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Tuesday, October 27
by
Thomas
on Tue 27 Oct 2009 11:32 PM EDT
I had the pleasure tonight to listening to Tim of Winexpert talk about wine tonight. To quote Wil Wheaton, quoting Homer Simpson "I am not going to lie to you Marge..." I am not much of a wine aficionado. In fact wine peasant is generally my style. That said he does a great presentation filled with information in a very accessable style. The beergeek in me hopes to learned something from his presentation style which he has down perfect. If you want to learn more about homewine making I whole-heartedly recommend you catch his touring road show if you get the chance. If you aren't into wine making but enjoy wine still catch him, you'll thank me later.
Tuesday, October 6
by
Thomas
on Tue 06 Oct 2009 11:50 PM EDT
I helped to teach another Beginner Homebrew class at Tir Na Nog through American Brewmaster tonight. It was fun getting to share your passion for homebrewing with others. In comparison with the more advanced classes we seem to get asked more questions, which helps explain the process better. Also the experience speaking in public again is good practice on a certain level it has become more relaxed and natural. The advanced topics are more work to prepare, but the beginner are more of a set format.
Beer blogger? Beergeek? Find a way to share that love with others, it will pay off. Wednesday, September 30
by
Thomas
on Wed 30 Sep 2009 10:41 AM EDT
News
The new Tap House for Aviator has opened. It's located at 600 E. Broad St. in Fuquay Varina, NC 27526. Mark has mentioned they would like to have cask tastings as regular part of the Tap Room experience on the weekends once they get settled in the new location. Tours at the brewery will continue on Saturdays. Mother Earth has started brewing, no word when to expect their arrival in the Triangle, but soon for sure. In case you missed it, North Carolina had two breweries win at the Great American Beer Festival. Check out all the winners here. Calendar Bruery Release Party Sept 30th - 6pm Busy Bee Raleigh Tonight North Carolina's debut of the Bruery's beers. All the way from California for just you to find. Carolina Beer Dinner Oct 1st Carolina Inn Chapel Hill Call for details World Beer Festival - Durham Oct 3rd 12pm-4pm, 6pm-10pm Old Bulls Stadium Durham Tickets are sold out, but if it's like last year you may be able to find tickets at the door. Link Backyard Beer Festival Oct 3rd Fullsteam Brewery (726 Rigsbee) Durham Can't find a WBF ticket maybe Sean will let you into his beer festival where he will showcase the local homebrewing community. Victory Beer Dinner Oct 6th - 7pm Brixx Pizza Brier Creek $35 for a ticket, details can be found here. Duck-Rabbit Marzen Release Party Oct 8th - 6pm Flying Saucer Raleigh Lone Rider Tour Oct 10th 1-2pm Lone Rider Brewery Raleigh Big Boss Tour Oct 10th 2pm Big Boss Brewery Raleigh, NC Triangle Brewey Tour Oct 10th 1pm Triangle Brewery Durham Octoberfest Beer Tasting Oct 15th 6:30-9:00pm Brixx Pizza Brier Creek $5 for four samples with 8 different Octoberfest beers on hand. Breweries to be featured include Foothills, Paulaner, Stoudt's, Spaten and more. Lighthouse Beer Festival Oct 17th - 1pm-5pm Wilmington Link Carolina Annual Oktoberfest Celebration Oct 17th - 5-9pm Carolina Brewery Pittsboro Featuring limited edition Oktoberfest t-shirts, pint glasses and 25oz mugs and of course plenty of food and drink. Admission $5 Lone Rider Tour Oct 23rd 6-7pm Lone Rider Brewery Raleigh Aviator Cask Night Oct 24th Aviator Tap Room - 600 E. Broad St Fuquay Varina Featuring a couple of special casks that have been aging. Saturday, September 26
by
Thomas
on Sat 26 Sep 2009 11:42 PM EDT
Congratulations to all of this year's winners. Every day these people represent the future of America's brewing, go support them. You can find the winners here.
