Craft Beer Collective

Bull City Experience

A new beer event set for Sunday February 24th promises to be a premier beer and food event for Durham and North Carolina… possibly the south! 20 Durham restaurants paired with 20 North Carolina breweries and another 30 brewers represented on top of that. Several guest speakers in the form of Ken Grossman (Sierra Nevada), Kim Jordan (New Belgium) and Dale Katechis (Oskar Blues) will take the stage throughout the day.

Ticket and more info: http://www.bullcityexperience.com/

Here is a great video about this events benefactor, Ellerbee Creek Watershed Association.

Tour De Fat Durham 2012

June 23rd 2012, New Belgium Brewing‘s traveling road show and bike parade known as Tour De Fat, made it’s second appearance in Durham and raised 15,000 for local bike charities. Here is a collection of photos and video from the event!

My Video

My Photos

Beer and Racing Tour De Fat 2012 photo gallery on Smug Mug.

NBC 17 Video


The Whole Parade

Sister Sparrow

Tour De Fat Durham – Route Map

Tour De Fat returns to Durham for it’s second year of biking fun on Saturday June 23rd. This year’s activities will benefit www.ncactive.org and other cycling clubs in the area.

From Press Release – New Belgium Brewing today announced the much-anticipated Tour de Fat 2012 schedule. Now in its 13th season, Tour de Fat brings together passionate bike lovers for a day of two-wheeled revelry while raising money for local nonprofits. Tour de Fat is a thrilling rite of passage that includes an unparalleled costumed bicycle parade, New Belgium beer, dazzling entertainment, local food, unusual bike contests and much more. Coming to 15 cities across the country, New Belgium has added Atlanta and Washington, DC to this year’s lineup.

From their website: The Ride begins at 10 am at Diamond View Park at The American Tobacco Campus, but be there at 9 am to register. Stay and enjoy the fun after the ride from 11 til 4 with music and theatrics by Squirm Burpee Circus, Dovekins, Daredevil Chickens and The Pimps of Joytime. Did we mention it’s FREE

View Durham TDF parade route in a larger map

Brooklyn Food Experiments in Durham

Wow, what a day in Durham! This past Sunday (April 15th), The Brooklyn Brewery presented the Food Experiments at Motorco in Durham. This was a friendly hometown competition between neighbors to come up with the best pork dish. I believe 19 teams competed for a table of prizes and a chance to go to NYC to compete against others from around the country.

Here is all the details from the day and the results.

Thanks to Johanna Kramer I met the Food Experiment’s host and creator Theo Peck who invited me to the event. Theo seems to knows beer as well as he knows food and collaborates with Brooklyn Brewery to present these competitions around the nation.

After witnessing this show go down I was wondering why this wasn’t a TV show on the Food Network, Travel Channel or anywhere… They really put on a great event for everyone involved. $10 would get you samples of everything available and your first beer: a Brooklyn Beer of course!

Great Lakes Roll Out Events

Great Lakes Brewing Company To Enter Raleigh-Durham-Chapel Hill

Press release for Great Lakes roll out events in Raleigh, Durham, Chapel Hill, Carborro!

Great Lakes Brewing Company (GLBC), Ohio’s most celebrated craft brewer of award-winning lagers and ales, announces its plan to enter Raleigh-Durham-Chapel Hill (North Carolina) with Long Beverage Inc. on February 20, 2012. Customers can expect to see GLBC’s year-round family of beers in package and draft, as well as the new “Taster’s Pack” (a sampler 12-pack).

The new market rollout will involve multiple customer appreciation events, meet-and-greets, tastings and giveaways throughout the area including:

February 20 Tyler’s Taproom Tasting

February 21 Tyler’s Durham Launch with North Carolina Girls Pint Out

February 22 Raleigh Times Tapping

February 23 Flying Saucer Sampling

February 24 Sam’s Quik Shop Sampling & Whole Foods Sampling

February 25 Tasty Beverage Tasting
and Weaver Street Sampling – Chapel Hill and Weaver Street Sampling – Carrboro

February 26 Weaver Street Sampling Hillsborough and Busy Bee Beer Brunch

February 27 Rockfish Pint Night

February 28 World of Beers Sampling & Giveaway

February 29 Dos Perros Beer Dinner

March 1 Tasting at Bottle Revolution

March 2 Triangle Wine Tasting

March 6 Draft Raleigh

March 8 Tasting at Carrboro Beverage Co & Bottle Shop

March 10 Tasting at TJ’s Beverage

March 14 Porter’s Beer Dinner

March 15 Spanky’s Pint Night

March 21 Pint Night Flying Saucer

March 23 Spanky’s Burger & Beer Pairing & Caricature Contest

https://www.greatlakesbrewing.com/raleigh-durham-chapelhill

GLBC currently serves 13 states and Washington DC. Founded in 1988 by brothers Patrick and Daniel Conway as the first craft brewery in the state of Ohio, GLBC is nationally known for its exceptional family of beers including Dortmunder Gold Lager, Eliot Ness Amber Lager, Burning River Pale Ale, Commodore Perry India Pale Ale and Edmund Fitzgerald Porter. Visit greatlakesbrewing.com/raleigh-durham-chapelhill and follow @GLBCinNCarolina on Twitter for exclusive updates and event announcements.

