Craft Beer Collective

Winter & Holiday Beers

This is an update of my winter beer post from 2010. This time I’ve included label art and photos whenever they we’re available.

Here is a score card of Christmas and Winter brews in the North Carolina Beer scene with commercial descriptions from each respective brewery (except where noted).

How many have you tried?

HIGHLAND Cold Mountain Winter Ale
Our ever-changing spiced winter seasonal. A tasty brew that complements all your holiday festivities. It is typically malty in body, lightly hopped, and rounded out with spices that we vary from year to year.

OUTERBANKS BREWING COMPANY Santa’s Little Sledgehammer
A deep red Strong Ale boosted with Belgian Candi Sugar, fermented with Trappist Ale yeast and finished with ‘secret spices’! It’s smooth and creamy-rich, with a warm and
chewy texture and subtle spiciness. (10% abv.)

LONERIDER Belle Starr Dubbel
Be wary of Starr’s smile, there is something sinister behind her innocent look. Belle Starr is a Belgian-style Dubbel brewed with a rare Belgian yeast strain, caramelized beet sugar and festive holiday spices. Expect hints of dark fruit, sweet cinnamon-apple and a warming finish. ABV is 7.7%

MOTHER EARTH Silent Night Bourbon Barrel Aged Imperial Stout
Embellished with a hint of coffee and a touch of molasses, you’ll enjoy a bold, yet delightfully smooth brew. I pronounce this Barrel Aged Imperial Stout a sipper.

OLDE HICKORY Christmas Ale
Brewed with fond memories of fresh baked cakes and cookies, our Christmas Ale is made with local honey, freshly grated ginger and cinnamon and fresh orange zest. This special holiday beer is perfect for the merry season and best enjoyed in the company of friends and family.

ASHEVILLE BREWING Xmas Jam White Ale
Low-alcohol (4.5 percent ABV), Belgian-style wheat beer dosed with coriander and orange peel. This aromatic treat is as cloudy as a San Francisco morn, with vibrant carbonation and a twangy edge that hums on your tongue. (description from Slashfood)

OLDE MECKLENBURG Brewery Yule Bock
Get your goat on with this holiday special. Nothing warms you around the Christmas fire better than this super smooth, malty lager. But supplies are limited so make sure you get yours early. 7% ABV.

WEEPING RADISH Doppelbock
A very strong and rich lager; dark brown with ruby highlights. Brewed with over 50% Munich malt. A Bavarian specialty first brewed in Munich by the monks of St. Francis of Paula. (8.3% ABV)

NATTY GREENE’S Red Nose Winter Warmer
A winter warmer with a nice nutty malt / spice balance! Coming in slightly above 6% abv tastes like winter … smells like Christmas with nutmeg and ginger notes. (Craft Beer Collective – Dave)

LUMINA Holiday Ale
no description available

CAROLINA BREWERY Santa’s Secret
Our winter ale, brewed especially for the holidays, boasts a combination of six different malts all working together to produce a rich beer with a soft creamy mouthfeel. Without revealing all of Santa’s secrets, we can say that this tasty elixer contains a careful blend of coriander, cinnamon, orange and allspice. We think you’ll agree – it’s the closest thing to Christmas in a glass.

AVIATOR FrostNipper
Our interpretation of a fall seasonal beer. This beer will curl your toes and put goosebumps on your arms. A fine collection of traditional fall spices make this a great addition to the holiday season…it will make all humbugs cheery. The beer is dark in color…a bit darker than brown ale. There is a combination of Perle and Willamette hops to provide a contrasting intensity with the fall spices. The beer contains a generous amount of smoked malt. (7.3% ABV)

Just because they don’t have Santa Clause and snow flakes on their labels doesn’t mean that Foothills, Big Boss are not making winter brews:

FOOTHILLS Total Eclipse Stout
Robust full bodied stout made with roasted barley, black and crystal malts. Total Eclipse has a full mouth feel and a well balanced hop bitterness.

BIG BOSS Aces and Ates Coffee Stout
Our winter stout is brewed with ten different malts to create a complex and distinctive beer. We add organic fair-trade coffee, which is specially produced for Big Boss by coffee experts Larry’s Beans. We offer this synergistic seasonal brew for a limited time in the winter season. 8% abv

Do you have some other labels for me? CBC? Send them my way!!

