The World Beer Festival here in Raleigh has been on my mind often the last few days. I am looking forward to the friends and brewers I will see. It also though is a good time to remind us we are in the beginning of festival season, it can be easy to be overwhelmed at festivals. I'll simply recommend people listen Beer School episode Surviving a Beer Festival, Motor and John Foster have some great tips everyone should keep in mind.

Many beer bloggers have been convinced since some pictures that Obama is "one of us" and he would by sympathetic to craft beers concerns. I remained sceptical figuring craft beer would not really be a factor to any of the candidates.

The recent selection of Chuck Hurley to lead the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) proved my point. Selected someone who has led a neo-prohibitionist organization demonstrates that no matter how many pictures someone has with a beer, it's their policy choices that will ultimately matter the most.

Check out Radley Balko's article in Reason to see what this appointment means for beer lovers and anyone who drives in the United States.

One of Raleigh's newest restaurants the Busy Bee jumps into the beer dinner scene in this report at New Raleigh. No mention on the Busy Bee's website yet, so while I don't know what beers will be featured at the dinner this list of Belukus products will give you a clue. $40 is a reasonable price so I suspect it will fill quickly.

The Raleigh area seems to be picking up on the beer dinner concept with events happening nearly every week. Just another sign of how craft beer demand is growing in North Carolina, it's a good time to be a beergeek.

For this month's Fermentation Friday Northern Table asks

Have you infused a beer with liquor before either to blend with the flavour (port infused stout as an example)? Have you had a good example of this? Do you think brewers should be doing this at all? If this is something you have done before how did you go about doing it? What varieties of spirits have you tried? Were they home made infused liquors or commerical products?

It's a pretty simple answer for me, I haven't done much. It's not that I am a purist it just hasn't interested me much thus far. I only have used a distilled spirits in a beer and it was some vodka I used to hydrate cocoa powder for a chocolate stout.

The joy of homebrewing is the experimentation side of things. You can try things that aren't necessarily commercially viable because your batch size is a lot smaller. While I don't have any interest in it plenty of people bring such beers into the homebrew shop. If I have noticed any problem with such beers it is they overpower the base beer. Just like a good holiday-seasonal beer I think balance so that you can enjoy the base beer is the key.

Recently a commercial brewery locally started to play with bourbon casks. One of the first I tried was a cask aged American Pale ale, sadly this beer was completely overpowered by the bourbon. It was like drinking a glass of bourbon straight without the burn. So finding the base beer that can stand up to the liquor is definitely a key element to success in the process.

So if you are interested in liquor in beer, give it a try, but take it easy and maintain the balance.

News
Fullsteam is at the Craft Brewers Conference, serious work is being done I tell you. Serious work.

Had the pleasure of tasting Paul's Day Off from Duck-Rabbit this week, go find some before it's gone, you'll thank me.

Reminder I interviewed Mark Doble of Aviator Brewing last week for Know Your Brewer.

Have a tip on a Triangle area beer event? Send me an email geistbear[at]gmail[dot]com.

Events
He'Brew Lenny's Bittersweet R.I.P.A. Tap Nite
April 23rd 7pm
Flying Saucer
Raleigh, NC
One keg only.

One Meatball Cask Night
April 23rd 6pm
Big Boss Taproom
Raleigh, NC
Who would put one Meatball in a cask our friends at Big Boss that's who, never fear though this hoppy Spring ale is quite refreshing and the meatball is undetectable.

Bourbon Barrel of Tripel
April 25th 1pm-8pm
Aviator Brewing
Fuquay Varina, NC
Food stuffs in the form of Brats and Belgian Tripel, who could ask for more?

Triangle Beer Tour
April 25th 1pm
Triangle Brewery
Durham, NC

Game Night and Ska Beer Dinner
April 29th 7pm
Raleigh Times
Raleigh, NC
$55 a person gets you a pairing of Ska beers and a dinner of wild boar, antelope, venison and duck. Sounds heavenly.

NC Brewers Super Duper Cask Party
April 30th 6pm
Raleigh Times
Raleigh, NC
Special pre-WBF party, details are coming in expect casks from Big Boss, Highland, Foothills, French Broad and Duck Rabbit. But I'd bet on a surprise special guest if I were you.

World Beer Festival
May 2nd
Raleigh, NC

Aviator Beer Dinner
May 7th 7pm
Tir Na Nog Irish Pub
Raleigh, NC
$25 for this dinner featuring courses paired with 4 of the Aviator beers.

Whole Planet Foundation Beer Tasting Dinner
May 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.

Today the Craft Brewing industry is meeting in Boston, you can follow the events if you search #cbc09. More than 200 breweries have jumped on to Twitter at last count. Neal Stewart of Flying Dog Brewery just posted "I feel safe in saying that there isn't another industry that has embraced twitter as much as CRAFT beer" and frankly he's right. But why?

I think part of it is because Twitter works best when it's from passionate people, something brewers have in spades. It shows in most of their tweets as well.

Second it's permission based, you only hear about those beers/breweries you have an interest in. It means if you are following @21Amendment you probably care about what is going on there. It allows them to connect with their customers on a very personal level.

Last it's a medium that doesn't take a large amount of effort for positive results back. A blog post takes some time and thought, maybe even some research. Having a conversation through twitter is far less demanding and means you can engage it while doing other work.

It does have it's challenges I recently spoke with a brewer who was unsure how much exactly he should post on Twitter. Should he post OGs, strike temperatures and other brewing data or was it overkill? I gave my opinion, but obviously there is no right or wrong answer. In the end if it's done with the same love he puts into his beer I think he'll have the right answer.

