Craft Beer Collective

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

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

Cask Party @ Casbah

The following was just posted on http://trianglebrewingcompany.blogspot.com/.

Unlimited samples of cask conditioned ales from local breweries such as Triangle Brewing Company, Roth Brewery, Natty Greene’s, Top of the Hill and Carolina Brewery.

Live music from Aminal and Pink Flag

Food truck rodeo.

Commemorative glass included.

Session: 6-10pm
Tickets: $30 in advance / $35 day of event
Advanced tickets can be purchased here.*

Sponsored by Triangle Brewing Co. and All About Beer Magazine to benefit Durham Central Park

*Casbah Durham is a private club and according to NC State Law, memberships are required. Lifetime memberships are $5.
Hard tickets are available to purchase at Triangle Brewing Co. and below is the link for online thru Etix.

https://www.etix.com/

1007 West Main Street
Durham NC 27701

© 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

Triangle video profile

In October 2010 the award winning UNC student run news 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 segments for you here at Craft Beer Collective!

© 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

Triangle defends the #craftcan

TRIANGLE IN A CAN
Triangle was in the News and Observer yesterday. They talked about the new canning line and the superiority of cans over glass containers:

“There’s a huge misperception that bottles are better than cans,” said Miller, 38, who, along with fellow home brewer Rick Tufts, 36, three years ago decided to turn his home brewing hobby into a business. “I would argue that cans are more effective.”

Craft beers are a relatively small but vibrant segment of the beer industry. The $7 billion in craft beer sales rung up last year accounted for 6.9 percent of total beer sales in 2009, according to association data. During the first half of this year, sales of craft beers rose 9 percent by volume even as overall beer volume declined 2.7 percent.

Triangle Brewing’s expansion plans are being fueled by its impressive sales growth. The company, which has just three employees, sold 680 barrels last year, up from about 350 a year earlier, Miller said. The company projects sales will climb to 1,250 or 1,300 barrels this year – a projection that doesn’t account for cans, which are an unknown factor.

Recent story in the Durham Herald Sun

Comments on SlashFood.com

Another Belgian White in a can’s success story

© 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

SCIENCE OF BEER breweries revealed

Just got the scoop on the breweries who will be at the SCIENCE OF BEER event Durham Museum of Life and Science. Big Boss, Triangle, Foothills, Fullsteam, Natty Greenes are all confirmed for the event with more to be announced.

more info from the Museum website:
September 16, 2010 | 7–9 pm
Join us for an evening learning the Science behind Beer. Explore the Magic Wings Butterfly House* and outdoor garden while trying your hand at beer experiments and activities. Local breweries and even some home brew enthusiasts will be available to share their expertise.

Guests will also enjoy live music, beer tasting and light snacks. Find a beer you like? Glasses, bottles of beer and additional samples will be available for purchase during the night.

SCIENCE OF BEER
Members $12 per person / Non-members $15 per person
This event is for guests 21 years of age and older. IDs will be checked at the door. Pre-registration requested, please call 919-220-5429×313 to order tickets.

http://www.ncmls.org/visit/events/science-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

Triangle cans hit stores this week

The Durham Herald Sun reports that Triangle Brewing will begin shipping their cans this week to Whole Foods, Weaver Street Market and Sam’s Quik Shop in Durham at first.

Friday morning at Triangle Brewing Company, Rick Tufts, Andy Miller and Luke Studer — who are, respectively, the co-owners and sole employee of the company — were gearing up for a long weekend. A visitor to the company’s brewing facility on Pearl Street could see the remnants of a wood crate that had recently housed the brewery’s new canning machine.

Tufts, Miller, Studer and an assistant were using a forklift and pallet jacks to move the machine into their space. This weekend, they were planning to put the first samples of their locally produced craft brew into cans — at the rate of 70 cases an hour, Tufts said. The assembly line will be the first automated canning operation for a craft brewer in North Carolina, he said.

