Geistbear Brewing Blog

Teach a Friend to Brew

Thomas — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 11:05:37 -0500

Another year, another teach a friend to brew day. This year we have been making more of a push to reach out to beginning brewers in the Raleigh-Durham area. A full days events is planned at American Brewmaster with 2 brewing demonstrations, local brewers talking about making beer, games, food, and some prizes as well. Speakers from Lone Rider, Aviator and Big Boss breweries and most of them, pretty sure all, started as homebrewers before making the move professionally. This carnival atmosphere for the day we hope to show how easy it is to make beer. So if you are in the Triangle area and want understand more about the process I invite you to stop in and say hello.

Beer Geek takes in Wine for a Night

Thomas — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 23:32:13 -0400

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.

Vermont-NY Beer Tour (Part 1)

Thomas — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 10:46:20 -0400

I spent the weekend up in Burlington and Plattsburgh visiting extended family and a bit of beer touring. It was great to get a glimpse of the local brewing scene. The trip started with flight up there with a small layover at JFK. We had the surreal experience of being in New York City (at the airport), eating sushi, drinking a Belgian style ale brewed in California while listening to European Techno, a truly global experience. Deep Blue was a great airport experience with good sushi and Bruery's Orchard White ale available in the 750ml bottle. The coriander and spices were pleasant and paired well with the sushi. It was great to get something other than the typical lager or pale/amber/brown ale at an airport restaurant, kudos to those responsible for raising the bar on craft beer at an airport.

Once we arrived and settled in Burlington we hit Burlington's brewpubs. Currently there is a core in the downtown that are all just a short walk from one another which made for an easy sampling experience. Our first stop was Vermont Pub and Brewery despite the recent sad passing of Greg Noonan, one of the founders, the Pub was a lively environment. The pub has one of those newspaper menu styles that always strikes me with a certain kitsch charm. I started with a cask ale which to my pleasant surprise they offered two selections. Throughout my time in Vermont it seemed cask ales were constantly available, which I took as a promising sign for craft beer in the region. The choices were between a Dogbite Bitter and Handsome Micks Stout. I went with the bitter that had a pleasant herbal hop character. The Foodgeek had the stout, it was a smoked stout with just enough smoke to be noticeable but not so overpowering that it was distracting. I could see it pairing well with food or just the thing on a cold Autumn night. After that I tried the Vermont Hop a pale ale brewed with hops grown locally in Westminster Vermont. It came across to me as a light in hop character beer but with a sessionable character to it. The O-fest was a deep red lager with a fair amount of Vienna character it seemed to me and a bit of carmel sweetness.

On the odd side were a few interesting selections. Blue Night was a compelling beer with a cloudy haze. The beer had an earthy herbal floral notes that reminded me of heather ales or a bit like La Fluerette without the pepper character. The foodgeek ordered me to write "orange flower water" as what it reminded her of it had a murky spice note. Then there was Spuyten Duyvil. It had a belgian gueze nose with a mild horseblanket character and a bit of funk but not overpowering. Last was Forbidden Fruit, my first thought it reminded me of 3 Rivers Cider with a mild tart character but with some sweetness. They made it with 500 lb of raspberries and sour mashed. The oak aged character was a pleasant not in the background but not overpowering.

In regards to the experience at the Pub. It offered pours in pint, 12 ounce and 3 ounce servings which was nice to be able to sample but not overwhelmed by their large selection. I really appreciate when pubs and breweries offer smaller than pint options so you can sample more of the beerlist. The atmosphere of the pub was a bit cavelike and loud, but people were enjoying themselves. The staff was very knowledgable about their beers which is always a plus. The food was decent, but didn't impress. I enjoyed the cheese plate and they had a local saltine like cracker for it which seemed to be a bit light to pairing with the strength of the cheeses. Overall it was a great start to our Vermont brewery experience.

Next up 3 Needs and American Flatbread.

Travel Blues

Thomas — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 07:48:00 -0400

Been at JFK Jet Blue Terminal since yesterday at 4:30pm, I'd very much like to go home. Let's hope it happens soon.

