Spartanburg brewery making beer to be sold at Panthers games

[ChucktownK]

Talk about a historic day for RJ Rockers Brewing Co.

On Tuesday, with Gov. Mark Sanford standing just a few feet away during a personalized tour of the downtown Spartanburg facility, something big was cooking.

Bubbling away inside the massive brew kettle was Rockers' first batch of Maelstrom IPA, the flagship product from Skull Coast Ale Co., which this football season will be available to Carolina Panthers fans at Bank of America Stadium.

Rockers and Skull Coast owner Dave Fox have entered into a contract agreement by which Rockers will produce and keg the draft-only Maelstrom under specifications from Fox, who lives in Fort Mill and was looking to move production of his beer from an undisclosed North Carolina brewery he was working with to a facility in South Carolina.

It is similar to the agreement between Greenville-based Thomas Creek Brewery and Bottle Tree Beer Co., whose Bottle Tree Blonde has been selling like hot cakes since Campobello homebrewer Fred Block hooked up with Thomas Creek and took his brand commercial.

Too good to pass up

For years, Rockers founder Mark Johnsen said he wasn't interested in contract-brewing another company's beers, mainly because of capacity limitations, but Fox's proposal presented Johnsen with an opportunity he couldn't pass up. “We never really thought we'd be making someone else's beer,” Johnsen said, “but you never say never. We need to expand our business anyway, and this is a great way to do it because it's basically a sure thing — you're contracted to brew a certain amount of beer, (you produce) initially what the demand is going to be, and then you just meet it with a supply, and it works.

“We looked at the numbers, and everything made sense.”

With the agreement, Rockers has ordered more brewing tanks that will be funded by Fox, thus freeing up space where both Rockers and Skull Coast beers can sit and ferment as they await bottling.

“We're excited that we're here,” said Fox, a former cinematographer from Los Angeles who moved to South Carolina three years ago.

“We wanted to be in the state, and obviously today's ceremony with (Sanford signing a new beer-tasting law), it just made the move that much better,” Fox said. “We were out of state and I've always wanted to be in (South Carolina), but we wanted to do it professionally and (Rockers) was our first choice.

“The facility here is fantastic, and the people are absolutely just A-plus people. In talking to a couple of the other (breweries), there was some interest, but when it came down to it, this was the right fit,” he said.

Maelstrom expanding

Maelstrom IPA has been available this year in Greenville and from Florence down to the coast, and is about to enter the Columbia market. But the big break — the one that opened Johnsen's eyes — was the deal with Bank of America, where the brew will be exposed to potentially tens of thousands of football fans on a given Sunday.

Beginning Aug. 21 with the team's preseason home opener against the New York Jets, Maelstrom will be available on levels one and five at the stadium.

Two beers from Charlotte-based The Olde Mecklenburg Brewery will also be available along with Maelstrom — the first two breweries from the Carolinas to have their beers served at the stadium.

On Tuesday, with Gov. Mark Sanford standing just a few feet away during a personalized tour of the downtown Spartanburg facility, something big was cooking.

Bubbling away inside the massive brew kettle was Rockers' first batch of Maelstrom IPA, the flagship product from Skull Coast Ale Co., which this football season will be available to Carolina Panthers fans at Bank of America Stadium.

Rockers and Skull Coast owner Dave Fox have entered into a contract agreement by which Rockers will produce and keg the draft-only Maelstrom under specifications from Fox, who lives in Fort Mill and was looking to move production of his beer from an undisclosed North Carolina brewery he was working with to a facility in South Carolina.

It is similar to the agreement between Greenville-based Thomas Creek Brewery and Bottle Tree Beer Co., whose Bottle Tree Blonde has been selling like hot cakes since Campobello homebrewer Fred Block hooked up with Thomas Creek and took his brand commercial.

Too good to pass up

For years, Rockers founder Mark Johnsen said he wasn't interested in contract-brewing another company's beers, mainly because of capacity limitations, but Fox's proposal presented Johnsen with an opportunity he couldn't pass up.

“We never really thought we'd be making someone else's beer,” Johnsen said, “but you never say never. We need to expand our business anyway, and this is a great way to do it because it's basically a sure thing — you're contracted to brew a certain amount of beer, (you produce) initially what the demand is going to be, and then you just meet it with a supply, and it works.

“We looked at the numbers, and everything made sense.”

With the agreement, Rockers has ordered more brewing tanks that will be funded by Fox, thus freeing up space where both Rockers and Skull Coast beers can sit and ferment as they await bottling.

“We're excited that we're here,” said Fox, a former cinematographer from Los Angeles who moved to South Carolina three years ago.

