New Sarum expands distribution to Triangle

New Serum Brewing's beer has been hard to find around the Triangle.

The Salisbury-based brewery had been self-distributing their products for a while but recently signed on with a distributor to get their beers to a wider market. Brewmaster Andy Maben said the decision to move to a distributor was simple.

They're not truckers.

Now, with the help of a company that hauls their beer up Interstate 85, New Serum is in the Triangle.

They had 17 beers when they opened, but that wasn't a sustainable number to scale for a production brewery. Instead, New Serum pared down their offerings and focused on branding for a few years.

"We also did a lot of market research as well, (into) what actually sells the beer," Maben said. "Is it the beer itself? Is it he name of the beer? Is it the tap handle that the beer comes in? Is it the can that looks pretty? Is it the can with a bunch of word vomit? It depends."

The slow rolling brought New Serum to where they are today—with a location in a building built in the 1800s and newly expanded distribution.

Now that they're here, try the 142 Blonde Ale with Grits. It's a 5.5 percent ABV American Blonde Ale made with local Miknik Farms grits and Riverbend Malt House grain that would taste great under a long summer sunset.