WINTER & HOLIDAY RELEASE BREWS FROM 2010

Asheville & Carolina IPA Cans

New canned beers from Asheville & Carolina are set to hit store shelves soon and much to the delight of hopheads both beers are IPAs. Through web and tweet reports from both breweries, we learn that beer drinkers are a little closer to more beer cans on shelves around the state. Shiva IPA from Asheville Brewing and Flagship IPA from Carolina Brewery in Chapel Hill/ Pittsboro. Here are their Federal Approved label images below:

Images courtesy the Alcohol, Tobacco Tax & Trade Bureau.

Thanks to mountainx.com we discovered this video of Asheville Brewing’s canning line

Video: Foothill’s new production facility

Here is a look at Foothill’s new production facility in Winston-Salem, North Carolina.

Foothills Brewmaster/Co-owner Jamie Bartholomaus discusses the new location, acquiring equipment and brands from Carolina Beer & Beverage including the Cottonwood brands.

Plus the same producer posted this 10 minute documentary style video of the Asheville beer scene.

NC BEER IN CANS

COMING SOON TO A CAN NEAR YOU The trend toward Craft Beer in cans continues after releases from Mother Earth and Carolina Brewery.

Two North Carolina companies who previously announced that they were entering the can crazed market have their artwork pass the Federal approval system.

Catawba Valley Brewing Co of Morganton, NC will release Farmer Ted’s Farmhouse Cream Ale whose hippy, trippy artwork is seen below.

Asheville Brewing is jumping into the can scene with three of their well known beers: Shiva IPA, Ninja Porter, and Rocket Girl Lager.

Asheville says thanks (video)

In this video Asheville beer people says “thanks” to everyone who voted their city as Beer City USA. Asheville won the title three years in a row in the yearly poll conducted by the examiner.com.

#ncbeer News Round Up

Here are all the #ncbeer stories I tweeted or re-tweeted this week:

CHARLOTTE KNIGHTS OLDE MECKLENBURG BEER DINNER!
FORT MILL, S.C. – Attention all beer aficionados, the Charlotte Knights will hold a beer dinner at Knights Stadium on Tuesday, May 3. The Knights and Olde Mecklenburg Brewery, the official beer garden sponsor of the Knights and Charlotte’s hometown brewery, will hold a special beer dinner that will pair Olde Mecklenburg’s fresh beer with food choices to satisfy your palate. The dinner will take place beginning at 6:30 p.m. on the Mission Foods party deck during the May 3 game against the Columbus Clippers.

Tickets are $40 in advance, $45 day of the event and include a ticket to that night’s game and beer dinner. Diners must be 21 to participate. To purchase tickets, please call the Knights box office at 704-357-8071 or go online to charlotteknights.com for more information.

http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/

ASHEVILLE BREWING TO CAN THEIR BEERS & GETS DISTRO
Asheville Brewing has signed a distribution agreement with Budweiser of Asheville, which has been greatly growing its craft beer portfolio. The company will place Asheville Brewing’s beers in its 12-county distribution area.

As production ramps up, those beers will be sold in grocery stores, convenience marts, restaurants, bars and festivals all over the mountains. Look for Asheville Brewing’s Shiva IPA and Ninja porter first, but others will follow.

http://www.citizen-times.com

GEORGIA BEGINS GROWLER RETAIL SALES
Sooooo…. why can’t North Carolina??

…But at 5 p.m. on April 14, Hop City owner Kraig Torres will be the first to sell growlers in Atlanta when he opens the new “growler station” at his Westside beer and wine shop.

A few weeks ago, Sachin Patel, owner of Athens 5 Points Bottle Shop, opened another Athens store, 5 Points Growlers, pouring more than 40 craft beers in growlers.

COMPLETE ARTICLE

RAIL HOUSE BREWING ARTICLE
“We’re growing by one or two bars or restaurants per week,” Ratkowski says. “It’s probably 50-50 right now between on-site consumption and product sold wholesale. Marginalized, we make more money here because we sell to the pubs at wholesale prices, and they can mark it up however they want.”

“I think it’s imperative to support local business,” O’Mahoney says. “To have a local brewery is pretty special, considering the area and the demographics that we have here in Moore County. On top of that, it’s pretty darn good beer.”

