Craft Beer Collective

Beer Gifts – Beer Soap

I picked this up while at the Asheville Brewgrass festival in September of 2011. This pint glass shaped lump of soap might be the perfect thing after a long day at the beer festival. Made with different beers (mostly beers from Abita) this Texas based soap maker adds a perfume scent to the product. For my money they could leave the perfume out and let the hops be the star like the Dogfish IPA soaps!

Lager Lathers

Need some other soapy options? Try these websites:

Fullsteam Soap
thebeersoapcompany.com
brooklynbrewery.com
www.dogfish.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

AUGUST NC BEER NEWS

Here are some of the better stories to make their way around the North Carolina beer world.

Asheville Scene in WSJ
Asheville, a Blue Ridge Mountain town of 75,000, has 10 breweries, with two on the way. That can’t compare with the 40 in Portland, Ore., but it stacks up to other beer havens like Milwaukee and Boulder, Colo., which both have fewer than a dozen. “Asheville is definitely on the map and well recognized in the craft-brewing industry,” says Paul Gatza, director of the Brewers Association in Boulder.

Full story on: online.wsj.com

Nantahala Brewing Company
Nantahala brewer Chris Collier explains his story and why North Carolina is a great place for beer in the south:

“Basically, the reason I went to North Carolina is threefold: You can self-distribute, we can have a taproom and sell off-premise, and as you grow your business, you can write your contract anyway you want,” Collier said.

Collier estimates North Carolina has more breweries and brewpubs than the rest of its Southern neighbors combined.

“That is not coincidence,” he said.

Brewers pay expensive excise taxes — about $25 per keg — on their beer, but it is a price that allows them to operate their businesses with relative freedom

READ THE WHOLE STORY HERE

CONGRATS TO Jason McCammon
The Hendersonville, N.C., resident, who will turn 30 in a couple of weeks, now has something else to celebrate besides the milestone birthday.

His award-winning home-brew — a German-style dark lager called Monkey’s Uncle Munich Dunkel — has been released commercially by Olde Hickory Brewery and is available at a few Asheville-area bars and restaurants.

In late April, McCammon’s beer won a Best of Show gold medal at the Olde Hickory Pro-Am home-brew competition, beating out 130 other entries from the Southeast.

COMPLETE STORY

FOOTHILLS EXPANSION
Video from WXII shows Foothills staffers at brewpub and new production facility in Winston Salem.

http://www.wxii12.com/r-video/28781866/detail.html

Brewmaster Jamie Bartholomaus said the brewery has purchased a building off Stratford Road to start bottling its beer. The expansion allows production to move from a 7,000-square-foot space to a 48,000 square-foot-space. The current facility can produce two 22 ounce bottles each minute. The new facility, which will be operational within the next six weeks, will boost production to about 100 bottles per minutes, owners said.

MOTHER EARTH TOUR
Micro Beer Reviews posted this video of the Mother Earth Brewery:

BELT LINE BREW TOURS
Crossdrinker.com posted this video of Beltline Brew tour outside the beltline tour of Durham, featuring Bull City Burger, Fullsteam & Triangle brewing.

TASTY BEVERAGE OPENS
Sean Pratt of Cary, graduated from Cary High School in 2002 and then went to NCSU, graduating in 2007. While studying in Sweden he fell in love with craft and specialty beers. He partnered up with Johnny Belflower (Rocky Mount Senior High School and Full Sail University in Winter Park, Florida).

After years of planning they have opened a new shop called Tasty Beverage Company at 327 W. Davie St. Suite 106, in Raleigh in the historic Warehouse District of Downtown Raleigh.
carycitizen.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

July Beer News

KEEP THE GLASS AT DRAFT
This past Tuesday Draft in Raleigh (formerly High Five) debuted it’s keep the glass / rare beer night with a sweet New Belgium tulip glass and six beers on draft. Here are some upcoming Tuesday specials:

Aug. 2: Highland Brewing – Barrel Aged Smoked Cherry Chocolate Stout
Aug. 9: Great Divide Brewing – Belgium Style Yeti
Aug. 18: Mash House Brewery – Belgian Style Tripel
Aug. 23: Fullsteam Summer Basil
Aug. 30: Lonerider Sundance Kid Pilsner

http://draftraleigh.com/specials/

WEEPING RADISH
Our state’s oldest craft brewery, brewpub AND farm brewery is featured profile in this Hamptonroads.com article. On a side note, Weeping Radish made a small appearance in the new issue of NEW BREWER magazine where they mentioned their 25th anniversary IPA made with their own estate grown hops.

