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.

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.

This weeks topic for Fermentation Friday "Where it all Began"

For me this is a very easy answer, Germany. I was never interested in beer before that trip, sure I had tried some at parties but no real interest. Before I went to Germany in 1992 my father said to me these words "Try Dunkleweizen." I did and was immediately hooked on the wheat beers of the Southern Landers. When I returned to the states German beer was unique if presented at all in my college town. Eventual I found Uptown Billiards and Homebrewing. Without them, I would not be the beer geek I am today.

Uptown introduced me to a wide spectrum of beer, when it first opened it only served beer and wine, but it had one of the best selections North of Phoenix in the state. It has grown over the years to a 'Cheers' to the people of a Flagstaff where the regulars always know your name but it's much more than that. It's a home for friend's and a special place, stop in if you ever get the chance. I simply call it home.

Homebrewing is the other leg of this just as important. It gave me an understanding to the hard work and skill required to create great beer. Homebrewing has given me and understanding of the roles of malt, hops and most importantly perhaps yeast. It's given me a job of late and will always be a love, though if I could hire a team of robotic helpers to clean and keg beer for me, I don't think I'd have any complaints.

Germany then Uptown Billiards and Homebrewing a simple equation to make a beergeek, or this one to be sure.