It's the future, it's beer and it's coming soon. I think that is all that needs to be said.

Picture taken at Big Boss Horniblows Tavern this week.

From the comments "I hope it has lasers." Indeed.

News
Aviator Brewing has a Saison available only at Raleigh Times stop in while supplies last.

Big Boss has been offering a wide range of beers at the Horniblows Tavern, if you aren't stopping by at least weekly you are missing some amazing offerings from wood aged ales to hand-pulled cask offerings.

Boylan Bridge has been so busy they sold out of their own offerings and had to pick up some guest taps while Mark gets more beers brewed up. They are selling so much in fact they will be adding additional fermentation tanks to keep up with the demand. The seasonal Trainspotter Scottish Ale is currently on tap. itter will go on tap tonight and the Pale ale on Wednesday. But Mark is rebrewing the Trainspotter.

Frank Stasio and his show the State of Things looks at eating local scene and beer makes an appearance with Sean Wilson at Fullsteam.

Mother Earth Brewing has started construction out in Kinston, NC. You can follow the story of the process to open the brewery on their website.

For more information on the Triangle brewing scene checkout Tim's new blog thinkingbrew. It's great to hear the perspective of someone who knows the area better than myself, but with such enthusiasm, give his site a read.

Events
Samuel Adams Beer Dinner
March 25th 6:30pm
Solas
Raleigh, NC
$55 for this five course meal paired with various Samuel Adams beers. Sorry about the short notice I just found it today. Rescheduled, date unknown.

Cowboy Dinner at Blu
March 31st 7pm
Blu Seafood
Durham, NC
Lone Rider and Blu restaurant team up for a Cowboy dinner, no word on if cowboy boots are required attire, heh.

Triangle Brewing Tour
April 4th 1pm
Triangle Brewery
Durham, NC

Lone Rider Brewery Tour
April 4th 1pm
Lone Rider Brewery
Raleigh, NC

Big Boss Tour
April 11th 2pm
Big Boss Brewery
Raleigh, NC

Sierra Nevada Beer Dinner at Brixx
April 15th 6:30pm
Brixx Wood Fired Pizza
Chapel Hill, NC

Triangle Beer Meetup
April 15th 6:30pm
Broad Street Cafe
Durham, NC

Hickory Hops Beer Festival
April 18th
Hickory, NC

World Beer Festival
May 2nd
Raleigh, NC
Tickets go on sale March 24th, locations are here.

Whole Planet Foundation Beer Tasting Dinner
March 8th - 7pm
Whole Foods
Durham, NC
This is the reschedule of the March 14th event which was postponed, latest details here. Price is still $30 and the menu has changed to reflect local beers and foods.

My first interview for Know Your Brewer has been posted, it's with the guys at Lone Rider Brewery. Thanks to Steve, Mihir, and Sumit for their time and cooperation.

Only time will tell.

If you haven't heard about Beer Wars you probably don't read beer blogs much. The film and it's one day showing on April 16th has been attracting attention from most other bloggers. I haven't written about it because I knew little about it and don't trust a trailer to tell me anything about a film. I figured I'd let the film speak for itself. But Andy Crouch in his usual against the main stream has some interesting thoughts about the project. It will be interesting to see how exactly the film turns out.

As it goes a general trend people in the West are more willing to drive long distances without much thought. Perhaps because every other place is some distance is so far that a friend going to Vegas for his weekend or going 3 hours away isn't really thought of as much. On the East Coast I notice people seem annoyed they might have to drive 20 minutes or more to get somewhere. A customer at the homebrew shop seemed unsurprised that I didn't know restaurants in Durham when "it's so far away". But it really isn't very far to me, I just haven't had the money to spare on dining out as often as I would like lately. In DC the joke about it was friends would take you to National but good friends would take you to Dulles.

What brings this all up is at the Shamrock Open this weekend we had a large number of judges from Charlotte and Maryland. It struck me as a bit of a surprise that Eastern people would drive such distances for a day event. It breaks the convention I have known for Eastern US. It could be that the drive distance isn't really all that far, but it allows them access to beers they may not see in their daily lives and so the beer geeks enjoyed the trip.

It pleasantly surprised me, so any guess why they would travel 3-5 hours for a day trip? I am curious.

Events
French Broad Brewery Cask Night at Raleigh Times Bar
March 11th - 6pm
Raleigh Times
Raleigh, NC
French Broad Brewery Cask Night featuring their Altbier and ESB.