COMPLETE ARTICLE

NODA Brewing has a website
www.NoDaBrewing.com

MOTHER EARTH BEER DINNER AT PORTERS RALEIGH
Spring Beer Dinner: Mark your calanders everyone, May 4th. The spring beer dinner will be with Mother Earth Brewing out of Kinston NC. For reservations call 821.2133. We look forward to seeing you. ALL DETAILS

1st course
Endless River Kolsch Style / Lavender Poached Apple & Gorgonzola Salad orange vinaigrette

2nd course
Sisters of the Moon IPA / IPA Steamed Clams, Bay Scallops & Shrimp chorizo and garlic herb butter

3rd course
Dark Cloud Munich-Style Dunkel Lager / Espresso Rubbed Pork Tenderloin / loaded sweet potato fries & vanilla jus

4th course
Weeping Willow Witt / Warm Blueberry cobbler raspberry marscapone ice cream & candied lemon

WORLD OF BEER
I snapped this photo a few weeks ago. This North Hills Mall location is due to open in June.

5 Questions: Asheville Brews Cruise

The Brews Cruise in Asheville was a big part of my Weekend getaway last year. And that’s why Brews Cruise Founder Mark Lyons was on my short list for the 5 Questions series. If you’re ever in Asheville Mark will help you get the most out of a lot of breweries in a short amount of time!

1 Tell us the history of Asheville Brews Cruise:
My wife and I were passionate about beer and we were interested in working in the industry. When NC began the “Pop the Cap” campaign which allowed brewers to brew beers higher than 6% ABV, we knew the industry was really going to expand, so we thought of an idea on how to showcase the rich beer scene in Asheville, NC. We started our mobile brewery tour company in 2006. We had amazing support from our local community, and the tourists loved it too. After the first year were hiring staff an expanding tour options. We teamed with the local chamber and marketed locally and via internet and were lucky to have received great local and national press. Turns out, people LOVE great beer and ABC has many ‘repeat offenders’ on the tour. We credit ABC success to our amazing staff, all the beer enthusiasts who participate, the breweries who host our groups, and of course, the fantastic beer! In late 2010 we made the big decision to move to Oregon to work on the bigger Brews Cruise expansion picture. We licensed the Asheville Brews Cruise market to our very first guide, Joe Sallazzo, who is now owner/operator in Asheville and is doing a great job. Joe’s ideas are in line with our original vision and he keeps the tours fun and memorable.

2 I had a great time on my Brews Cruise last year.
Tell us about the different tour packages that are available! So good to hear that you enjoyed the tour. Tour packages include several van tour options, and we also offer walking tours. Van tours include transportation to three breweries, beer samples and an exclusive tour at each brewery, and the last stop provides the opportunity to dine. Walking tours include guided walks to four breweries while strolling through beautiful downtown Asheville. The breweries provide beer samples and exclusive tours of their facilities. The last stop also provides the opportunity to dine or you can visit one of the other numerous restaurants downtown. We also do special events and can customize tours, so check out the website for the latest information and availability at: www.brewscruise.com

3 What other territories / cities have you expanded to?
We have another licensee (and good friend) who operates in the Denver, CO market and we recently moved to Bend, OR and plan to begin operating tours here. We are in discussions with several other markets including San Francisco, CA and Charleston, SC. With so many great craft breweries popping up around the country, we have the opportunity to grow our brand into multiple markets. We have a
contact page on our corporate website for people who are interested in starting a Brews Cruise in their area. And if you make it out to Oregon, contact us an we’ll be happy to show you a great beer time!

4 What do you like best about the beer scene in Asheville?
We love that the brewers are innovative and creative. In a town that consists of nine breweries, the competition is stiff, so each brewery is challenged to bring their ‘A game’ for each batch. It is a healthy competition and really, everyone wins in this scenario. High demand for interesting beer + pressure to brew great stuff = very happy consumers!

5 What is in your beer fridge right now?
We have a growler of Armored Fist from Boneyard Brewing which is an Imperial Cascadian Dark Ale. This beer is a collaborative effort between Boneyard and Three Flyods – absolutely delicious! We also have some Bridgport Hop Czar, a 22 of French Broad’s Anvil Porter, some Lonerider Sweet Josie Brown Ale, a Natty Greene’s Southern Pale Ale and some Laurelwood Workhorse IPA. The IPA’s out here are BIG so we are in
hop-heaven!