A New Craft Brewery to Open in the Triangle

PRESS RELEASE: A New Craft Brewery to Open in the Triangle

Durham, North Carolina – January 17th, 2012 – Though software engineering may not be the first thing that comes to mind when discussing craft beer, such is not the case for two new brewers in the craft beer scene. Andrew Simmering and David Britt, RTP software engineers, are working towards opening a new brewery in the Triangle area; Shade Tree Brewing Company. Whether it be their operational size, their projects, or their method of funding, these guys are anything but conventional.

They are opening on a scale that would make a micro brewery feel like a multinational conglomerate. They are calling themselves a nano brewery and planning on producing only enough output to support their local community. This is not because of restrictions or inability, but rather they believe that a smaller output will allow them to make a commitment to quality and creativity. It’s also not all about profit as they are already working on plans for unique, no-profit projects. One such project is a series of charity beers brewed in conjunction with local homebrew clubs. Another, which throws back to their programming roots, is a community-designed open source beer.

Unfortunately, such a business model does not tend to attract the attention of venture capitalists, and thus their approach to funding does not follow conventional methods. While all of their backing thus far has come from their own wallets, they are now looking to their community to help them along. This is taking form as a project on the creative backing website kickstarter.com. Their project, available at
http://www.kickstarter.com, provides some basic information about the brewery, and offers a series of rewards for different levels of contributions.

Shade Tree Brewing Company was founded in April of 2010, and plans on launching before 2013, and will do so with two staple beers: A Kölsch-style hybrid ale, and an Imperial IPA. The Kölsch is a lighter, crisper beer intended to satisfy the lovers of the Kölsch style while also attracting people new to the craft beer movement. Their Imperial IPA is a heavier, more robust ale designed specifically for those who have already developed a taste for heavy, hoppy, high gravity beers. As they move forward, they plan to have a rotating selection of seasonal beers, as well as experimental or uncommon styles.

http://www.shadetreebrew.com/

Great Lakes soon to be available in Triangle area

Ohio’s most celebrated craft brewer of award-winning lagers & ales, announces its plan to enter the Raleigh-Durham-Chapel Hill (North Carolina) market with Long Beverage Inc. on February 20, 2012. GLBC previously launched products in Charlotte and Greensboro in March 2010; “The Triangle” is the next natural step in the company’s strategic growth plans. Customers can expect to see GLBC’s year-round family of beers in package and draft, as well as the new “Taster’s Pack” (a sampler 12-pack).

The new market rollout will involve multiple customer appreciation events, meet-and-greets, tastings and giveaways throughout the area. “We’ve been courted by distributors all over North Carolina for a number of years now, and there’s a large population of Ohioans clamoring for our product down there,” explains Patrick Conway, GLBC Co-Owner. “We are committed to our methodical growth and look to penetrate deeper in the states we currently serve. Raleigh-Durham-Chapel Hill presents an excellent opportunity, and we look forward to providing our customers with the products they love.”

GLBC currently serves 12 states and Washington DC. Founded in 1988 by brothers Patrick and Daniel Conway as the first craft brewery in the state of Ohio, GLBC is nationally known for its exceptional family of beers including Dortmunder Gold Lager, Eliot Ness Amber Lager, Burning River Pale Ale, Commodore Perry India Pale Ale and Edmund Fitzgerald Porter.

Follow in Twitter

GLBC Triangle Page

Narragansett now with Mims

PRESS RELEASE: Triangle area distributor brings in Narragansett Brewing Company line of beers:

Chip Mims, CEO of Mims Distributing Company, a beer distributor that services a nine-county area in and around the Triangle, has announced that Mims is now distributing beer from the Narragansett Brewing Company. Narragansett’s family of classic American lagers, light beers and ales are brewed in Rochester, N.Y., at a brewery that has been producing award-winning beers for more than 125 years. The bock and porter are craft-brewed in Providence, R.I., and Pawcatuck, Conn.

