Craft Beer Collective

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

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.

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.

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!

#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

Hub City Review: French Broad Altbier

The Hub City Review guys are at it again and this time they got a hold of the Altbier from French Broad Brewery:

http://hubcitybrewreview.com/Hub_City_Brew_Review/Home.html

Getting back to our roots as a regional beer-reviewing duo, this week the HCBR takes on an offering from French Broad Brewery out of Asheville, NC. We picked this one up on a recent field trip up to Beer City, USA. Specifically we found this beer at Brusin’ Ales, a craft beer store that should be on any beer geek’s bucket list.

Great American Craft Beer

Great American Craft Beer Book by Andy Crouch

Andy Crouch has authored his new book, Great American Craft Beer, with a focus on the current craft beer movement – no imports, no macros, no BS. He did a great job of uncovering and exposing a lot of beloved regional beers including a handful of North Carolina breweries! I’ll get to those in a moment…

Great American Craft Beer is less of a book of reviews and more of a list of great category defining beers. For example, in the Belgian Witbier category you’ll find some of the most talked about samplings of the style being produced my the nation’s best breweries: Jolly Pumpkin‘s Calabaza Blanca, Allagash White, Bruery‘s Orchard White and so on. This format helps create a fairly comprehensive assessment of breweries, the beers they produce and the styles they are creating RIGHT NOW!

The book is rounded out with several essays on the brewing process, historical perspective, 25 Best beer bars, glossary of beer terms, and extensive sections of serving beer properly and pairing beer with food. In a way the book covers a lot of ground but seems to be careful to get right to the point of each subject.

The rise of the North Carolina beer scene is recognized here with the inclusion of ten beers by seven breweries. Each entry helps round out the style category they were featured in.

Big Boss Angry Angel
Cottonwood Pumpkin Ale
Duck Rabbit Wee Heavy Scotch Ale & Milk Stout
Foothills Torch Pilsner & Sexual Chocolate
French Broad Rye Hopper & Dunkle Witte
Highland Tasgall Ale
Pisgah Solstice

So, yes, apparently Cottonwood is being farmed out to a Pennsylvania brewery for production now. I’ll get to that in a future post!

Books like this can tend to cause a bit of debate when a readers favorite beer in not represented. I would recommend you use this book to explore what’s out there – available in cities across the country. Make a travel planner with this book or update your “wanted to trade” list!! It’s a better read than sifting through the many beer review websites out there!

Detail on Andy’s Website

Amazon.com

NC Hop Farm Tour

From Erin Bonito, the County Extension Secretary for North Carolina State University (details below):

“The Second Annual Hops Farms Tour is Saturday, July 31st, 2010 beginning at 8:00am at Winding River Hops Farm. The tour features two local growers in their second year of production and one premier local brewer.”

Hops Tour 2010

French Broad Rye Hopper reviewed by Hub City

Hub City Brew Review: French Broad Rye Hopper Ale

One of my favorite NC Beers reviewed by the SC review guys!

“A review of French Broad Brewing Company’s Rye Hopper Ale by a couple of beer geeks from Spartanburg, South Carolina”

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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NC Beer Reviews

Here are some recent North Carolina beer reviews found on the net:

Hub City Brew Review: French Broad Wee Heavy-er Scotch Ale
Originally posted on http://www.spartanburgspark.com/. These guys post a new video every week:

Big Boss Angry Angel

faintest layer of white head on top. Bready malts peppered with earthy hops fill the nose, as barely-there hints of cherry lurk in the background. Soft on the tongue from front to back, this beer displays an abundance of sweet malts, which overshadow the faint earthy hops and tip the scale toward a heavier mouthfeel.

As found inDraft Magazine in the March/April issue

Mother Earth Endless River

You get a strong sense of earthy hops complimented wonderfully by the carbonation. This is a beer that relies heavily on the crispness that comes from the carbonation and wouldn’t taste the same if it were slightly flat or had been sitting on the table for a while. On the back end came those grainy, slightly sweet, malts that provided the perfect balance to the beer

As found on Independent Mail from Anderson, SC

Angry Angel

Great American Craft Beer

Great American Craft Beer Book by Andy Crouch

Andy Crouch has authored his new book, Great American Craft Beer, with a focus on the current craft beer movement – no imports, no macros, no BS. He did a great job of uncovering and exposing a lot of beloved regional beers including a handful of North Carolina breweries! I’ll get to those in a moment…

Great American Craft Beer is less of a book of reviews and more of a list of great category defining beers. For example, in the Belgian Witbier category you’ll find some of the most talked about samplings of the style being produced my the nation’s best breweries: Jolly Pumpkin‘s Calabaza Blanca, Allagash White, Bruery‘s Orchard White and so on. This format helps create a fairly comprehensive assessment of breweries, the beers they produce and the styles they are creating RIGHT NOW!

The book is rounded out with several essays on the brewing process, historical perspective, 25 Best beer bars, glossary of beer terms, and extensive sections of serving beer properly and pairing beer with food. In a way the book covers a lot of ground but seems to be careful to get right to the point of each subject.

The rise of the North Carolina beer scene is recognized here with the inclusion of ten beers by seven breweries. Each entry helps round out the style category they were featured in.

Big Boss Angry Angel
Cottonwood Pumpkin Ale
Duck Rabbit Wee Heavy Scotch Ale & Milk Stout
Foothills Torch Pilsner & Sexual Chocolate
French Broad Rye Hopper & Dunkle Witte
Highland Tasgall Ale
Pisgah Solstice

So, yes, apparently Cottonwood is being farmed out to a Pennsylvania brewery for production now. I’ll get to that in a future post!

Books like this can tend to cause a bit of debate when a readers favorite beer in not represented. I would recommend you use this book to explore what’s out there – available in cities across the country. Make a travel planner with this book or update your “wanted to trade” list!! It’s a better read than sifting through the many beer review websites out there!

Detail on Andy’s Website

Amazon.com