Big Boss Tour
March 14th 2pm
Big Boss Brewery
Raleigh, NC

Whole Planet Foundation Beer Tasting Dinner
March 14th - 7pm
Whole Foods
Durham, NC
$30 for Whole Planet Foundation fundraising effort, with Julie Johnson, of All About Beer magazine, to lead you through this series of food and beer pairings.

Duck-Rabbit Beer Dinner
March 17th
Four Square
Durham, NC

Duck-Rabbit Cask Tasting
March 18th
Broad Street Cafe
Durham, NC

Triangle Brewing Tour
March 21st 1pm
Triangle Brewery
Durham, NC

Sierra Nevada Beer Dinner at Brixx
April 15th 6:30pm
Brixx Wood Fired Pizza
Chapel Hill, NC

I stopped by the now open Boylan Bridge Brewpub last week. The brewery had opened on Febraury 27th. It had much of the chaos one expects at a new restaurant with waitresses figuring out how to complete certain tasks and bartenders learning to change over the computer system. But other than some minor glitches things seem to be starting well.

Mark Fesche's beer reflects his years of experience with them all being quaffable from the start. The taster flights are quite popular with all six beers available at once.

The beer list as follows
Gateway Golden Ale - The beer opens with a bit of a citrus floral aroma with slight notes of pine. The hop character really shines, with just a bit of malt sweetness. There is a bit of an amber hue to it's color, but I have already tasted the next batch. Mark is already adjusting the recipe to have a lighter hue and less pronounced hop character in the future. I have heard comments that people didn't enjoy this beer because it wasn't what they expect to a Golden, rest assured the future version has a light pineapple hop character to the background and more of a bright golden color. I do hope they keep this current incarnation around as the Pale Ale or a future seasonal offering.

Rail Pale Ale - This beer has more of an Amber character than the Golden, almost a coppery shade. A bit of hop character was apparent in the finish, but a mellow East Coast version of the American classic.

Bruno Bitter - The aroma of this struck me as a bit forward for an English Bitter. I would have liked to seen a bit more carmel character to the beer but others enjoyed it fine.

Polar Bear Winter Beer - The red ale had definite notes of carmel and cocoa to it, though I never quite detected the coffee they described it. It was one of my favorite of the current offerings. It will be replaced with a Scottish ale as the next seasonal beer as soon as it's gone.

Pullman Porter - I am not much of a Porter fan and thought this beer was decent but not memorable. I am, however, hearing from a number of locals that this is one of their favorite beers so if you like Porters give it a try.

Southbound Stout - This also was a favorite of mine. It's a sweet stout with a nice roasted character. It had that creamy smoothness that reminded me of lactose being added to the ale, but Mark said it didn't contain.

As I sampled the beers I got a bit of a carbonic bite, I wondered if they might need to dial back the carbonation just a bit in the future.

I haven't eaten a full meal but I have had the chili-cheese fries and quiche on seperate visits and they were both well prepared. The quiche had a flaky crust that went well with the spinach and cheese. The chili on the fries had a strong sweet tomato character with a pleasant heat that built over time.

As for the lack of music inside when the place is crowd it's hardly noticeable, but when the brewpub is quiet something is definitely missing. It gives an ambiance of a bar at last call, when the music is turned off and all the lights at turned up so you can finish your beer and get out. Not welcoming at all, the only aspect I would hope to be changed.

Being a new restaurant the place is regularly packed from what I have seen and heard from others. I didn't hang out on the patio but friends have mentioned they loved the view. I am sure the patio will do a brisk business well into next Fall. In closing a solid opening for Raleigh's newest brewery, check out the sampler to find which of their beers best appeals to you.

Photos of the Boylan Bridge Brewpub

Cool little video, featuring beer writer Jay Brooks and some of California's best breweries. Give it a watch.

I attended the cask tasting Thursday featuring Big Bolt American Pale Ale from Aviator Brewing. It was held down at the Raleigh Flying Saucer location. The Bourbon barrel characteristics were apparent in this beer combined with the beer engine for serving that gave it a creamy head you expect with cask ales. The smooth pale ale was a crowd pleaser that night.

But if you missed out on the experience fear not, because you can get to try the same beer at their brewery and taproom today at 2pm. So if you have been putting of checking out the brewery this should be the day.