“We wanted to be in the state, and obviously today's ceremony with (Sanford signing a new beer-tasting law), it just made the move that much better,” Fox said. “We were out of state and I've always wanted to be in (South Carolina), but we wanted to do it professionally and (Rockers) was our first choice.

“The facility here is fantastic, and the people are absolutely just A-plus people. In talking to a couple of the other (breweries), there was some interest, but when it came down to it, this was the right fit,” he said.

Maelstrom expanding

Maelstrom IPA has been available this year in Greenville and from Florence down to the coast, and is about to enter the Columbia market. But the big break — the one that opened Johnsen's eyes — was the deal with Bank of America, where the brew will be exposed to potentially tens of thousands of football fans on a given Sunday.

Beginning Aug. 21 with the team's preseason home opener against the New York Jets, Maelstrom will be available on levels one and five at the stadium.

Two beers from Charlotte-based The Olde Mecklenburg Brewery will also be available along with Maelstrom — the first two breweries from the Carolinas to have their beers served at the stadium.

“It's a good product,” Jeff Kelly, the stadium's vending and portables manager, said of Maelstrom, “and we like to offer a great variety here at the stadium.”

Kelly said Skull Coast will have two additional tap accounts alongside Maelstrom, and Johnsen said he and Fox plan to collaborate on two new fall seasonal beers to fill those other two.

As for Spartanburg, Fox said he spoke to representatives from Budweiser of Spartanburg — which handles all of Rockers' distribution — Tuesday about making Maelstrom available locally.

Johnsen said it would be a natural to have the beer available at the Tap Room at RJ Rockers, located next to the brewery.

Johnsen said the collaboration is good news for Spartanburg and the state.

“He's moving his operation out of North Carolina into South Carolina,” Johnsen said, “and hopefully it will generate more revenue and potentially create more jobs.”

“We're making a pretty big investment here,” Fox said, “so we plan to be here for a long time.”

[MadHatter]

Any beer named Skull Coast Ale deserves a long and hard look

[SorthNarolina]

Good to hear.

[Captroop]

Any beer named Skull Coast Ale deserves a long and hard look

Same with Raging Bitch.

[CharlotteBeer.com]

Two beers from Charlotte-based The Olde Mecklenburg Brewery will also be available along with Maelstrom — the first two breweries from the Carolinas to have their beers served at the stadium.

That is freakin' awesome! Olde Mecklenburg's beers aren't going to blow you away, but they're miles ahead of Budweiser, Miller and whatever else they're selling there these days. I've heard Skull Coast's Maelstrom is a really good IPA; I'm trying to get them on with my favorite bar right now.

I thought Skull Coast wasn't permitted to say who was doing their contract brewing? I had heard it was Thomas Creek, and not R.J. Rockers.

[Scrumtrilescent]

They have import vendors, just have to know where to look.

[ChucktownK]

Let us foreigners know how it is. :cheers2:

[Neylus]

The stadium has always had microbrews, just not local microbrews. Great news indeed.

[CharlotteBeer.com]

On Tuesday, with Gov. Mark Sanford standing just a few feet away during a personalized tour of the downtown Spartanburg facility, something big was cooking.

Bubbling away inside the massive brew kettle was Rockers' first batch of Maelstrom IPA, the flagship product from Skull Coast Ale Co., which this football season will be available to Carolina Panthers fans at Bank of America Stadium.

Maelstrom IPA has been out for some time now. I guess Skull Coast is having several breweries contract brew their beer? Maybe Thomas Creek and RJ Rockers?

[TerriblePizza]

RJ Rocker is delicious. When you guys come down for training camp, stop by Terry's Tap Room. They're right beside the brewery.

[Panthers_Lover]

That is freakin' awesome! Olde Mecklenburg's beers aren't going to blow you away, but they're miles ahead of Budweiser, Miller and whatever else they're selling there these days. I've heard Skull Coast's Maelstrom is a really good IPA; I'm trying to get them on with my favorite bar right now.

I thought Skull Coast wasn't permitted to say who was doing their contract brewing? I had heard it was Thomas Creek, and not R.J. Rockers.

Nope, Rockers ... at least for what's going to BOA.

[CharlotteBeer.com]

Nope, Rockers ... at least for what's going to BOA.

I believe that, I'm just saying the beer's been out for some time, and the article said that the one in the tanks at RJ Rockers is their first batch. So someone else had to brew the other batch(es) of Maelstrom that have been in South Carolina already.

[Anybodyhome]

BOA is already pretty darn proud of the usual brand name domestics they sell for $8 per large. Problem with the niche breweries is they want to make all their money back in one season and they'll probably want about $10 or $11 per pour.

[ChucktownK]

PAY IT!!! %&*!$ Anheuser-Dusch!