I understand that this post is supposed to concern libations related to the mid-Atlantic, but I am stuck in Charlotte and bored outta my mind so you will have to deal.

On my first day in Charlotte, my boss and I stopped by a pizzeria and asked one of the locals at the bar what the best regional beer was. He smiled and proudly shouted "Budweiser!" I died a little on the inside.

But fortunately, I continued to seek out regional beers and here is what I found:

At first, I thought the best I could do was Rock Bottom Brewery Charlotte. As my brother-in-law and fellow blogger mentioned, Rock Bottom is a chain but allows its brewers to match their fare to regional tastes. Keeping this in mind, I selected the beer sample and set about my tasting journey.

Souther Flyer Light Lager: Described as a light beer and a "true-American lager." Not much to say here-was pretty tasteless. Seemed like compensation for those who would usually order a Bud.

Prospector's Pilsner: Described as a "German-style pilsner". (Now somebody correct me please, but isn't that a bit redundant?) Anyhow, wasn't bad, kinda nondescript.

Randoloh's Ride Red Ale: Described as a "malty flavor from British Crystal malt with the distinct citrus flavor of Cascade hops." All I recorded was that it was not too sweet and not too bitter. Don't quite remember what that meant.

Stingin' Brits I.P.A. : Now, to understand how remarkable this next beer is, you have to understand that historically I have disliked 95% of the I.P.A.s I have tried. Yet, out of the 7 beers I tried, this was my favorite. It was a "copper-colored ale," which I found odd, since most of the I.P.A. 's I have tried have been very light in color. They use Fuggle hops and it was quite enjoyable.

Sweet Magnolia Brown Ale: This was the beer I expected to like the most-I tend to like brown ales and this particular ale had apparently won the 1998 Great American Beer Festival. Yet I found it fairly nondescript. Ok, but not special

Iron Horse Stout: Again, take note that a stout is my least favorite type of beer. I don't dislike them, but it would be my last choice. In fact, I would rather have an I.P.A. over a stout any day. This particular stout has won the Gold and Silver medal in the Sweet Stout category of the World Beer Cup Competition but still I did not expect to like it. It is actually one of my favorite stouts ever. It was not at all bitter, which is one of the major beefs I have with stout. It has the slightest hint of chocolate but was not overly sweet. I found it to be very drinkable and could have even ordered another, which is rare for me and stouts.

Seasonal: Unfortunately, I did not get the full name of Rock Bottom Charlotte's seasonal, but I do know that it was an Irish Red. It was one of the best Irish Reds I have ever had. It had a delightful spicy-caramel-ly-floral flavor and was lovely. Definitely the best of the bunch.

Side note: I got a salad and it really sucked. Barely edible. Most of the yummy part of the meal was beer-related.