Bobby Bush first took notice of the craft brewing industry while living in Southern California in the late 1980s, and by the late 90s had visited hundreds of breweries in 31 states across the country. During this period Mr. Bush began writing about the industry for a number of publications, including a "Southern Brewing" column in Celebrator Beer News, as well as work in Ale Street News and Southern Draft Brew News. For approximately a decade starting in 1995 and under the pen name Suds Brewer, he authored "Beer & Loafing" for FOCUS, a local weekly paper published in Hickory, North Carolina, producing hundreds of articles exploring the U.S. beer and brewing industry and culture.
Mr. Bush is also a co-founder of the Hickory Hops Craft Beer Festival, which started in 2003 and is the third-oldest continuously running beer festival in North Carolina. The Carolinas Championship of Beers (CCB) competition and awards is a part of Hickory Hops. He is the owner of the Hops and Grapes craft beer bar and bottle shop in Hickory N.C., and an avid collector of breweriana, with over 400 brewery t-shirts, hundreds of pint glasses and growlers, and literally thousands of coasters.
The Bobby Bush collection includes over 1000 articles, photographs, manuscripts, and publications from Mr. Bush's prolific career donated to Well Crafted NC. We have included links below to indexes or materials within the collection.
All material with a copyright owned by Mr. Bush or in the public domain is available online and provided freely for research. You may browse or search all of these materials as a group here. Other material may be made available on a case-by-case basis by request or appointment.
For approximately a decade starting in 1995 and under the pen name Suds Brewer, Mr. Bush authored "Beer & Loafing" for FOCUS, a local paper published in Hickory, North Carolina, producing hundreds of articles exploring the U.S. beer and brewing industry and culture. We have provided full-text access to over 500 articles spanning 1995-2005.
Mr. Bush donated over 300 photographs chronicling North Carolina beer and brewing from the late 1990s to the early 2000s.
Mr. Bush donated select issues of print-based beer and brewing publications to Well Crafted NC. These include Ale Street News, American Breweriana Journal, Beer Connoisseur, Celebrator Beer News, Mid-Atlantic Brewing News, and Southern Brew News. A spreadsheet delineating each publication, volume, and issue may be found here. Each publication is featured on its own sheet within the larger workbook.
Mr. Bush donated a number of his original manuscripts, finished articles, and photography from Ale Street News and Celebrator Beer News to Well Crafted NC. Although we can't make these copyrighted materials available online, we are working towards making available a list of all of Mr. Bush's included articles and photographs as soon as possible.