My latest interview with Mark Doble of Aviator Brewing is now live at Know Your Brewer. Mark was great fun to interview and if you ever have a chance to talk with him about beer, his passion for the topic is quite obvious.

Most of my photos of the brewery sadly did not turn out, I did like this altered one.


See the rest of my photos here

Another year, another Brewer's Association Top 50 list.

Like last year no sign of Arizona nor my new home North Carolina on the list. But I am not worried, they will get there and soon. Arizona has some new efforts underway that will bring them more attention, but it will be a long haul.

North Carolina on the other hand I am fully confident that it will be recognized in the next few years as a powerhouse of brewing in the Southeastern US. Since Pop the Cap there has been a steady increase in the total number of breweries, currently around 40. The overall quality is amazing from Highland to Aviator. There is not just a love for traditional styles in the Tarheel state but also for trying new flavor combinations. Then there is the diversity of equipment from the converted dairy tanks in an airplane hanger at Aviator to the shiny, modern approach seen off the I-40 at Red Oak. The passion for craft beer is here. You can literally see it in the brewer's eyes and more importantly taste it in the beer.

So not this year for North Carolina on the list, but soon.

I am a member of the AHA. I have received emails in support of Beer Wars* in the last few weeks, but hearing promotion of activities like Big Brew or Teach a Friend to Brew seems to be dropping off in recent years. Granted Teach a Friend is held just weeks after the Great American Beer Festival, staff need some time off after a major event like that. At the same time the Craft Brewers Conference is just days before Big Brew. So it strikes me, can the AHA team continue to serve two masters as craft beer continues to grow?

I don't mean any offense in asking this question, because I think Charlie Papazian and his team do their best trying to serve the craft beer and homebrewing communities. I just wonder if in craft beers growth in the last decade they are getting close to a point where they need to break into two separate organizations one for the professionals and one for homebrewers. It wouldn't mean they couldn't be both located in the same town, coordinating efforts to support one another. Craft brewing is getting bigger as an industry and in the process have bigger needs from an association.

But what about grassroots support for homebrewers and clubs does the Association do daily? I think the work they do in the state legislatures is vital and important, but otherwise day to day what do I get for my membership other than a TechTalk email.

So I would like to suggest some thoughts of what more I'd like them to do...
Discount Program - This is a tough, because state laws vary so much so it's difficult to get traction everywhere, but this is a part of the program that might be improved.
Speakers Forum - How about the AHA team with homebrewing experts to get them to go talk or heck just brew with local clubs. Maybe even have this person liaison with a local brewery or two to cosponsor the event to cover the guests travel costs.
BJCP - I am aware how the BJCP works with the BJCP perhaps as an extension of the Speaker's Forum work with the BJCP to run more sensory panels and other efforts to educate homebrewers more.

I am sure there are other ideas out there besides these. I really think that grassroots wise there is plenty for AHA to do, I just wonder if it isn't time to break from the Brewer's Association so they can have the focus to do it.





* This not meant as a slight against Beer Wars. I plan to go see it, but I get emails for this film and yet don't see as much support to these Association sponsored events is the point that concerns me.

Your beer smells like goat, sometimes a good thing. Not everyone likes Brett beers and other sour beers, but if you don't feel no shame. It's an acquired taste. Just remember it's not the first sip you should judge these beers, wait until your second or third to know if it's right for you.

News
The Future has been replaced, evidently with 1 Meatball. It gets unleashed on humanity tomorrow.

If you haven't tried Aviator's Kraken Stout you are missing something pretty special. It was one of the ten best beers I have tasted this year.

Lone Rider is close to having additional beers on the market, rumor is an Alt and perhaps a Brown ale.

I am one in a hundred, are you? Tell a friend or five to help support NC beer.

Calendar
Blues, Brews, and Bulls
April 9th 4pm
Tyler's Taproom
Durham, NC
Foothills will be pouring Torch, Hoppyum, and debuting Hurricane Hefe.

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

Triangle Beer Tour
April 11th 1pm
Triangle Brewery
Durham, NC

Blues N' Brews Meetup
April 15th 7pm
Broad Street Cafe
Durham, NC
Aviator will have a cask of their HotRod Red Ale and then a keg of HogWild IPA

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

Brew Local, Act Global
April 17th 6pm
Mosaic Wine Lounge
Raleigh, NC
Brew Local, Act Global is a charity event featuring the beer of North Carolina's local breweries and Nourish International. The event features beers from Lonerider Beer, the Asheville Brewing Company, Natty Greene, Aviator Brewery, and Ham's Brewhouse.

Hickory Hops Beer Festival
April 18th
Hickory, NC

Cask Night
April 30th 6pm
Raleigh Times
Raleigh, NC
Special pre-WBF party, details are still scarce but a number of casks will be making an appearance at this event.

World Beer Festival
May 2nd
Raleigh, NC

Whole Planet Foundation Beer Tasting Dinner
May 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.

Last weekend I had the chance to have a closet cleaning beer tasting event at a friend's house. It was remarkable for the range and quality of the beers that made an appearance, everything from California to Belgium, hoppy to sour, a number of special offerings we just don't get to see in our local market. The big beers were there of course, but we kept the sampling size down so that the group of us could all enjoy them. Eventually just like your average beer festival the sheer number of brews assaulting our palettes meant anything late in the tasting other than perhaps sours were hard pressed to make their full impression.

It really didn't take all that much to set up an email to show up at someone's house. A lighter ale to clean the palette, we had a great 2% Berliner Weisse. Everyone brought something to share and it was amazing all the special things people had hiding in the closet. A great way to spend the evening, something I would suggest all us beer geeks ought to do a little more often. As much for the camaraderie as for the beers.

Pictures from the tasting here.