WINTER & HOLIDAY RELEASE BREWS

Here is a score card of Christmas and Winter brews in the North Carolina Beer scene with commercial descriptions from each respective brewery (except where noted). And what a variety of styles to choose from! I was lucky enough to try 8 of these.

How many have you tried?

HIGHLAND Cold Mountain Winter Ale
Our ever-changing spiced winter seasonal. A tasty brew that complements all your holiday festivities. It is typically malty in body, lightly hopped, and rounded out with spices that we vary from year to year.

CAROLINA BREWERY Santa’s Secret
Our winter ale, brewed especially for the holidays, boasts a combination of six different malts all working together to produce a rich beer with a soft creamy mouthfeel. Without revealing all of Santa’s secrets, we can say that this tasty elixer contains a careful blend of coriander, cinnamon, orange and allspice. We think you’ll agree – it’s the closest thing to Christmas in a glass.

AVIATOR FrostNipper
Our interpretation of a fall seasonal beer. This beer will curl your toes and put goosebumps on your arms. A fine collection of traditional fall spices make this a great addition to the holiday season…it will make all humbugs cheery. The beer is dark in color…a bit darker than brown ale. There is a combination of Perle and Willamette hops to provide a contrasting intensity with the fall spices. The beer contains a generous amount of smoked malt. (7.3% ABV)

Lonerider Belle Star

LONERIDER Belle Starr Dubbel
Be wary of Starr’s smile, there is something sinister behind her innocent look. Belle Starr is a Belgian-style Dubbel brewed with a rare Belgian yeast strain, caramelized beet sugar and festive holiday spices. Expect hints of dark fruit, sweet cinnamon-apple and a warming finish. ABV is 7.7%

MOTHER EARTH Silent Night Bourbon Barrel Aged Imperial Stout
Embellished with a hint of coffee and a touch of molasses, you’ll enjoy a bold, yet delightfully smooth brew. I pronounce this Barrel Aged Imperial Stout a sipper.

ASHEVILLE BREWING Xmas Jam White Ale
Low-alcohol (4.5 percent ABV), Belgian-style wheat beer dosed with coriander and orange peel. This aromatic treat is as cloudy as a San Francisco morn, with vibrant carbonation and a twangy edge that hums on your tongue. (description from Slashfood)

OLDE MECKLENBURG Brewery Yule Bock
Get your goat on with this holiday special. Nothing warms you around the Christmas fire better than this super smooth, malty lager. But supplies are limited so make sure you get yours early. 7% ABV.

CRAGGIE Dubbelicious: A Belgian-Style “Double” Ale
Organic Barley, Rye, Wheat and Oat malts are brewed with Belgian candy sugar and then fermented with a Regional yeast strain. Our “sweet tart” dubbel is copper in color with warm herbal undertones. ABV 6.5%

WEEPING RADISH Doppelbock
A very strong and rich lager; dark brown with ruby highlights. Brewed with over 50% Munich malt. A Bavarian specialty first brewed in Munich by the monks of St. Francis of Paula. (8.3% ABV)

Outer Banks Brewing Station Xmass ale

OUTERBANKS BREWING COMPANY Santa’s Little Sledgehammer
A deep red Strong Ale boosted with Belgian Candi Sugar, fermented with Trappist Ale yeast and finished with ‘secret spices’! It’s smooth and creamy-rich, with a warm and
chewy texture and subtle spiciness. (10% abv.)

NATTY GREENE’S Red Nose Winter Warmer
A winter warmer with a nice nutty malt / spice balance! Coming in slightly above 6% abv tastes like winter … smells like Christmas with nutmeg and ginger notes. (Craft Beer Collective – Dave)

Just because they don’t use Santa Clause and snow flakes on their labels doesn’t mean that Foothills, Big Boss are not making winter brews:

FOOTHILLS Total Eclipse Stout
Robust full bodied stout made with roasted barley, black and crystal malts. Total Eclipse has a full mouth feel and a well balanced hop bitterness.