Quotes:
“Mims Distributing Company is excited to add Narragansett Brewing Company to our list of breweries,” said Mims. “The Narragansett brewmasters use the finest and purest ingredients to ensure that what ends up in your glass is Narragansett at its very best—flavorful, drinkable and refreshing.”

Details: – For more information on Narragansett, visit http://www.narragansettbeer.com.

For a list of the other breweries with whom Mims Distributing Company works, visit http://www.mimsdist.com/breweries.html.

Food Bank benefit @ Rock Fish

Food Bank Benefit Presented by Rock Fish Grill & North Carolina Brewers Guild
Tuesday December Sixth 6:30-9:00 pm

Join the North Carolina Brewers Guild (@NCBeer) at Rockfish Seafood Grill (@RockfishNC) on December 6th from 6:30-9:00 pm for the 1st Annual North Carolina Brewers Guild Holiday Tweetup!

This will be a great opportunity to get together, support North Carolina Beer, spread some holiday cheer, and meet some of your favorite NC beer Tweeters/Bloggers/Brewers/and fans!

This event will feature, amongst other items:
• A “Sweet Potato Pie” cask from Fullsteam Brewery (@fullsteam) •A “Death by Hops” cask dry hopped with Nelson Sauvin from Olde Hickory (@oldehickory) •Several other North Carolina Breweries featured on draft •A fantastic appetizer buffet.
•A “White Elephant” inspired unwanted beer themed gift exchange. Wrap up your unwanted beers, your pint glasses, your bottle openers, etc!

Because both the North Carolina Brewers Guild and Rockfish Seafood Grill believe that the local Craft Beer community is one of the most generous and community focused groups out there, we are encouraging each guest to bring a canned food item. These items will be donated to The Durham Branch of the Food Bank of Central & Eastern North Carolina.

“Tickets” are $10 per person. This will cover admission, appetizer buffet, gift exchange, and some other surprises. All featured North Carolina beers will be available through a cash bar (credit cards are also welcome).

Follow both @NCBeer and @RockfishNC for updates on this event and use the hash tag #NCBeerHolidayTweetup in all of your tweets leading up to the event!

Tickets must be purchased in advance either in person or over the phone from Rockfish Seafood Grill. Phone 919-544-9220

#ncbeerholidaytweet

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Stone’s Greg Koch in Durham

Here is a clip of Stone Brewing Company’s Greg Koch finishing his speech on top of the bar at Tyler’s Tap Room in Durham, North Carolina. This took place on October 27th, 2011 while the craft beer pioneer was on his 15th anniversary book tour.

Casks For A Cure

Tonight at 6pm Rockfish Seafood Grill in Durham (Suite 905, 8030 Renaissance Parkway / Durham, NC 27713-8261 / (919) 544-9220) three new breweries offer casks conditioned ales:

Mystery Brewing Company offers a blond ale steeped with hibiscus flowers.
Haw River Farmhouse Ales brings a winter harvest dark saison with pumpkin, butternut squash, sweet potatoes, acorn squash, honey, nutmeg, ginger, cinnamon & allspice
Steel String Brewery has a black wheat ale made with cocoa nibs

$10 donation benefits Susan G. Komen Foundation gets you a pour of each beer and t shirt

Are you attending this event?? Use #casksforacure in your tweets!

WBF Durham preview

Here is a preview of beers to look out for at World Beer Fest Durham this weekend October 8th. We love our North Carolina Beers (it looks like Mystery Brewing will make it’s festival debut here) but I couldn’t help notice the array of out of market beers that will be available at this year’s World Beer Festival in Durham. Here are a few:

21st Amendment Brewery: Hell or High Watermelon Wheat, Brew Free! or Die IPA, Back In Black
Boulevard Brewing Co.: The Sixth Glass, Double Wide IPA, Tank 7 Farmhouse Ale
Crescent City Brewhouse: Pilsner
Deschutes Brewery: Mirror Pond Pale Ale, Inversion IPA
Great Lakes Brewing Co.: Burning River Pale Ale, Edmund Fitzgerald Porter, Oktoberfest
Kuhnhenn Brewing Co.: Loonie Kuhnie, Simcoe Silly, DRIPA, Imperial Creme Brulee Java Stout
New Glarus Brewing Co.: Moon Man, Fat Squirrel, Wisconsin Belgian Red
Summit Brewing Company: Extra Pale Ale, Summit Horizon Red, Oktoberfest

Plus this video from NBC 17 shows World Beer Festival creator Daniel Bradford and NC brewers Guild director Anna Lockhart tasting some North Carolina Brews with their hosts. Also noted in this interview is the fact that all the NC breweries will be grouped together:

MORE INFO / TICKETS: http://allaboutbeer.com