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

© 2011 Craft Beer Collective / Away Team Media

Bringing you the craft and culture of beer in North Carolina --> Raleigh, Durham, Charlotte, Asheville, Winston-Salem, Greensboro, Wilmington, NC and beyond

Contact us at dave (at) away (dash) team (dot) com

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

© 2011 Craft Beer Collective / Away Team Media

Bringing you the craft and culture of beer in North Carolina --> Raleigh, Durham, Charlotte, Asheville, Winston-Salem, Greensboro, Wilmington, NC and beyond

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Carolina Flagship IPA Can artwork

Carolina Flagship IPA Can artwork from beernews.org shows label approval for another North Carolina produced craft can.

© 2011 Craft Beer Collective / Away Team Media

Bringing you the craft and culture of beer in North Carolina --> Raleigh, Durham, Charlotte, Asheville, Winston-Salem, Greensboro, Wilmington, NC and beyond

Contact us at dave (at) away (dash) team (dot) com

TWIN CITY TAPS FEST

PRESS RELEASE FOR TWIN CITY TAPS FESTIVAL IN WINSTON SALEM ON AUGUST 13:

Nearly Two Dozen North Carolina Brewers Lined Up for Twin City Taps

Twin City Taps has enlisted 21 breweries that will be on hand to pour craft beers and talk about them during the Aug.13 beer festival at BB&T Ballpark. Participating breweries as of July 25 include: Aviator Brewing Company, Big Boss Brewing Company, Carolina Blonde, Carolina Brewery, Craggie Brewing Company, Foothills Brewing, Four Friends Brewing, French Broad Brewing Company, Fullsteam, Green Man Brewery, Highland Brewing Company, Liberty Steakhouse and Brewery, Loes Brewing Company, LoneRider Brewing Company, Mother Earth Brewing Company, Mystery Brewing Company, Natty Greene’s Pub & Brewing Company, Olde Hickory Brewery, Red Oak Brewery, Roth Brewing Company, The Duck- Rabbit Craft Brewery, The Olde Mecklenburg Brewery, Weeping Radish Farm Brewing “We’ve lined up some of the best regional beer producers to be at Twin City Taps,” Josh Neelon of Twin City Taps said. “Just this week, additional breweries have signed up to come to Twin City Taps, so the list of great craft brewers attending our event is likely to continue to grow.

“Twin City Taps is featuring only craft beer brewers from North Carolina to assure that the quality of the beer served will be outstanding,” Neelon added. “Similar to the exceptional quality of the beer, we want the overall experience at Twin City Taps to be a great one. To that end, we’re selling a maximum of 4,000 tickets to ensure that all guests have easy access to parking, restrooms, food and most importantly of all, cold beer.”

Musical performers slated for Twin City Taps include: Possum Jenkins, Old Southern Moonshine Revival, Da Stateside Lion Reggae Band and Brickfoot Down.

General admission tickets to Twin City Taps are $35, and VIP tickets are $55.

For more information or to purchase tickets please visit www.TwinCityTaps.com, call 336.714.6871 or go to the box office at BB&T Ballpark.

© 2011 Craft Beer Collective / Away Team Media

Bringing you the craft and culture of beer in North Carolina --> Raleigh, Durham, Charlotte, Asheville, Winston-Salem, Greensboro, Wilmington, NC and beyond

Contact us at dave (at) away (dash) team (dot) com

NC News round up

CONGRATS TO NORTH CAROLINA WINNERS
NC breweries place in US Open Beer Championships
Winners in the 2011 United States Open Beer Championships – the only brewery competition to include professional breweries and award-winning home brewers – were announced this week. More than 1200 beers in more than 50 different categories were submitted.

Fullsteam, Mother Earth, Lexington Ave Brewing, Lonerider all placed with multiple medals. Check out the results here: http://www.usopenbeer.com/

SUMMER BREWS IN THE TECHNICIAN
Mark Herring of NCSU‘s technicianonline.com wrote a feature story. Mike Natale at Roth Brewing, Mark Doble of Aviator, Joe Zonin of Carolina and yours truly, representing Big Boss, are all quoted for the story.
N.C. boasts one of the largest numbers of craft breweries in the U.S., and within a 25-mile radius of N.C. State there are 12 breweries, many of which are taking advantage of the change of seasons to rotate their specialty beers.

BELTLINE BREW TOURS DURHAM
Andrea at the newsobserver.com spoke with Will Holland about his Beltline Brew Tours new regular hours of operation: Beltline Brew Tours is now offering a once-a-month tour of three Durham breweries: Fullsteam, Triangle Brewing Company and Bull City Burger and Brewery. The next tour is 11:30 a.m. July 16. Tickets are $40 to $45.

ASHEVILLE BREWING GETS DISTRO DEAL
Tony Kiss outlines the deal between Asheville Brewing and their local Budweiser distributor as they begin canning their beers for distribution. …the brewery hopes to be canning beers, something that no other Asheville beer maker has yet done.

