Concord breweries are releasing beers inspired by the flavors of Sun Drop soda
Race you for a Sun Drop-inspired beer? Two Concord breweries are releasing popular beers fashioned after the soft drink, with merch to match.
Unlike North Carolina-born sodas Pepsi and Cheerwine, Sun Drop was invented in Missouri. The citrus soda is held in especially high regard in Concord, though, for a couple reasons: NASCAR drivers Dale Earnhardt Sr. and Dale Earnhardt Jr. were both sponsored by Sun Drop, and Concord was also home to Sun Drop Bottling Co. for many years.
That plant ended its run in 2016 after being in business for more than 60 years, but local love for the soda remains. That’s one of the reasons Southern Strain Brewing Co. created a Cherry Lemon sour prior to its opening a year ago.
“Everyone drinks it around here already,” said Ford Craven, the brewery’s co-founder and a Concord native. “The flavor is already on everyone’s palate. We’re not going to have to school anyone or convince anyone that this is a good flavor. They drink it for breakfast, lunch and dinner, for the most part.”
Craven is quick to note that the brewery’s Cherry Lemon sour is not a clone, but merely reminiscent of the soda. The beer is a mixed-fermentation sour that’s brewed with lemon and orange zest, as well as Montmorency red tart cherries, which gives the beer its pinkish red hue.
To show off that color, Southern Strain is filling clear glass bottles ahead of the brewery’s one-year anniversary celebration this weekend. The brewery is currently pre-selling a package that includes a bottle of the beer with two Cherry Lemon Teku glasses for $30. You can also purchase bottles at the taproom this weekend. Cherry Lemon has been popular since the brewery opened, but this will mark the first time the brewery has packaged the beer.
“It was instantly one of our top sellers when we opened last September,” Craven said. “It seems the hotter the day, the more people drink it. It just has that refreshing quality to it.”
Cabarrus Brewing’s Sour Drop
Tyson Fink, wholesale director at Cabarrus Brewing Co. in Concord, was tasked with filling out the brewery’s release calendar in early 2019. Fink lives in Kannapolis, hometown of Dale Earnhardt Sr., and remembers the popular Sun Drop commercials growing up. He started drinking the soda at an early age and still drinks it regularly, so it seemed like the perfect jumping off point for a small-batch beer.
“I’m a down home guy, I’m born and raised in Cabarrus County,” Fink said. “So I try to use a lot of my environment. How can I make that into a beer, you know?”
The brewery released cans of its Cherry Lemon Sour Drop last July, and sold out of all of its online pre-orders in 23 minutes. Now, the brewery is gearing up to release Sour Drop Citrus Sour, which was inspired by the regular Sun Drop.
“This beer was never meant to replicate Sun Drop or to be Sun Drop,” Fink said. “I like paying tribute to these things. It’s just an homage to these things that I love in my life and that I kind of wanted to create, and to my big passion for beer, as well.”
The beer, a kettle sour brewed with lemon, lime and orange, will soon be available for pre-order to pick up at the brewery’s taproom on Sept. 18. The brewery will announce the pre-sale date via its Facebook page ahead of time. Cabarrus Brewing Co. has brewed twice as much as the last Sour Drop release, and this time it’s also giving away bright green, plastic “old school” mugs to match when you pre-order three four-packs (while supplies last).
While there were really only two versions of Sun Drop, keep an eye out for other possible Sour Drop versions from the brewery in the future.
“We want to get creative with it down the road, for sure, and add our own flair to it by adding some different varietals to it down the line,” Fink said. “That’s definitely being discussed.”
