizing hint of apricot that showed up in every sip and lingered through the finish. BCB generally uses Bravo hops for bittering, and this one also had Cascade, Simcoe and Citra to make it a most appealing choice.
Highway Joe’s, a 5.1% ale, was next. It was a very sessionable, friendly beer, as was the 5.2% Fish Tail Ale. Both were basic, but solid selections.
Copperhead Red is BCB’s best seller “and has been from the beginning,” says Mike. And its solid malt backbone and initial sweet nose made it most appealing. While the malt was clearly the star of the show, it did not hog the stage, and this beer was very nicely balanced.
Mike decided to let me take a walk on the dark side, and he produced Black Betty, a schwarzbier with a 4.7% ABV and roasted malts abounding in the nose. The finish, wasn’t sweet, however, and I found it somewhat acidic on the back end.
Porter in Person (County…get it?) at 5.1% also had sweet roasted notes in the nose that gave way to a pleasant bitter finish on the back side.
I did note that most, if not all, of BCB’s beers were relatively low in ABV. “We make what we like to drink,” said Mike, “and we’re lightweights.”
There was one beer, however, that a big beer lover like yours truly couldn’t let get away. It was an 8% DIPA (“and probably well over that”) that Mike warned “could get some folks in trouble.” Noserider DIPA (described by Mike as ‘Fish Tail’s Big Brother’) was absolutely “lights out” in style and taste. And probably in other ways, too. Fortunately, our hotel was only a mile away.
Brookland Eats
This restaurant, housed in a former general store from more than two centuries ago and a decidedly neat place in which to eat and quaff, had the best food of any place we ate. Expertly prepared in generous portions by David Gayeski, a former executive chef for various governors, it offered a dish called Pecan Shrimp which the missus ordered—twice (because we went back).
I had a massively stuffed turkey club sandwich for lunch the first day and a delicious hamburger made with cheese, ground filet mignon and all the trimmings at the second visit.
But both times I had a beer called False Motivation, a wonderful 7.3% NEIPA made by the veteran women of the Tobacco Wood Brewery in nearby Oxford. Beautiful to look at and even better to drink, this is my favorite NEIPA so far in 2021, and any challenger is going to have to go some to dislodge it from that top spot.
In sum, it was indeed a great adventure in ancestry, and a memorable visit to an area of the state which can only be described as breathtakingly beautiful. It is no surprise that my Indian ancestors considered the area to be sacred.
We also were aided tremendously in our quest by Carrie Currie, the local curator of the Person County Museum. She gave us a guided tour of the surprisingly large Museum Campus, which featured a tobacco shed, a doctor's office a general store and a dirt-floor school, all of which had been donated and transported to the grounds.
She opened up the Sappony Room for us to investigate, even though the museum itself was closed for renovations. Carrie was a wealth of information and a font of boundless energy with a very clear vision of where she would like to see this precious repository of history in two years.
She can count on us returning, because we want to see the History Tribute Brick we purchase in person --in Person. Proceeds go to help fund the important mission of preserving the valuable history of a nearly forgotten time. One of Roxboro's favorite sons, an MLB Hall of Famer who scored the winning run in the seventh game of the '46 Series, has his own brick below.
If I close my eyes and imagine those lush, wooded forests, I might see their faces turning to me in the mist through the trees or from the fields and farmlands, leaning on their planting tools, and perhaps nodding or waving to acknowledge me.
Or perhaps they would pause from their duties at the tobacco-drying sheds to nod and smile in approval that I finally came to see them.
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