From their roots the LoneRider guys were homebrewers, so it makes sense that one of their first special projects returns to their own start in brewing. They are hosting Brew It Forward, a homebrew competition to select and brew a North Carolinian's beer.

The contest runs June 1st through July 25th?. It will cost $6 for entry and will feature a festival for entrants on August 1st. You can find details here.

I have been asked to participate on the judging panel, so obviously I won't be submitting any of my beers to the contest. It looks like it will be a great opportunity to support homebrewing, North Carolina beer, and local charities.

It's been a busy week in the Triangle for beer events between the World Beer Festival, beer dinners, and the cask night at Raleigh Times. Let me rephrase that Thursday was the NC Super Duper Cask Night. Here is a cask primer for the unexperienced. Cask events have been becoming more common place in the last year or two in the States and it's great to see returning to such beer tradition.

The menu of the Times' cask party is here.

Besides the variety of North Carolina breweries at the event the best part is that the Times offers a 10 ounce pour so you don't feel compelled to drink a whole pint of each offering. You can get to taste more beers this way.

Of the beers I think the Foothills Hoppyum was probably my favorite the crisp hop aroma was refreshing. I had a taste of the French Broad and the warm day was perfect Kolsch weather. The Duck-Rabbit Milk Stout didn't disappoint either, but it's probably about the end of Stout season for me.

The bar and sidewalk were packed from the beginning of the night, so it was great to see the local community be supportive of such a cask night. It means that we are more likely to see other such events in the future. If you have had a cask ale ask for one the next time you are at the Times, take a short pour if you are unsure if you'll like it. It is an easy way to sample a great brewing tradition.

It was an early start for the festival Saturday, I was set to be a volunteer for the afternoon session. It was interesting for having attended so many festivals to work one for a change. There were the odd random problems that occur at large events, but the crew handled them with minimal amount of fuss and the attendees were patient thankfully.

During the course of the day I had the chance to meet Rick Lyke, brewers, some members of BN Army, and many craft beer enthusiast. The homebrewers were out in force and if anything surprised me it was how many of them I knew. I'd expect that in some other places, but to know that many people here in Raleigh showed how this really is becoming home.

In the second session I helped out at the American Brewmaster tent but also had the chance to check out some of the beers. North Carolina was well represented with most every brewery in the area there. Of course my friends at Lonerider, Big Boss, and Aviator were all in attendance. I didn't really talk to the Big Boss team, because I have notice they are a fest favorite and always gets mobbed. The Surrender Monkey was delicious. Scott from Stone seems to be kept quite busy circling the Southeast. Robert Gordash of Holy Mackerel showed up with an amazing Golden ale and Russian Imperial Stout.

I used to go into festivals and try everything, but I noticed I was now I am more reserved looking for particular styles. I don't think I had a pale ale, brown, or amber the whole festival. That said Oscar Blues pilsner was quite tasty hopefully we will see it here in the state in the coming months. I found myself enjoying particularly the saisons and farmhouse ales at this festival.

The festival was quite a success from audience and volunteer perspective, I look forward to attending future events and I think I may splurge on a VIP ticket some of the beers they got to sample were simply amazing and the bathrooms were nice as well.

I managed to take at the festival that can be found here.

POSTSCRIPT: This post just reminded me that Tupper's Hop Pocket was at the VIP tent. It was a little young, the owner had to practically beg the brewer to give him some but it's awesome to see it coming back into the market. It was every bit as good as memory serves me.

The Session is an idea of Stan Hieronymus. It is an opportunity monthly for beer bloggers to write their viewpoint on a specific topic. Each month a beer blogger hosts the Session and chooses the topic. The rest of us write about the topic, then they do a wrap up.

Beer at Joe's asks this month

What’s your favorite beer cocktail (and yes, despite the title of this post, it can be a black & tan or a shandy)? Find a recipe for that or a new one, try it, and tell us why you did or didn’t like it–even if you think beer cocktails are nothing but a good way to waste a beer.

When I first heard about this month's Session I immediately figured I'd go find a bar, have a boilermaker and write about the experience. It's a bar classic and I was more interested in exploring that.

Then last night I was in a local bar and I order a Snakebite. The waitress asked if I knew what that was, I replied I had plenty of them over the years and did know. She showed up with some cider-pale ale combo and I thought she was placing it in the wrong place on the table. I tried to correct her and she told me this was their Snakebite. I was used to a Guinness and Cider combo. Herein lies a problem.

Both the waitress was right and so was I, both of us were wrong, there was definitely a miscommunication. One of the best parts of the BJCP is that it provides a common language for beer lovers. Now I am not going to declare we ought to have a BJCP for beer cocktails, it is a bit too extreme a solution. That said bar owners can do a very simple thing to avoid the confusion I faced. They should list their regular beer cocktails on a menu. One of my favorite bars lists theirs on a full page of their beer menu.

I don't mind if a bar doesn't use the standard terms for a beer cocktail, just that they make it readily apparent to someone walking into their bar. Define our terms, that is what I ask from bars for beer cocktails. And the cider-pale ale Snake Bite was very refreshing.