Herald Sun

© 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

The Next Beltline Brew Tour

We have scheduled August 28th as a tour date to visit Triangle Brewing Co., Fullsteam, and Natty Greene’s. This should be a great tour as Triangle has the states only canning line that will be delivered early this month. That means that our group could be the first group to see it at their brewery! On the same tour we will be visiting the triangle’s newest brewery, Fullsteam! They are just getting rolling and things seem to be going really well (see for yourself!…. http://www.foodandwine.com/articles/beers-and-bourbons). Natty Greene’s will be the beginning and ending location and there couldn’t be a better one. These guys have some awesome beer! They are a brewpub, so you will get to see what their brewery operations look like on a smaller scale. Get your tickets today at www.beltlinebrewtours.com. See you on the tour!

© 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

TRIANGLE in the can

TRIANGLE CANS
The guys at Triangle brewing have blogged a photo of their Golden Ale cans: Our cans have been printed!! On Thursday, Andy and I drove up to Reidsville, NC to the Ball Corp plant where they knocked out approximately 200,000 cans of our Belgian Golden and White Ale. The cans ship to Durham on Tuesday and our canning line should be here next week (hopefully). Folks should start seeing our cans in stores by mid August! For more pictures, please check out or Facebook page. Cheers.
http://trianglebrewingcompany.blogspot.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

Raleigh Wide Open Beer Tent

UPDATED WITH PRICING INFO, CORRECT BEER TENT TIMES AND NEW BREWERY LIST

There is a little known beer festival that takes place under the shadow of Raleigh Wide Open. It’s a beer tent set up off Fayetteville St, on Hargett during the two day RWO street fest.

In my opinion it’s very under the radar compared to everything else on the festival grounds. I’ll admit, I barely recall that it happened last year. But it did happen, each of the last four years.

They are changing the format this year to include wine: FLYING SAUCER BEER & WINE FESTIVAL they’re calling it.

ONE LONG SESSION: Saturday, July 31st running 1:30-10:30pm. $10 for (8) 3 oz pours in your tasting cup.

Breweries to be included this year will be:
Carolina Brewery (Chapel Hill, NC)
Carolina Brewing Co. (Holly Springs, NC) – Pale Ale IPA; Summer Wheat; Nut Brown Ale
Big Boss Brewing Co. (Raleigh, NC) – Blanco Diablo; Bad Penny Brown Ale; High Roller IPA
Boston Beer Co. (Boston, MA) – Boston Lager; Sam Summer; Pale Ale; Blackberry Witbier
Mad River Brewing Co. (Blue Lake, CA) – Steelhead Extra Pale Ale; Jamaica Red; Steelhead Double IPA
Abita Brewing Co. (Abita Springs, LA) – Purple Haze; Andy Gator Dopplebock; Jockamo IPA
The Duck-Rabbit Craft Brewery (Farmville, NC) – Milk Stout; Amber Ale; Brown Ale
Sweetwater Brewing Co. (Atlanta, GA) – 420 Extra Pale Ale; Blue; IPA
Gordon Biersch Brewing Co. (San Jose, CA) -Marzen; Sommerbrau; Czech Pilsner; Hefeweizen
Stoudt’s Brewing Co. (Adamstown, PA) – American Pale Ale; German-Style Pilsener
Smuttynose Brewing Co. (Portsmouth, NH) – IPA; Old Brown Dog
Natty Greene’s of Raleigh (Raleigh, NC)
Lagunitas Brewing Co. (Petaluma, CA) – IPA; Downtown Pale Ale
Foothills Brewing (Winston-Salem, NC) – Torch Pilsner; People’s Porter; Hurricane Hefe; Hoppyum IPA
Charleston Brewing Co. (Charleston, SC)
Triangle Brewing Co. (Durham, NC)
LoneRider Brewing Company (Raleigh, NC) – Shotgun Betty Hefeweizen; Peacemaker “West Coast Style American Pale Ale”;Sweet Josie “American Brown Style”
Blue Point Brewing Co. (Patchogue, NY) – Toasted Lager; Hoptical Illusion; Blueberry Ale; Rasta FaRye Ale
Roth Brewing Company (Raleigh, NC )
Blackthorn (Somerset, England) – Blackthorn Cider

http://www.raleighconvention.com/rwo5/

© 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