More specifically congratulations to my friends in Arizona.The Four Peaks Brewing won a Silver for their Kilt Lifter, a Scottish Style Ale, frankly one of the first beers in the state I expect to gain eventual national attention. Thunder Canyon Brewery won two awards with their Countdown Honey Brown getting a Gold for Specialty Honey Beer and Roadrunner Red Lager received a Silver for their American-Style Dark Lager. Last certainly not least my friends at Beaver Street Brewer in Flagstaff. They won for a Gold for their Big Rapid Red their Ordinary or Special Bitter and a Silver Hopshot IPA their American-Style Strong Pale Ale. With these beers in their arsenal it's a promising start to their Lumberyard Brewery operation to open later this Fall. More locally congrats to Foothills Brewing for a Bronze on it's beer Sexual Chocolate Imperial Stout, it's been wowing beer fanatics locally and on beer lists for years it's now had a chance to shine nationally. Always congratulations to Duck-Rabbit Craft Brewery for it's Gold for it's Baltic Porter and it's Bronze for the Barrel Aged Baltic Porter just goes to show how North Carolina is flexing it's brewing muscles as well. I'll have to ask Paul if he has any of those around the next time I see him, we need to get them on tap in the Triangle somewhere. Saturday, August 29
by
Thomas
on Sat 29 Aug 2009 09:16 AM EDT
Between their up coming Beerfest and a conversation with a friend I have been thinking about the Carolina Ale House this week. I have had the chance to stop in on occasion and the experiences have left me with this thought, what a wasted opportunity.
It's your typical sports bar but with a decent beer bottle list, the taps however are filled with mostly the light lager crowd and a few usual suspects of national craft beers you could find in any bar in the country. Change out the local college colors on the wall and you could be really sitting in a bar in Boston or Phoenix. In an age when North Carolina is becoming national recognized for it's growing craft beer scene this seems a shame. I can understand the need to meet consumer demand and I can see keeping a couple of lager taps. That said the rest of the taps could be used to showcase all the great beers North Carolina is producing from Foothills to Old Mecklenburg, Big Boss to Lone Rider, to nearly 40 others. There is a world of options being brewed in their own backyard. Yes they may need to run some beer classes to educate their regular customer base, but there are plenty of people willing to help in that regard including myself. Carolina Ale House live up to your name, it's a great time to make the local crafted beers shine. Monday, August 24
by
Thomas
on Mon 24 Aug 2009 11:47 PM EDT
News
Duck Rabbit is looking for brewer. Mother Earth Brewing may start brewing in the next few weeks. Events IPA Showdown Aug 25th 6:30pm Flying Saucer Raleigh $15 gets you into the ultimate West Coast vs East Coast showdown. 9 beers enter, none hopefully leave. Beer Dinner - Foothills Brewing Aug 25th 7pm Busy Bee Cafe Raleigh Carolina Brew Fest Aug 29th 4-6pm and 7-9pm Carolina Ale House - Briar Creek Raleigh 3rd Annual Cask Ale Tasting Aug 29th 6:30pm Rigsbee Hall Durham $40 gets you into this special event with 12 casks from such breweries as Highland, Triangle, Duck Rabbit, Foothills, Aviator, Top of the Hill, French Broad, and Lone Rider. Beer Dinner - Foothills Brewing Aug 31st 7pm Broad Street Cafe Durham $30 for a great dinner and beer how can you beat the value on this event? Beer and Chocolate Sept 3rd 6-8:30pm North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences Raleigh $25 gets you into this tasting hosted by Julie Johnson Editor of All About Beer. It sounds like a great lineup so check it out. High Country Beer Fest Sept 5th Boone Big Boss Tour Sept 9th 2pm Big Boss Brewery Raleigh, NC Triangle Brewey Tour Sept 9th 1pm Triangle Brewery Durham Asheville Brewgrass Festival Sept 19th Asheville LoneRider Brewery Tour Sept 25th 6pm Raleigh World Beer Festival Oct 3rd Durham Tickets go on sale Sept 8th. Octoberfest Beer Tasting Oct 15th 6:30-9:00pm Brixx Pizza Raleigh $5 for four samples, they will have 8 different Octoberfest beers, four on draft, four in the bottle. Breweries from around across the globe and NC. Friday, August 14
by
Thomas
on Fri 14 Aug 2009 09:55 PM EDT
This week is the 4th Anniversary of Pop the Cap. For those not familiar with it, the effort raised the 6% ABV restriction to 15% on beer, while not perfect it was a huge leap forward for giving North Carolinians access to IPAs, Belgian styles, and barleywines to name just a few beers. I was talking with a native this week, when he first tested for the BJCP, before the lift of restrictions he had to travel as far away as New York to get access to some styles. In fact he said the first time he ever had a Doppelbock was when he brewed one.