MYSTERY BREWING
The Heraldsun.com spoke with Erik Lars Myers about his book, his brewery, saison ales and how his Mystery Brewing Company will give Hillsborough something the community can be proud of:

“You can’t have enough breweries, local breweries,” said John Scott, a part-time bartender at Antonia’s restaurant on Churton Street. “Micro-breweries are the future. They help the local economy.”

ROANOKE RAILHOUSE IN NC
Richmondbizsense.com has a short but sweet article about VA based Roanoke Railhouse who debuted locally at the Raleigh World Beer Festival:

“The brewery started production in January 2009. It was founded by Steve Davidson, a real estate agent who was helping the owner of a former Dr. Pepper bottling plant find a tenant. Davidson himself decided to take the building over and start a brewery for himself.

Two years later, their beer is carried in more than 100 bars and restaurants in Southwest Virginia as well as the Raleigh, N.C. area.”

BREW THRU
The drive in beer store known as BREW THRU sure does get a lot of press. This latest article in Encorepub.com magazine actually mentions North Carolina brands including Lonerider.

Presently, the Carolina Beach store carries 50 different craft beers and they hope to keep expanding in that department. “Just in the last couple years, we have seen customers come through who previously only drank domestics, gradually move into the more complex flavors of craft beers. It is really exciting watching the change and seeing our customers’ knowledge increase. At the store, the staff and managers continuously educate themselves, so that we can make suggestions and recommendations to customers who want to explore the world of craft beers.”

While the staff pays accolades to breweries like Heavy Seas (Baltimore, MD) and SweetWater (Atlanta, GA), they are not shy about praising many of North Carolina’s fine beers. Mother Earth Brewery out of Kinston, NC, is a top choice for Brew Thru employees. The store also carries North Carolina breweries such as Highland, Duck-Rabbit, LoneRider, Natty Greene and more. More about LoneRider when you visit the article.

BREW BERN
The Brew Bern Beer festival took place yesterday in the New Bern Convention Center. “Let’s start drinking, shall we,” said Dustin Canestorp, as the doors opened. He is a Marine and founder and general of Beer Army, which organized the event.

In a welcome to patrons in the event brochure, “A beer revolution has started in Eastern North Carolina,” said Canestorp, which he hopes will rival the “Beer City USA” title now held for the third year by Asheville.

“There are 44 different microbrews,” said Sandy Weiss, a volunteer whose husband Dick Weiss runs the Home Brew Haus on U.S. 70 East. “Anyone paying the entry fee gets a glass” marked at two ounces for the sample taste. COMPLETE ARTICLE HERE

© 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

Fullsteam Wanderlust

http://www.carolinatravelplanner.com/ has the details for Fullsteam’s Cherry beer that debuted today.

In celebration of National Rainier Cherry Day on July 11, Northwest Cherries has commissioned one iconic restaurant in each state to create a unique menu item featuring the well-known Rainier cherry. Northwest Cherries’ choice for North Carolina was Durham’s Fullsteam Brewery, putting the brewery in the elite company of notable culinary giants such as Chez Panisse in California, Joe’s Stone Crab in Miami and Bacchanalia in Atlanta. And what better way to showcase the cherry for a brewery than with a cherry beer.

© 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

Tour of Durham Breweries

Beltline Brew Tours will be providing brewery tours of Fullsteam, Triangle, and Bull City Burger and Brewery one Saturday a month!

“Our Kegs after Eggs tour will start at Bull City Burger and Brewery at 11:45am on either the second or third Saturday on each month. From there, we will load the bus and head over to Triangle Brewing Company for an hour of tours and beer sampling. After Triangle, we will get back on the bus and travel just down the road to Fullsteam Brewery. We will visit with them, tour the facility and taste some samples for about an hour and then its back to Bull City. When we get back to Bull City Burger and Brewery, we will tour their brewery and try their beers. As this will be our final stop, all brewery tour guests are encouraged to hang around after the tour and try some of the local fare! We hope to see you on a tour soon!”

