Craft Beer Collective

Beer Gifts – Home Brew Start Up Guide!

The beer gift guide continues with this post from Chris Creech. Chris is avid homebrewer who runs the ever informative nchomebrewing.com.

Big thanks to Chris for this post!

There are a lot of options when it comes to entry-level homebrew setups, and the good news is that no matter what you choose, you can be brewing great beer for $100 or less. Here are some of the equipment kits that I suggest for those wanting to get started in brewing their own suds:

1) This deluxe starter kit from MoreBeer.com really has everything you need. It is on the higher end of the price range, but the better bottle carboy is worth it. The kit comes with a book to guide you, all of your cleaning tools, hoses, bottling bucket, capper, airlock, hydrometer, stoppers and a bag of caps. The only additional thing you’ll need is a large pot or kettle to brew in, and some empty bottles to put your beer in when you’re done.

Or, if you want to have the most badass starter kit around, check out northernbrewer.com and their Deluxe starter kit which adds an auto-siphon, secondary fermentor, brewing DVD, extra cleaners, and a carboy drying rack.

*NOTE: You can also find similar kits at local homebrew shops if you would rather speak to a real person when you purchase. In the RDU area, try American Brewmaster, Bull City Homebrew, or Fifth Season.

For the homebrewer who wants to start small and doesn’t want to brew full 5-gallon batches, you can buy a smaller, less expensive kit from Mr. Beer. These kits brew small batches and use pre-hopped extract so you don’t have to boil everything for a full hour like you do with the other kits. I would personally recommend the 5-gallon kits because you’ll be surprised how quickly it will be consumed, and you won’t like waiting up to a month for a batch if you’re only getting 1 or 2 gallons out of it.

But you’re not me, and this may be the perfect situation, so check out the Mr Beer Premium Kit that has everything you need to get started on the small scale.

If you want to let your soon-to-be homebrewer pick out his own brewing kit, there are also a few other items that come in handy when first starting to brew. Below is a list of items that I use on a regular basis and make my brew day much more enjoyable:

1) Ingredients! Every brewer needs ingredients to make beer (unless they’re also a magician)! To begin with, try buying a kit of your favorite style. These kits are great because they pair the perfect combination of malt, hops and other adjuncts together for you to ensure you have what you need to make the perfect beer (but it’s up to you to actually make that perfect brew). I recommend shopping at your local homebrew shop for these to insure freshness, but you can find a great variety of kits online at northernbrewer.com.

1) Immersion wort chiller. Stop waiting on your beer to cool, get it down to the right temperature quickly with a quality immersion chiller. I recommend this 50-foot one from Amazon, but you can also save some money and get a 25′ version, but it won’t cool as quickly. Also, for the do-it-yourselfer out there, you can always build one.

2) Bottles! Don’t have time to drink 50 bottles of beer before you’re ready to fill them up again? Every homebrewer needs a healthy stash of bottles. Check your local homebrew shop or online for 12oz brown bottles, or better yet, larger swing-top bottles:
http://www.northernbrewer.com/shop/beer-bottles-12-oz.html
http://www.northernbrewer.com/shop/ez-cap-bottles-brown-16-oz-with-flip-tops.html

3) Get your yeast off to an explosive start with a yeast starter kit. This will help ensure a strong and healthy fermentation every time.

http://www.northernbrewer.com/shop/1000-ml-yeast-starter-kit.html

4) Make sure you are hitting the correct temperatures with an accurate digital thermometer. ProAccurate Digital Thermometer is quick and works great. Just be careful not to drop it into your hot beer – the digital readout is NOT water-proof!

For lots of other great ideas for home brewers of any level, MoreBeer! has put together a great holiday gift guide broken down into helpful price ranges, so be sure to check it out.

Homebrewing Supplies on Amazon

© 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

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

Home Brew Festival in Carrboro

Home Brew Festival supporting local charities on May 7th at The Nightlight in Carrboro. From their website: Coming to the Home Brew Festival is a chance to support a great cause, learn about home brewed beer, and taste some delicious local brews. While home brew competitions take place across the county throughout the year, there are relatively few home brew festivals, events where the general public can taste home brew, in existence. We are excited to provide the people of the Triangle with the opportunity to experience what the area’s home brewers are capable of producing.

homebrewfestival.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

Congrats to Homebrewers!

Congratulations to recent home brew competition winners!!

In Raleigh the CARBOY home brew club gave out awards in 23 categories in the Shamrock Open on March 19th. Read all about it here and go to the bottom of the page for the winners list.

LONERIDER brewing of Raleigh held their annual Brew It Forward event on March 12th at Ruckus Pizza in Cary. You can read the results 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

Order Your Hops Now!

Once a year hop rhizomes are offered for your back yard growing pleasure. You can order yours in a variety of styles from American Brewmaster of Raleigh. Order now because planting season in North Carolina is soon!

