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Archive for category Big Boss

Oktoberfest and Beer Festivals that Cover the State

Sep 8

Posted by ncbeer in Beer of the month, Big Boss, Brewgrass, Carolina Beer & Bevearge, Carolina Brewery, Charlotte, Eastern NC, Events, Festivals, The Triangle, beer, festival, home brew | No Comments

It’s fall – and that means two things: Oktoberfest and Beer Festivals.

In the next few weeks look for Oktoberfest beer releases from The Carolina Brewery (already out!), Rock Bottom, and Liberty as well as the Cottonwood Pumpkin Ale release from Carolina Beer and Harvest Time from Big Boss. It’s a great month to enjoy good North Carolina Beer!

What’s more? In the next month, no matter where you are in North Carolina, you’ve got a beer festival nearby.

First up, on September 18th, is Brewgrass in Asheville. In their words: Each year in the beautiful mountains of Western North Carolina, we gather over 40 American breweries to showcase more than 120 different beers. We add a great lineup of national and regional bluegrass musicians that, in the past, has included such notables as Cadillac Sky, Carolina Chocolate Drops, Dry Branch Fire Squad, J.D. Crowe, The Osborne Brothers, Norman Blake, Tony Trischka, Jim Lauderdale, Valerie Smith, Tony Furtado, Yonder Mountain String Band, and Sons Of Ralph. We also feature a variety of area food vendors and plenty of water. Hope you got your tickets on the weekend that they went on sale, though, because that’s when they sold out.

Next, on September 25th, is the 12th Annual Charlotte Oktoberfest which promises

  • Live entertainment on the big stage at the North end of the stadium.
  • The chance to put your skills to the test on games like table tennis, foosball, corn hole and many others in the Creative Loafing Beerlympic Village at the South end of the stadium.
  • Food vendors serving some of the tastiest brats, hot dogs, pretzels, and more.

    • As well as a collectible 5-oz. Charlotte Oktoberfest Tasting Glass, and of samples from over 350 of the finest craft brewed beers in the Southeast and from around the world.

    Tickets are still available.

    Next up, on October 9th in Durham, is the All About Beer World Beer Festival: Durham which is being held, this year, at the Durham Bulls Athletic Park. The World Beer Festival is one of the best festivals in the Southeast – don’t miss it. The beer lineup should be posted soon, keep an eye out for it!

    Tickets are on sale through the Durham Bulls Box Office.

    Finally, the coup de grace, on October 16th at the Greenfield Lake Amphitheater in Wilmington, is the Lighthouse Beer Festival.

    The Lighthouse Beer Festival, in its ninth year, brings over 70 craft breweries from around the world to Wilmington, NC. This year, the festival will be held at Greenfield Lake Amphitheater to accommodate the growing enthusiasm from local (and national) beer lovers. Admission is $30/adv $40/day of which includes a collectible festival glass for tasting from the over 300 different beers available from 1pm-5pm on Saturday October 16th. Live performances from Acoustic Syndicate and local Wilmington bands will occupy the amphitheater’s stage during the festival. Proceeds from the event go to The Carousel Center; a 501c charity that aids abused and neglected youth. A free shuttle service is provided to help festival-goers get home safely.

    Get your tickets here.

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SCIENCE OF BEER breweries revealed

Aug 24

Posted by craftbeercollective in Beer News, Big Boss, Durham, Events, NC Beer News, foothills, fullsteam, natty greene's, triangle | Comments off

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.

Science Of Beer in Durham

Science Of Beer in Durham

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

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Great American Craft Beer

Aug 10

Posted by craftbeercollective in Beer News, Big Boss, Cottonwood, Duck-Rabbit, French Broad, Pisgah, foothills, highland, review | Comments off

Great American Craft Beer Book by Andy Crouch

Great American Craft Beer Book by Andy Crouch

NEW BOOK FEATURES 10 BREWS FROM 7 NC BREWERIES!

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

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North Carolina beer news round up

Aug 2

Posted by craftbeercollective in Big Boss, Events, Mother Earth, NC Beer News, RWO, fullsteam | Comments off

RALEIGH WIDE OPEN BEER TENT = BIG HIT
The News and Observer reported that “between 40,000 and 50,000″ attended Raleigh Wide Open 5. Rain and overcast didn’t stop attendees from enjoying the unseasonably cool temperatures, plus it’s probably safe to say the beer tent was packed early because of the weather. Glad to see everyone supporting local and national craft beers in t he beer tent even if it seemed like the whole event was bought and paid for by PBR.