A lot of this has to do with Asheville Brewing’s recent distribution deal with Budweiser of Asheville. To really grow the business, the brewery needed an organization to get its products out there in stores, bars and restaurants.

As the brewery cranks out more ale and gets that canning line going, Budweiser of Asheville will be placing the product in more spots around Western North Carolina, making it much more convenient to purchase.

© 2011 Craft Beer Collective / Away Team Media

Bringing you the craft and culture of beer in North Carolina --> Raleigh, Durham, Charlotte, Asheville, Winston-Salem, Greensboro, Wilmington, NC and beyond

Contact us at dave (at) away (dash) team (dot) com

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.

© 2011 Craft Beer Collective / Away Team Media

Bringing you the craft and culture of beer in North Carolina --> Raleigh, Durham, Charlotte, Asheville, Winston-Salem, Greensboro, Wilmington, NC and beyond

Contact us at dave (at) away (dash) team (dot) com

Hops of Spring Beer Festival

Surf City’s Hops of Spring Beer Festival on April 30th to benefit www.hopeforthewarriors.org

On Saturday, April 30, The Greater Topsail Area Chamber of Commerce and Tourism will host a Hops of Spring Beer Festival on the Island in Surf City at the Beach House Marina. From 2 to 6 p.m. there will be eight NC breweries represented: Good Vibes Brewing Company, Wilmington; Weeping Radish Farm and Brewery, Jarvisburg; Lone Rider Brewing Company, Raleigh; Wolf Beer Company, Wilmington; Kind Beers Brewing, Charlotte; Carolina Brewery, Chapel Hill, Pittsboro; Huske Hardware House Pub and Brewery, Fayetteville; Natty Greens Brewing Company, Greensboro with 14 different brews for the discriminating palate to savor. Bald Fury will be playing that afternoon for your listening pleasure. Blankets and/or lawn chairs are suggested for comfort. Admission is $10 per person with children under 12 free. You must be 21 to taste or purchase beer. We will have a 50/50 raffle with the drawing at 6 p.m. You must be present to win. Proceeds will be shared with the Hope for the Warriors™ organization in Jacksonville. The mission of Hope for the Warriors™ is a promise that the sacrifices of the wounded across military service branches and throughout the nation will not be forgotten, nor their needs unmet. Their many programs have been implemented to fulfill this promise. See their story at www.hopeforthewarriors.org. Come enjoy an afternoon on Topsail Island and help a worthy cause at the same time.

Source: http://www.topsailadvertiser.com/

© 2011 Craft Beer Collective / Away Team Media

Bringing you the craft and culture of beer in North Carolina --> Raleigh, Durham, Charlotte, Asheville, Winston-Salem, Greensboro, Wilmington, NC and beyond

Contact us at dave (at) away (dash) team (dot) com

Beer @ Whole Foods North Raleigh

On this quick visit to the new Whole Foods in North Raleigh I spent some time talking to Nathan the beer department manager. He told me of the company’s interest in putting a growler fill station in the store, (a practice that is common to our neighbors to the North and South) but ambiguous growler laws in North Carolina made the decision hard to confirm it’s legality. Instead this store has a series of homebrew starter kits and other supplies.

Some of the notable items in the store were the Sam Adams Imperial series, a fairly large bomber selection, the full Avery and Anderson Valley line of beers in cans on top of a mostly complete line of North Carolina bottled beers and growlers.

North Raleigh kinda has a beer store!

© 2011 Craft Beer Collective / Away Team Media

Bringing you the craft and culture of beer in North Carolina --> Raleigh, Durham, Charlotte, Asheville, Winston-Salem, Greensboro, Wilmington, NC and beyond

Contact us at dave (at) away (dash) team (dot) com

Cask Party @ Casbah

The following was just posted on http://trianglebrewingcompany.blogspot.com/.

Unlimited samples of cask conditioned ales from local breweries such as Triangle Brewing Company, Roth Brewery, Natty Greene’s, Top of the Hill and Carolina Brewery.

Live music from Aminal and Pink Flag

Food truck rodeo.

Commemorative glass included.

Session: 6-10pm
Tickets: $30 in advance / $35 day of event
Advanced tickets can be purchased here.*

Sponsored by Triangle Brewing Co. and All About Beer Magazine to benefit Durham Central Park

*Casbah Durham is a private club and according to NC State Law, memberships are required. Lifetime memberships are $5.
Hard tickets are available to purchase at Triangle Brewing Co. and below is the link for online thru Etix.

https://www.etix.com/

1007 West Main Street
Durham NC 27701

© 2011 Craft Beer Collective / Away Team Media

Bringing you the craft and culture of beer in North Carolina --> Raleigh, Durham, Charlotte, Asheville, Winston-Salem, Greensboro, Wilmington, NC and beyond

Contact us at dave (at) away (dash) team (dot) com

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 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)

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.

