Craft Beer Collective

Sexual Chocolate Coverage

The big day for Sexual Chocolate 2012 has come and gone. Last Saturday the bottle release event was hosted by Foothills Brewpub in Winston-Salem. Here is the WXII coverage that was later picked up by CNN.

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and this classic:

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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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Foothills Bottle Labels

Not long after the above picture from @footsales made it’s way online we find the first bottle label approvals for Peoples Porter, Torch Pilsner (22 oz bomber) as well as acquired brands Cottonwood Endo IPA & Carolina Blonde (both 12oz bottles) (with Foothill’s logo added to the artwork).

Foothill’s purchased the Cottonwood & Carolina brands (as well as equipment) from Mooresville based Carolina Beer & Beverage earlier this year and ushered in a new production facility in Winston-Salem, North Carolina that will be responsible for each brand.

© 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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WGHP Video about recent tap room law

Liberty and Foothills brewers chime in on law change that may pave the way for New Belgium or Sierra Nevada (or both) to open breweries in North Carolina.

Some state craft breweries will be allowed to offer tastings and sell beer on site thanks to a law recently signed by Gov. Bev Perdue.

The new law gives breweries those privileges if they make more than 25,000 barrels a year.

One Piedmont brew pub quickly gaining popularity is Foothills Brewery in Winston-Salem. Brewmaster David Gonzalez said he is in the process of increasing production.

“We own a brewery across town that we’re building right now, and that hopefully will have a tasting room. We’ll be able to sell product in there, so that’s what this bill will do,” Gonzalez said.

Gonzalez currently makes 8,000 barrels a year with flavors ranging from Carolina Blonde to their award winning Sexual Chocolate Stout. Its new site should be open in a couple of weeks.

North Carolina is already home to the most craft breweries in the south, and they employ 100,000 people nationwide. Todd Isbell, brewmaster at Liberty Steakhouse, said the bill was signed in an effort to attract new breweries to the state.

“There’s a couple breweries, West Coast breweries, that are looking to come to this market and build East Coast breweries, so it would generate a lot of business, a lot of jobs and tax money,” Isbell said.

One of those breweries that’s talked about moving east is Sierra Nevada, Isbell said.

“Potentially, if Sierra Nevada came to North Carolina–and this isn’t set in stone, it’s just a potential–they could actually sell six packs of their beer in location,” Isbell said.

While overall beer sales were down a bit last year, craft beer sales were up by 12 percent.

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© 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 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

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#ncbeer video reviews

Here are some recent #ncbeer reviews found on the interwebs!

Hopcast on Olde Rabbits Foot

Highland Oatmeal Stout

© 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

#TastyTweetUp

Updated 12/08/11 with draft list!

Craft Beer Collective presents a Tasty #ncbeer Tweet Up on Wednesday December, 14th at 8pm. This is a social beer meet & greet at Tasty Beverage Company in Raleigh featuring a secret Santa stash of draft & bottled beers.

You’ve seen the usernames on Twitter. Now come meet the faces behind them! Hold the date and tell a friend!

RSVP by tweeting you “I’ll be at #tastytweetup” and we’ll do our best to have a name tag waiting for you.

Featured North Carolina beers
Foothills bourbon aged Peoples Porter
Big Boss bourbon aged Bad Penny
Olde Hickory Southern Cross Pilsner

Google Page for Tasty

Untappd Page for Tasty Beverage

View Larger Map

© 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

Fall Beers in NC

While there is not a lot of variation in the typical Märzen, Märzenbier or Oktoberfest style it’s still a popular beer with brewers in the fall. Here are a few of those examples you can find in a beer store’s shelf near you. Also, check your local brewpub for even more options!

WEEPING RADISH

HIGHLAND

FRENCH BROAD

DUCK RABBIT

LUMINA

FOOTHILLS

OLDE HICKORY

There are only a a few Pumpkin Ales brewed here in North Carolina. Here are a couple bottled examples and please note that the Cottonwood beer is currently in production in PA.

BIG BOSS

COTTONWOOD

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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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FOOTHILLS goes FOOTBALL

FOOTHILLS to begin offering beer at Panther’s Games this season.

READ IT AT THE SOURCE HERE

CHARLOTTE – Foothills Brewing will start selling some of its beers at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte for the Carolina Panthers games, beginning with Fan Fest this weekend.

“We’re going to have four of our beers at three different stations,” said Jamie Bartholomaus, the president, co-owner and brewmaster of Foothills Brewing in Winston-Salem.

Bartholomaus expects the sports venue to bring in good sales and increase awareness of Foothills’ brands.

The company has been selling its beers at the RBC Center in Raleigh for three years and at the Durham Bulls stadium in Durham for four years.

In January, Foothills Brewing announced the acquisition of Carolina Beer & Beverage and a renovation project for its second production site in Winston-Salem.

Bartholomaus said Monday that he hopes to be making beer at Foothills’ second production location at 3800 Kimwell Drive in Stratford Industrial Park within the next few months.

© 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

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.

© 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

Floyd Fandango

Hop_zilla and I spent last Saturday at the Floyd Fandango, a wine, beer and music festival just off the Blue Ridge Parkway in southern Virginia just above the North Carolina border. The low key camp out event featured an all VA winery line up and a small but tasty craft beer booth filled with six VA breweries (Big Daddy’s, Blue Mountain, Bull & Bones, Devil’s Backbone, River Company and Starr Hill). Highland and Foothills represented NC plus Terrapin, Stillwater, Dogfish Head, Breckenridge, Longtrail, Otter Creek (among others) made the trip.

Favorite beers for me included Star Hill‘s Double IPA, Blue Mountain‘s Alt, River Company‘s Peachicot Blonde Ale & Devil Backbone‘s whose 8 Point IPA took the “best of the festival” medal by the judges.

While the promoters billed this as a wine and beer fest the bands featured were top notch: JJ Grey, Acoustic Syndicate, Anders Osbourne, Danger Muffin, These United States all put on entertaining sets especially Acoustic Syndicate who closed out with the Who’s Baba O’Reilly!

A quick trip through the town of Floyd I stumbled upon a gift shop with in impressive beer section in the back. I took home some 21st Amendment, Firestone Walker, Yard’s, Geary’s and others.

FACEBOOK GALLERY

© 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

Gambrinus Cup Winners

Two N.C. home brewers won top honors last week at the 21st annual US Open Homebrew Competition, an amateur craft beer brewing competition held at Olde Mecklenburg Brewery in Charlotte.

Tom Nolan of Louisville, N.C., won Best of Show for his Wood Aged Beer, and Todd Fisher of Greensboro won the Gambrinus Cup for his entry in the Dry & Sweet Stout category. As Gambrinus Cup winner, Fisher will have his recipe brewed commercially by Foothills Brewing Company of Winston-Salem and offered to the public at 2011 Carolina Renaissance Festival this fall.

The competition featured more than 400 entries from across the United States, including entries from California, Minnesota and Utah

Original Charlotte Observer Source

© 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