My how things have changed with a bustling beer community of over 40 breweries and more in startup mode or planning. These vibrate small business are making a big impact on diversity in the local beer market. One thing I wasn't confident about when I moved here was how vibrant the beer culture was going to be given how many breweries were in the Triangle area. While there were some good pubs, the number of breweries was the same Flagstaff. Fast forward a year and the number of local breweries has more than doubled. While North Carolina hasn't one high accolades nationally yet, I now know it's a matter of time, not quality. It shows in the eyes of brewers. As evidence...
If you want to see the passion of brewers speak with them about their craft. It shows in people like Mark Doble at Aviator, Mike Morris at Big Boss, er soon to be Natty Greens Raleigh, and Ian Vangundy at Lone Rider as a few examples. And there are so many more I haven't mentioned or had the chance to meet yet. At least once a week I see or hear of something that reminds me that the local beer culture is exploding and the state is on the cusp of a beer mecca in the making. I feel very fortunate to get to be here and witness it happen. All of this made possible by all the hard work of those associated with Pop the Cap, so thank you everyone. Friday, July 31
by
Thomas
on Fri 31 Jul 2009 11:56 PM EDT
Michael Morris, brewer at Big Boss, has been selected to be the lead brewer at Natty Greene's expansion location into Raleigh. When I spoke with Mike about his pending move in the North Carolina brewing community he was very excited by the prospect. A detailed interview with Mike will follow soon but with him at the helm I am confident of the new location's success. If you have been visiting the Horniblows Tavern the last year like I have, you may have noticed Mike's hand in some of the more tasty experiments they have been brewing up. I don't want to give any of his secrets away, but he already has plans for the beers at the new location.
Congratulations to Mike and Natty Greene's. Monday, July 6
by
Thomas
on Mon 06 Jul 2009 11:38 PM EDT
Back in a saddle edition, my move is over so back to regular posting...