© 2011 Craft Beer Collective / Away Team Media

Bringing you the craft and culture of beer in North Carolina --> Raleigh, Durham, Charlotte, Asheville, Winston-Salem, Greensboro, Wilmington, NC and beyond

Contact us at dave (at) away (dash) team (dot) com

NC Breweries at #GABF

Each year breweries from around the nation descend upon Denver for the Great American Beer Festival. The GABF is the biggest of the big beer festivals with four sessions over three days starting this Thursday going through Saturday. Twelve North Carolina Breweries will be represented there. If you are going here is the festival map and a breakdown of North Carolina Brewery booths:

Festival Grounds Map

Aviator Brewing Company F5 (Fuquay Varina)
Big Boss Brewing Co. F6 (Raleigh)
Carolina Beer Company F12 (Mooresville)
Carolina Brewery F13 (Chapel Hill)
Foothills Brewing J7 (Winston-Salem)
Highland Brewing Company J8 (Asheville)
LoneRider Brewing Company J11 (Raleigh)
Mother Earth Brewing J15 (Kinston)
Olde Hickory Brewery J17 (Hickory)
Pisgah Brewing Company J18 (Asheville)
The Duck-Rabbit Craft Brewery, Inc. J3 (Farmville)
The Mash House Brewery and Chophouse J12 (Fayetteville)

From the GABF website: 2,200 different beers, in 1-ounce tasting portions, from an estimated 462 U.S. breweries to the event’s 49,000-plus attendees.

http://www.greatamericanbeerfestival.com/

© 2011 Craft Beer Collective / Away Team Media

Bringing you the craft and culture of beer in North Carolina --> Raleigh, Durham, Charlotte, Asheville, Winston-Salem, Greensboro, Wilmington, NC and beyond

Contact us at dave (at) away (dash) team (dot) com

Raleigh Wide Open Beer Tent

UPDATED WITH PRICING INFO, CORRECT BEER TENT TIMES AND NEW BREWERY LIST

There is a little known beer festival that takes place under the shadow of Raleigh Wide Open. It’s a beer tent set up off Fayetteville St, on Hargett during the two day RWO street fest.

In my opinion it’s very under the radar compared to everything else on the festival grounds. I’ll admit, I barely recall that it happened last year. But it did happen, each of the last four years.

They are changing the format this year to include wine: FLYING SAUCER BEER & WINE FESTIVAL they’re calling it.

ONE LONG SESSION: Saturday, July 31st running 1:30-10:30pm. $10 for (8) 3 oz pours in your tasting cup.

Breweries to be included this year will be:
Carolina Brewery (Chapel Hill, NC)
Carolina Brewing Co. (Holly Springs, NC) – Pale Ale IPA; Summer Wheat; Nut Brown Ale
Big Boss Brewing Co. (Raleigh, NC) – Blanco Diablo; Bad Penny Brown Ale; High Roller IPA
Boston Beer Co. (Boston, MA) – Boston Lager; Sam Summer; Pale Ale; Blackberry Witbier
Mad River Brewing Co. (Blue Lake, CA) – Steelhead Extra Pale Ale; Jamaica Red; Steelhead Double IPA
Abita Brewing Co. (Abita Springs, LA) – Purple Haze; Andy Gator Dopplebock; Jockamo IPA
The Duck-Rabbit Craft Brewery (Farmville, NC) – Milk Stout; Amber Ale; Brown Ale
Sweetwater Brewing Co. (Atlanta, GA) – 420 Extra Pale Ale; Blue; IPA
Gordon Biersch Brewing Co. (San Jose, CA) -Marzen; Sommerbrau; Czech Pilsner; Hefeweizen
Stoudt’s Brewing Co. (Adamstown, PA) – American Pale Ale; German-Style Pilsener
Smuttynose Brewing Co. (Portsmouth, NH) – IPA; Old Brown Dog
Natty Greene’s of Raleigh (Raleigh, NC)
Lagunitas Brewing Co. (Petaluma, CA) – IPA; Downtown Pale Ale
Foothills Brewing (Winston-Salem, NC) – Torch Pilsner; People’s Porter; Hurricane Hefe; Hoppyum IPA
Charleston Brewing Co. (Charleston, SC)
Triangle Brewing Co. (Durham, NC)
LoneRider Brewing Company (Raleigh, NC) – Shotgun Betty Hefeweizen; Peacemaker “West Coast Style American Pale Ale”;Sweet Josie “American Brown Style”
Blue Point Brewing Co. (Patchogue, NY) – Toasted Lager; Hoptical Illusion; Blueberry Ale; Rasta FaRye Ale
Roth Brewing Company (Raleigh, NC )
Blackthorn (Somerset, England) – Blackthorn Cider

http://www.raleighconvention.com/rwo5/

© 2011 Craft Beer Collective / Away Team Media

Bringing you the craft and culture of beer in North Carolina --> Raleigh, Durham, Charlotte, Asheville, Winston-Salem, Greensboro, Wilmington, NC and beyond

Contact us at dave (at) away (dash) team (dot) com