Centennial
Cascade
Fuggle
Glacier
Golding
Hallertauer
Horizon
Mount Hood
Nugget
Sterling
Tettnang
Willamette

http://www.americanbrewmaster.com/index.php?cPath=32

© 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

Homebrewed again

Found this on MyNC.com:

Due to popular demand, Homebrewed is back and even bigger than before. The Raleigh City Museum, Busy Bee Cafe, and New Raleigh present Homebrewed Raleigh, a small beer fest featuring 15 top-notch home brewers on Saturday, October 23, with one window from 1:00p.m.-4:00p.m., and one window from 5:00p.m.-8:00p.m. Come have a great time, drink awesome beer, and raise funds for the Raleigh City Museum in the process. There will be food, music, and, of course, painstakingly crafted, delicious beer.

Tickets for each window are $25 for members of the Raleigh City Museum, $30 for non-members, and go on sale Monday, September 27, 2010. You can purchase tickets in person at either the Raleigh City Museum or the Busy Bee Cafe, or by calling the museum at (919) 832-3775. This event has a limited capacity, so be sure and pick up tickets early. The first Homebrewed Raleigh sold out early, do not miss an opportunity for great beer and a great time, this event will sell out!

© 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

brewSPARK challenge

Organizers of Spark Con have announced a homebrew challenge on Saturday, September 18, on Fayetteville Street in Raleigh.

homebrewer challenge looks to showcase the growing talent of homebrewers and beer culture in the Triangle. Brewers from the region are asked to brew and bottle/keg your most creative and drinkable beer to be judged by a panel of judges, including BJCP-qualified judges as well as judges from local beer, restaurant, and SPARKcon communities. A portion of the final score may be based on cumulative ratings by SPARKcon attendees.

BASIC DETAILS: brewSPARK is a celebration of beer culture and its people in the Triangle. The challenge is a “most drinkable beer” competition, and as such, entries will not be judged according to BJCP guidelines. However, entries will be evaluated during one round, by a panel of BJCP-trained beer judges and industry professionals, based on drinkability and the absence of brewing, fermentation, and handling flaws. BJCP score sheets will be returned to entrants after the competition.

To Sign Up For the Contest click here

More info on SparkCon

© 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

Bottle Tree Beer hits the shelves

Tyon, North Carolina based company taps South Carolina based Thomas Creek to brew and bottle their debut batch of Bottle Tree beer, bringing an award winning homebrewer, Fred Block, to the commercial stage.

“Block’s Bottle Tree Beer Co. is based in Tryon, N.C., while the blond ale is produced, packaged and stored at Thomas Creek Brewery in Greeenville under a contract agreement.

Block said Thomas Creek brewed a double batch of his beer — about 1,300 cases — with half distributed in and around New Orleans, and the other half staying in South Carolina.

Block has signed on with national mega-distributor Southern Wine & Spririts, which has five branches throughout South Carolina and covers every county in the state, to carry his Bottle Tree beer.”

Full Article

© 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

Brew Off at Wedge

First ever Home Brew competition in Asheville to be held later this month. Here is the scoop from their webpage:

Home Brew Off Event
2:00 – 4:00 pm Saturday, June 19th
Outside of the Wedge Brewery
in the River Arts District, Asheville

Beer judges will include: “The ACT’s Beer Guy” Tony Kiss, Asheville City Councilman Cecil Bothwell, Mark Lyons of Asheville Brews Cruise, and more.

-Sample over a dozen of Asheville’s finest home brew beers!
-Get a free commemorative tasting glass with the JE Brew Off logo!

Brew Off Home page

© 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

Home Brew competition

Press Release: Charlotte, NC — Homebrewers from throughout the Carolinas and across the US have an opportunity to showcase their original beers at the 20th annual US Open Homebrew Competition, on May 15th, 2010. The competition will be judged at Olde Mecklenburg Brewery in Charlotte.

The US Open competition will be open to 28 nationally recognized beer, mead and cider categories. Prizes consist of ribbons for each category, with the winners of each flight then narrowed to three Best of Show awards. Also to be awarded is the highly coveted Gambrinus Cup; the winning recipe of this prestigious competition will be brewed on a commercial scale by Carolina Beer & Beverage and offered to the public as a premium beer at the 2010 Carolina Renaissance Festival, Saturdays & Sundays, October 9th – November 21st. This year’s Gambrinus Cup will be chosen from the top entries in the following beer styles: Extra Special/Best Bitter (8C) and English IPA (14A).

Arguably a more diversely flavored beverage than wine, beer is a complex collection of a wide range of ingredients. Amateur brewers must carefully calculate the ratio of various malts, hops and yeast along with precision timing for boiling, cooling, fermenting, and storage. Slight variation and any one of the many ingredients and steps in the brewing process can seriously change the beer’s flavor and affect the category in which the beer may be entered. Judges in the US Open have undergone rigorous Beer Judge Certification Program (BJCP) training, enabling them to successfully identify top-quality beer by smell, appearance and flavor.

The US Open Homebrew Competition will be hosted by the Carolina BrewMasters, a non-profit club whose members are dedicated to the time-honored craft of beer brewing, and is sponsored by Carolina Beer & Beverage and The Carolina Renaissance Festival. Amateur homebrewers who are interested in entering the competition can learn more online at www.carolinabrewmasters.com.

More information about Carolina Beer & Beverage can be found online at www.carolinablonde.com. More information about the Carolina Renaissance Festival can be found online at www.royalfaires.com/carolina.

© 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