© 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

#ACBW American Craft Beer Week

American Craft Beer Week begins today and for those of us living in North Carolina it’s never been easier to celebrate. The number one thing you should do this week: visit your local brewery!

After that, check the ACBW schedule of events for beer dinners, cask tappings and pint nights near you. And YES! You can search by state with many NC breweries participating: LoneRider, Olde Hickory, Big Boss, Fullsteam, Rock Bottom, Carolina and Triangle.

Social Beer App Untappd has a badge awaiting you: Untappd

And, don’t forget to use #ACBW and #NCBEER in your twitter conversations.

© 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

World Beer Festival Preview

The sixth annual World Beer Fest will take place this Saturday at Moore Square in Raleigh (Noon – 4 and 6- 10). And with it we have a lot of familiar brands represented once again. Many North Carolina breweries will be represented with first time appearances by Fullsteam, Roth, Greenman, Bottle Tree Brewing and a few others from our neighboring states Westbrook (South Carolina) and Roanoke Railhouse Brewery (Virginia).

I still find it odd that some brands are represented at beer fests. Land Shark, Pabst, Heineken and Trader Joe’s private label brands. I just can’t see someone getting their ticket for an event like this and saying to themselves “dude, Landshark! I can’t wait!” And Trader Joe’s brands, well they don’t even make their own beers.

After supporting the North Carolina peeps here what’s on my hit list for the day:

Batemans – Ruby Porter
Blue Point – Rasta FaRye
Samuel Adams – Latitude 48
Bockor Brewery – Bellegems Bruin
BottleTree Beer Co – Belgian Blonde
Deschutes Brewery – Black Butte Porter
Dubuisson Brewery – Scaldis
Koningshoeven Brouwerij – La Trappe Quadruppel
Tommyknocker Brewery – Hop Strike! Black Rye IPA
Timmerman’s Brewery – Bourgogne Des Flanders

Get the full run down and make your own list at allaboutbeer.com (PDF)

© 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

Fullsteam Brewing video

In October 2010 the award winning UNC student run program known as Carolina Week created a series of local brewery profiles. Producers Emily Kennard and Kelly Lynch have graciously allowed me the opportunity to host their beery segments for you here at Craft Beer Collective!

I will post the three segments in the order they appeared starting with Fullsteam above plus Big Boss and Triangle to follow over the next two days.

© 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

Papazian in Asheville

President of the Brewers Association and Founder of the American Homebrewers Association Charlie Papazian will be in Asheville later this month as the keynote speaker for an educational event presented by The North Carolina Brewers Guild and Asheville Brewers Alliance.

A North Carolina cask ale event will take place the night before at Barley’s featuring confirmed casks from Fullsteam, Foothills, Big Boss and Duck Rabbit with more TBA. Coincidence? I think not!

Full details:

The North Carolina Brewers Guild, in partnership with the Asheville Brewers Alliance, are pleased to welcome special guest Charlie Papazian, President of the Brewers Association and Founder of the American Homebrewers Association, as keynote speaker for our February educational event.

Charlie’s talk will focus on general beer styles and personal experiences with yeast. He will also present updates on governmental affairs and legislative developments and leave plenty of time for Q&A. Come meet and share a pint with a pioneer of the homebrewing movement.

We are also excited to announce two other speakers preceding Charlie’s presentation: Kevin Sudderth of Hach, who will be talking to us about oxygen pick-up/testing and HopUnion, LLC, who will offer us an update on the hop market and an outlook on hops.

Admission includes a buffet-style barbecue dinner and two drink tickets for your choice of Highland pints.

When: Wednesday, February 23 – doors open at 3:15 pm.