Raleigh Wide Open .. sponsored by PBR

BREWGASM VISITS MOTHER EARTH
Recently Brewgasm.com paid a visit to Kinston’s Mother Earth Brewing:

MEB is the brainchild, business, and brewing Mecca of two lifelong Kinston residents, Stephen Hill and his son-in-law, Trent Mooring. The twosome’s smart enough to recognize a trend—the craft beer explosion—and take a no-holds-barred leap. They’re also wise enough to do it in an area where no one else has taken the brewing plunge. In the process, MEB can parch the thirst of a part of the state where the asphalt shimmers with light-distorting waves for at least half the year.

I’ve spent a lot of time in breweries, and MEB is a Mercedes brewery. Unlike most small start-up craft breweries, the MEBers jumped right into bottling and distribution—which, given their locale, makes sense. They also had to start off right by making that most significant of decisions–the head brewer hire.

BIG BOSS DINNER
Affordable 4 beer, 4 course beer dinner featuring Big Boss Brewing at Flying Burrito in Chapel Hill on Saturday, August 7th. See the menu at: bigbossbrewing.com

Fullsteam

Fullsteam

FULL STEAM ROLL OUT
Fullsteam roll out continues this week and the Raleigh Craft Beer Examiner has the scoop:

MONDAY AUGUST 2
Busy Bee Cafe: Starting at 6pm, Busy Bee will have the the Carver Sweet Potato and Summer Basil Farmhouse available

TUESDAY AUGUST 3
Rockfish Grill- Southpoint: Fullsteam is taking over the taps at the Rockfish Grill on Tuesday. All 5 brews will be available for $3 a pint. The best selling beer of the night will remain on tap at the restaurant.

WEDNESDAY AUGUST 4
Flying Saucer: Fullsteam is the featured glass night beer. Buy a mason jar glass filled with either El Toro Cream Ale or Summer Basil and take the jar home with you!

SATURDAY AUGUST 7
Flying Saucer: The Saucer is holding a “Beyond Sweet Tea” festival starting at 4pm. They’ll have all five of Fullsteam’s beers on tap, and BBQ being cooked out on the patio. $20 gets you a flight of all five beers and a plate of BBQ.

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Recent NC beer news

Jun 15

Posted by craftbeercollective in Beer News, Big Boss, Carolina Brewery, NC Beer News, Video, asheville, lonerider, triangle | Comments off

OK, I hope you like these “NC beer news round ups.” These are intended to be small stories or re-caps of recent events. For example, have you heard about this Chimay guy? He was posing as a member of the “Chimay beer dynasty” and used his influence to fraud investors in a money management scheme. He was arrested last Friday in Wrightsville Beach, NC!

MORE BEER CITY PRAISE
National Geographic profiles Asheville as a “funky” destination for beer enthusiasts.

In Provence it’s pastis, in Morocco mint tea, and in Asheville, North Carolina the inevitable answer to the question “What would you like to drink?” is beer. A hoppy pale ale perhaps, or a chocolate porter, but preferably something on draft that has been handcrafted and brewed locally.

In this artsy, laid-back mountain town of 75,000 people, beer has become an integral part of the culture, not to mention a leisure activity in its own right. And with nine breweries (plus more in the vicinity), Asheville has firmly established itself as a mecca for beer enthusiasts.

And this video celebrating beer city:

and this video from Brewgasm from the Beer City festival earlier this month:

hemp ale at Wedge Brewing

BEST BREWERY/ BEER STORES IN THE TRIANGLE
Jason Cole, the Chapel Hill Beer Examiner at Examiner.com has rounded up a great summary of Indyweek’s beer categories:

There is a lot of buzz around the beer scene in the Triangle in the next few weeks. June is scattered with tastings, beer dinners, and new beers to keep the craft drinker happy. First, congratulations are in order for the Independent Weekly’s “Best of the Triangle 2010″ winners. For best local brewery, Raleigh’s Big Boss Brewing Company won over Lonerider, Carolina Brewery, and Triangle Brewing Company. For best draft beer selection, Tyler’s Taproom took the gold over Milltown, Flying Saucer and Tribeca Tavern. As for best retail beer selection, Sam’s Quick Stop in Durham was voted best with Carrboro Beverage Company, Peace Street Market and Total Wine being voted as finalists. Congratulations to all the winners and finalists for their great work and passion.

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