On the Road - Vermont and New York

Thomas — Sat, 17 Oct 2009 11:02:15 -0400

I have been on the road since Thursday with visits to breweries around Burlington and the area. Stops include Vermont Pub and Brewery and newsworthy Rock Art Brewery. Pictures and a more detailed account to follow soon but for the moment if you haven't seen the video of Matt from Rock Art talking about his recent trouble with Monster Energy drink check it out.

In the Classroom Again...

Thomas — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 23:50:27 -0400

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.

The Triangle and Beyond - 9/30/09 Edition

Thomas — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 10:41:05 -0400

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.

Great American Beer Festival Winners

Thomas — Sat, 26 Sep 2009 23:42:06 -0400

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.

Fermentation Friday - Where It All Began

Thomas — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 23:48:10 -0400

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.

Carolina Ale House, Live Up to Your Name

Thomas — Sat, 29 Aug 2009 09:16:26 -0400

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.

The Triangle and Beyond - 8/24/09 Edition

Thomas — Mon, 24 Aug 2009 23:47:31 -0400

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.

Happy 4th Pop the Cap

Thomas — Fri, 14 Aug 2009 21:55:43 -0400

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.

Ask your Congressmember to join the House Small Brewers Caucus

Thomas — Tue, 11 Aug 2009 10:35:30 -0400

The AHA sent out this request and Shawn at Beer Philosopher has the whole text. I think it's a great idea and a good base document, that said there is a minor improvement you can add to the letter. Add the number of breweries and people employed locally into the text. It will mean more if they know how many people in their district are working in the field. If you don't have access to the data you can find it here. If you don't have much in your district use the data on how it impacts your home state, it will still be a helpful supporting point. Get out there and support craft beer!

BJCP Classroom

Thomas — Tue, 11 Aug 2009 10:25:00 -0400

Last night's class was a good experience, it was more of a planning class than digging down into the study guide but with almost 6 months until the exam we aren't in a rush. It started out with a local who has given the exam and judged it giving his perspective on things that are important to study for. This was important because rather than just the 'you do things this way' it gave me a better understanding of the whys. It also gave me chance to see how the exam has changed the last few years. When I tested before it was on the cusp of the change so we had the new style exam but had not been told about them so we walked in a bit blindsided. Not that I am complaining it was just we didn't have experienced locals active in the BJCP at the time of the exam so we didn't have the best study prep.

The group is a good mix of beginners, brewers, and experience folk so it should be a well rounded group. Rather than self study it was decided to do more of a combined group study with some homework. Tastings are part of the program, but the process understanding of brewing should be the part that I expect to be the most beneficial. We will be combining some class elements with the local homebrew club events which will get a more social atmosphere to the studies and keep the class energized I suspect. All and all it looks like a great start to the classes.

Back in the Classroom Again

Thomas — Mon, 10 Aug 2009 12:35:08 -0400

Tonight I start another round of classes in preparation for the BJCP exam. The BJCP is the Beer Judging Certification Program. I first took the exam three years ago and passed, but wasn't as prepared as I needed to be for it. It is a difficult exam three hours long and at least in the past a lot of writing required. You have to know beer styles, flavors, and understand the entire process of making a beer. I think the best part of the program is it provides a common language base for discussing beer. The test is in January but between now and then I'll be attending a class to prepare for the exam. I am looking forward to learning more and will try to document the process here.

German Styles Examined

Thomas — Sat, 08 Aug 2009 09:03:45 -0400

I am in the process of preparing to teach a German beer style class for American Brewmaster as part of their advanced homebrewing classes. I'll be including Austrian and even Czech styles in the class, but that will probably be the outer limit. I feel pretty comfortable with them or I wouldn't be doing the class. That said I haven't been to Germany recently so I am curious if there is anything new that I may want to mention. I did pickup Good Beer Guide: Prague and the Czech Republic by Evan Rail for the Czech beers. I'll be covering beer styles, beer bar culture(including Oktoberfest), and homebrew recipes. If you have any suggestions please leave a comment or email me geistbear(at)gmail(dot)com.