4:00 pm – Hach – Kevin Sudderth
4:30 pm – HopUnion, LLC – TBA
6:00 pm – Keynote – Charlie Papazian

Where: Highland Brewing Company, 12 Old Charlotte Highway, Suite H, Asheville, NC 28803
Pricing: FREE to Asheville Brewers Alliance and/or North Carolina Brewers Guild members;

$25 for non-members. Not yet a member of the North Carolina Brewers Guild? Now’s a great time to join to get in for free!

http://charlieinasheville.eventbrite.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

January #NCBEER News Round Up

Foothills to release 2011 Sexual Chocolate this weekend
Foothills Brewing will release Sexual Chocolate Imperial Stout on Saturday. It is easily the biggest beer release event in the Southeast U.S. Here are the details for both the Saturday sale and pre-sale event on Friday night:

Friday PreSex
-Tasting to start @ 7pm in the brewery/warehouse
-Tasting will last until 12:00 Midnight
-Please park in the GMAC /Church lots behind Foothills on Holly Ave
-Please limit coolers to small size due to space
-Sampler glasses, rinse water, light hors d’oeurves, and ice provided by Foothills
-Wristbands to control admittance to tasting will be $5.00 which will be split between BA and NC Brewer’s Guild
-1 raffle ticket with wristband, additional tickets available for $5.00 per…
-Raffle will begin at 10pm and will include beer and merchandise donated by breweries and package stores
-Due to space concerns, if you plan to eat with a group, please see hostess for dining room seating. If you have a large group, a reservation may be the best plan.
-If you decide to journey to Harper’s Adult Entertainment, you may brownbag growlers until 5am…

Saturday Bottle Sale
-1000 bottles on sale at 11:00am, limit 4, $15
-Cash/Credit Cards only…no checks
-Lineup may begin after 4:00 am (we need some time after Friday night’s crowd)
-Please keep drinking/sampling/trading discreet and please remove all trash.
-Coffee and biscuits available at 8:00am
-If severe weather is expected, changes to plan will be announced Friday at the tasting
-Please be courteous to your fellow beer lover in line…no cutting, pushing, saving spots in line for late arrivals, etc. In other words, act like adults.
-If you have a large group for lunch, please make a reservation by calling 336.777.3348
-No whining, sniveling, or drama….please!
-Afro wigs/70’s attire encouraged!

From beernews.org

By The way … I attended this last year with my guest @hop_zilla… in 70s attire … we were the only ones who did!

Feb 22 #NCBeer Cask Party At Barleys
On Feb. 22, Barley’s is featuring firkins of cask beer from Fullsteam, Foothills, Big Boss and Duck Rabbit, four of North Carolina’s great breweries.

More at citizen-times.com

Highland to open Tap Room w/ Allman Brother Oteil Burbridge this Saturday
Also from Tony Kiss and citizen-times.com

Highland Brewing has a big bash in the works Saturday, with the grand opening of its new tasting room, in what’s sure to be this week’s major brew event. Tickets were reported sold out Wednesday morning.

Don’t come without that ticket — with a strict fire code limit of 499 people, you can’t get in without that admission.

Oteil Burbridge and the Lee Boys play the 8 p.m. show, and it’s certain to pull a huge crowd to the brewery at 12 Old Charlotte Highway. If the music isn’t enough, Highland will tap its new limited-edition coffee-infused Dynamite Porter, available only on draft at the tasting room. This dark, robust beer is collaboration between Highland‘s brewmaster John Lyda and coffee roaster Andy Gibbon of Black Mountain’s Dynamite Roasting Co, who previously worked at the brewery. Dynamite’s WNCW Mountain Morning Blend coffee was added to the beer to create some big chewy notes.

Aviator Brewing to Open Smokehouse
Doble plans to open Aviator Smokehouse barbecue restaurant next month in downtown Fuquay-Varina, across from the brewer’s busy tap house. A bottling operation will soon extend the brand as far as San Francisco. And he recently won town permission to offer tastings during tours at his brewery.

Doble estimates he will invest $250,000 in his brewery in the next few months.

“A local brewery like his can really become an identity for a town,” said James Sauls, Fuquay-Varina’s economic development director.

From Andrew Kenney at newsobserver.com

Front Street Brewery Visit
Even though Front Street Brewery had a few misses, there were more than enough hits that it did not come up short. It’s a great place to hang out, eat dinner, watch football, whatever you fancy. It has a solid lineup of beers, good food, a cool atmosphere, and waitresses in short jumpsuit skirts, which make it a place where I could become a regular, if I didn’t live 5 1/2 hours away.

From the blog: untamedbeer.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