BIG BOSS Aces and Ates Coffee Stout
Our winter stout is brewed with ten different malts to create a complex and distinctive beer. We add organic fair-trade coffee, which is specially produced for Big Boss by coffee experts Larry’s Beans. We offer this synergistic seasonal brew for a limited time in the winter season. 8% abv

DUCK RABBIT Paul’s Christmas Vacation Double IPA
Last but not least is the most unlikely holiday beer in this line up and a departure for this “Dark Ale Specialist” in Farmville. This DIPA is so strong and so bitter it could send Southern California crashing into the sea! Nothing like anything in the malt driven Duck Rabbit line up! (Craft Beer Collective – Dave)

Am I missing any? Make a post on Facebook and here on the board.

Sierra brewer to visit NC for a good cause

Thanks to Sean Balkwill for this post:

Asheville Pizza & Brewing Co. and Sierra Nevada are having a fundraiser in Asheville for a three year old boy with cancer on Dec. 11. They’re giving away tickets to the sold out Christmas Jam, you can brew beer with Sierra Nevada brewmaster Terence Sullivan, and he’s tentatively bringing a Russian Imperial Stout that hasn’t seen the East coast yet. Tickets are a $50 minimum donation and should be available at both Asheville Brewing Co. locations soon.

#avlbeer Oktoberfest

Brewgrass just ended and another hot Beer Fest is on the Asheville horizon for October 9th, 2010!

The Downtown Asheville Oktoberfest is a “locals only” beer and food fest featuring only six breweries, three restaurants and one mustard maker!

“The event will feature beer tastings from local breweries including Highland Brewing, Asheville Brewing Company, Pisgah Brewing, Green Man Brewery, Craggie Brewing and French Broad Brewing Company. Many brewers are featuring seasonal ales for Oktoberfest, and will be on hand to discuss their beers.”

Also, Wall Street restaurants Cucina 24, Jack of the Wood and The Market Place will be preparing authentic German food fare served with local mustard from the Lusty Monk.

Asheville Oktoberfest Website

Beer City Tour

For Memorial day weekend HopZilla and I packed up the car and headed to the recently crowned Beer City USA: Asheville! Besides a mini “get away from Raleigh” vacation, the goal here was to visit as many Buncombe County Breweries as possible. As soon as we got out of the car we were driven away by the Brews Cruise bus and taken to Highland Brewing followed by French Broad Brewery and returned safely to Asheville Brewing. At each stop we were treated to a top notch tours by brewery staffers. The Brews Cruise is highly recommended!

From there HopZilla used a cool Andriod app from Wolf Mountain Apps to navigate us to Oyster House Brewing and the Green Man Ales brewery (the actual Brewey NOT Jack of The Wood). While drinking from an IPA cask at Green Man we were treated to pretzels and Chipotle Mustard from Asheville based Lusty Monk mustards! Very Hot! My fridge at home is loaded with specialty mustards and the varieties I’ve had from Lusty Monk are without a doubt some of the best I’ve ever had!

Saturday was a relatively slow day as we only hit one brewery, Lexington Ave Brewing aka LAB for a pint and some food while hiking the streets of downtown. We made up for it Saturday night with a trip to Buisin’ Ales where we met up with BA’s Julie & Jason as well as Jeff from Craft Beer Radio. We traveled to the Thirsty Monk where Jeff interviewed all of us for a future episode of Craft Beer Radio. Uncle Jedi and his rocket scientist wife met up with us as well. At the Monk I had an Alvinne Extra and a Terrapin Big Hoppy Monster.

On Sunday we had a shopping excursion at Bruisin’ Ales where I picked up a bottle of Scottish Heavy Eighty Shilling Beer and a bottle of their Joker IPA plus many other brews. With the cooler freshly stocked we made the trek out to Pisgah Brewing for a flight and a few pints before heading over to Wedge Brewing for couple more pints including their Hemp Ale.

The last beer stop of the trip was a quick pint at Barley’s tap Room where they have a line up of almost all NC drafts including locally made meads from Fox Hill Meads.

The one thing I can take away from this trip is the fact that while each brewery had several things in common (outdoor or open air seating, beer flights and IPAs), each had their own experience that set them apart. From scary warehouse locations or upscale atmospheres, informed and entertaining staffers and variety off food or music offered or NOT offered, no two Beer City Breweries are alike!

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Asheville Brewing on draft.com

Every week Draft Magazine debuts a video field trip and this past week they posted a clip with Asheville Brewing’s Mike Rangel.