Move over wine, it’s time to show beer some respect.

One indicator of beer’s growing sophistication is the Top of the Hops Beer Fest, which will bring 60 craft breweries and about 150 beers to the Upstate for a one-day event April 10. Staged by Red Mountain Entertainment, the event will give visitors a chance to taste and learn about craft brews.

The fact that Greenville now has its own festival – as do sister cities Asheville, Knoxville and Athens – is a sign of the Upstate’s changing beer culture, say local organizers.

What’s changed about beer in the last 30 years? Put simply, says Beeby, “it’s gotten a lot better.”

It wasn’t too long ago that the word beer elicited thoughts of nachos, onion rings, wings and televised sports. While that still may be true, today there’s so much more. The popularity of home brewing has fueled a domestic obsession with craft beers, and beer tasting has become akin to an art form. There are beer tastings, beer dinners, beer seminars. To hear Tom Davis, co-owner of Thomas Creek Brewery in Greenville, talk about it, beer almost seems, well, pretty deep. 

“The temperature range of fermentation is huge,” Davis says, explaining the flavor nuances. “Typically at a warmer temperature you get more esters which impart fruity banana, clove, bubblegum even, flavor profiles. Lagers tend to be drier and less fruity and more crisp. Ales tend to be more fruity.”

Yes, he’s talking about beer. The growth of the craft beer movement – based on experimentation and high quality ingredients to produce small batch brews – has generated a renewed energy and interest in the age-old drink.

These days, says Katie Barnes, sales director at Thomas Creek, “people are so interested in drinking a full-bodied beer, with texture and flavor with warmth to it. I think having a beer festival in Greenville only amplifies what Greenvillians have been building up to for a long time, which is we love craft beer, we want to see more craft beer in this town.”