Americana Beer Company is proud to introduce our latest brew: The Granddaddy Carolina Gold Rice Lager. Brewed with authentic Carolina Gold Rice from our friends at Tidewater Grain Company on the North Carolina coast, this beer hits the tap Friday, February 9, starting at 2 p.m.

At 5.2% ABV and 10 IBU, The Granddaddy is a light, crushable lager built for the warmer spring days ahead.

Why Rice? The Story Behind the Grain
You may be asking, “It’s rice, so what?” Here’s what makes it special: this isn’t just any rice. Carolina Gold Rice is the oldest medium-grain rice grown in America, with roots dating back to 1686.

With its rich, nutty flavor paired with our favorite Pilsner malt from Carolina Malt House, this beer is shaping up to be the “granddaddy” of crushable beers this spring and summer.

A Quick History Lesson: The Story of Carolina Gold Rice
Carolina Gold is the great-granddaddy of most rice grown in America today, and its history runs deep:

• Late 1680s: Carolina Gold’s American roots trace to the port of Charleston, SC, when the captain of a merchant ship from Madagascar reportedly used a cargo of rice seed to pay for urgently needed ship repairs.
• Dr. Henry Woodward: An ambitious farmer who planted the first rice crop in the Americas using that seed, and it flourished.
• A cash crop is born: Rice production quickly took over the South Carolina lowlands, then expanded north into the coastal plain known as the Tidewater region, stretching from Eastern North Carolina up into Virginia.
• Nearly 200 years of prosperity: Rice farming thrived in the Carolinas thanks to fertile soil, river waters for flooding the plain, and nearby coastal ports for easy distribution to England and Europe.
• The decline: The end of the Civil War, early 1900s market pressures, a series of destructive hurricanes, and the rise of commodity farming combined to effectively end rice farming in North Carolina.

A 120-Year Comeback
That is, until now. Tidewater Grain Company is proud to announce that after a 120-year hiatus, Carolina Gold Rice production is back in Eastern North Carolina, and we’re honored to bring this authentic taste of Carolina history to Monroe and Union County, NC, in The Granddaddy Carolina Gold Rice Lager.

Come try a piece of living history on tap starting February 9. Cheers to bringing the past back, one pint at a time.