The Session #30: Beer Desserts

Thomas — Fri, 07 Aug 2009 22:13:09 -0400

This month's Session topic “What beer desserts have you tried and liked? Disliked? What beer styles work well with dessert and which ones do not? Do you have any beer dessert recipes that you enjoyed and would like to share?”

This is easy I haven't had any as of yet. I would like to try the float of chocolate ice cream with a nice stout. That said I don't really think much about desserts because beer generally is my dessert if I have any. While I did have a bit of a sweet tooth in my younger years I am just don't have the cravings anymore, perhaps something in my enjoyment of beer fulfils that interest.

Putting Up With

Thomas — Thu, 06 Aug 2009 22:05:02 -0400

Thanks to all my readers who are "Putting Up With" me.

State of the Beer-Wine Market

Thomas — Wed, 05 Aug 2009 09:04:15 -0400

Interesting review on the state of the market in restaurants.

Natty Greene's Selects Local to Lead New Brewpub

Thomas — Fri, 31 Jul 2009 23:56:29 -0400

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.

Politics of Beer

Thomas — Thu, 30 Jul 2009 11:04:13 -0400

Last Fall I watched with a bit of bemused interest as much of beer blogging community supported Obama that he would some how change the American beer scene, that he was one of us so to speak. Likewise that McCain would represent a turn to Budweiser at the White House because of his wife's family business. I never bought into any of it because I knew at the end of the day craft beer fundamentally wasn't on either's agenda.

Today with the meeting of Obama with a couple of gentlemen for beer at the White House I see that this great 'change' has brought us someone drinking Budweiser. What an all too perfect metaphor for the two party political system.

Change Indeed.

ps - If I were there I'd request a Capital City brew, hand crafted just a few blocks from the White House.

The Triangle and Beyond - 7/6/09 Edition

Thomas — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 23:38:28 -0400

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

The Triangle and Beyond - 6/23/09 Edition

Thomas — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 00:42:22 -0400

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

The Triangle and Beyond - 6/09/09 Edition

Thomas — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 09:53:12 -0400

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

Balticon Wrapup

Thomas — Wed, 27 May 2009 10:30:31 -0400

I had a great time at Balticon, but still seem a bit tired from all the fun. It was my first time attending this Science Fiction Con and I look forward to returning in future years. The panels I spoke on were the Parsec Awards and Copyright and Social Media.

The Parsec panel was great for explaining the awards process and answering questions. The face to face interaction made me realize I have only started to do the outreach to educate people on the Parsecs and it's a segment that has been neglected in the past because most of our efforts were directed at working on the program itself. Through the conversations I had in Baltimore there are a number improvements for the 2010 awards I want to see implemented, that's right, we haven't had this year's awards and I have a To Do list for next year.

The Copyright and Social Media panel turned out very informative for attendees. Thomas Gideon did a great job leading the panel, while I tried to check the assumptions and make sure that while we used terms we that were commonplace to us, the audience understood their meaning. I have to agree with Thomas post that it could have been a much longer panel and we wouldn't have probably answered all the questions. More material next year I suppose.

It was a great practice for public speaking which frankly I have not done enough of lately and so the next time I have an opportunity to participate in such discussions I won't hesitate to jump onboard.

Last and most important was the side conversations, frankly that is usually the best part of such events. The chance to connect online names with faces and hangout with old friends. A few times I stopped myself looked around the room and just amazed at the people I was able to hangout with, it's a new age of digital storytelling and these are the first generation of this movement, an exciting and unique time. I can't wait until next year.

Lone Rider Hosts Homebrew Competition

Thomas — Sun, 10 May 2009 18:20:52 -0400

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.

Casks Take Triangle By Storm

Thomas — Tue, 05 May 2009 09:41:01 -0400

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.

World Beer Fest Wrapup

Thomas — Mon, 04 May 2009 23:48:34 -0400

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.

Session 27 Beyond the Black and Tan

Thomas — Fri, 01 May 2009 09:05:03 -0400

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.

Preparing for the Fests

Thomas — Tue, 28 Apr 2009 23:01:15 -0400

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.