theCompass mobile application is a winery, brewery, and distillery locator for North America.

North Carolina is the largest U.S. producer of sweet potatoes. In our quest to work with local Southern ingredients as much as possible, the humble sweet potato is an obvious choice. Perhaps less obvious: our decision to avoid cloying spices that would only serve to mask the savory-yet-delicate flavors. Why “Carver?” It’s our small tribute to the amazing Southern environmental scientist and farmer, Doctor George Washington Carver. While he may be better known for his work with peanuts, Carver was also passionate about the sweet potato. 250 pounds of local sweet potatoes per batch (one-third of the base fermentables).

We break craft beer convention by unabashedly brewing beer with corn. El Toro is a lager-like classic cream ale — yet another American original. This easy-drinking “beer beer” is brewed with malted barley, hops, yeast, water…and North Carolina corn grits. More than 15% of the base fermentables come from North Carolina corn.

Call it “Southern Lager” or even “Lager” if you like, but we simply call this beer “Fullsteam.” Our eponymous beer is quaffable yet complex, particularly for a lager. Caramel in color, with a woodsy aroma and biscuity malts.

A tribute to the Southern tradition of an RC Cola and a MoonPie. We brew this beer with biscuity malts, vanilla, and chocolate nibs from Raleigh’s own Escazu Artisan Chocolates. But instead of using a traditional, dry English or Scottish ale yeast, we get zany and brew with a German (Weihenstephan) yeast strain.