News News on the beer tax front Fullsteam has the details. Seasonal Taps Aviator One Hundred IPA Thunder Berliner Weisse Big Boss Monkey Business Belgian Farmhouse Ale A Little Behind Alt Beer Super Chief India Brown Ale Blanco Diablo Belgian Wit Bottom's Up Belgian Pale Ale Boylan Bridge Summer ale Carolina Brewing Belgian Tripel Summer Wheat Calendar Duvel Green Release Party July 8th 6pm Busy Bee Raleigh Brooklyn Brewing Tasting at Sitti July 9th 5:30pm to 8pm Sitti Courtyard Raleigh $10 will get you samples of Brooklyn’s Summer Ale, Lager, Local 1, and Local 2. Triangle Pub Crawl July 11th 6pm Starts at Bull McCabes Durham Big Boss Tour July 11th 2pm Big Boss Brewery Raleigh, NC New Belgium Beer Dinner July 14th 7pm Nana's Durham The dinner will be five paired courses plus a reception beer, and is at the price of $45.00 per person plus tax. Rogue 3rd Annual Beer Dinner July 16th 6pm Melting Pot Raleigh $49 per person 4 courses of Fondue paired with 4 Fantastic Beers Triangle Beer Tour July 18th 1:30pm Triangle Brewery Durham, NC Tuesday, June 23
by
Thomas
on Tue 23 Jun 2009 12:42 AM EDT
News
Lone Rider and Fullsteam get mentioned in this recent TV article (yes it's the text of the piece only, no video) Fullsteam has found a location. Seasonal Taps Aviator Saison de Aviator Thunder Berliner Weisse One Hundred India Pale Ale Big Boss Monkey Business Belgian Farmhouse Ale In the Mood Porter A Little Behind Alt Beer Super Chief India Brown Ale Boylan Bridge Summer ale, someone send me a review if you get a chance to sample it Carolina Brewing Spring Bock Wiggo Summer Wheat Calendar Beer & Cheese Tasting w/ Jason Gavin from Brooklyn Brewery June 23rd Flying Saucer Raleigh Foothills Cask Night June 24th 5pm Tyler's Taproom Apex Dry hopped IPA Wilmington Brewgrass Festival June 27th 2pm Downtown Wilmington Wilmington Beer Dinner June 30th 7pm Busy Bee Raleigh Busy Bee is teaming up with Don Richardson and Allgood Brands for the 3rd of their monthly beer dinners. But act fast because only 7 seats were remaining for Tuesday's dinner. Tasting at The Flying Saucer: Belgium vs. North America June 30th 7pm Flying Saucer Raleigh Triangle Pub Crawl July 11th Starts at Bull McCabes Durham Big Boss Tour July 11th 2pm Big Boss Brewery Raleigh, NC Tuesday, June 9
by
Thomas
on Tue 09 Jun 2009 09:53 AM EDT
News
You may have noticed a lack in posts, between moving to another house locally and the upcoming Parsec Awards my time is committed at full until early July at least. If anyone is interested in guest blogging about beer feel free to contact me, otherwise expect the site to slow down for a few weeks, but I will be back. Big Boss' unique packaging gets attention in this post. When Sean told me about Fullsteam's smoked t shirts I thought it was simultaneously it was the most awesome and silly idea ever. Go buy some and support the brewery. A reminder about the Brew it Forward contest Lone Rider is sponsoring. Homebrew, locally made craft beer and supporting local charities, everyone wins! Calendar Cask Night with Triangle Brewing June 12th Broad Street Durham, NC Triangle Beer Tour June 13th 1:30pm Triangle Brewery Durham, NC Carolina Brewery Tour June 13th Noon and 1pm Carolina Brewery Pittsboro, NC Big Boss Tour June 13th 2pm Big Boss Brewery Raleigh, NC Big Boss Beer Dinner June 16th 6:30pm Brixx Pizza Raleigh, NC American Brewmaster Palate Training June 16th - 7pm Tir Na Nog Raleigh, NC Learn to improve your understanding of beer with me teaching a class understand the flavor and characteristics your favorite fermented beverage. Brooklyn Beer Dinner June 17th - 7pm Porter's Tavern Raleigh, NC $45 for this beer dinner Hops for Pops High Cuisine Dinner June 18th 6:30pm Carolina Inn's Crossroads Restaurant Chapel Hill, NC Monkey Business Big Boss Cask at Flying Saucer June 18th Flying Saucer Raleigh, NC Lone Rider Tour June 20th 1pm Lone Rider Brewery Raleigh, NC Sunday, May 10
by
Thomas
on Sun 10 May 2009 06:20 PM EDT
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. |
I'm a Beer Geek, Homebrewer, BJCP Judge and Writer. I want to understand the Art of Beer, but appreciate the Science that makes it happen. Perhaps most importantly I want to have fun on the way. Know Your Brewer Twitter Acct Photos on Flickr Amazon wishlist Livejournal Feed My Email Beer Blogs
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