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AUGUST NC BEER NEWS

Aug 31

Posted by Craft Beer Collective in Beer News, beer store, Bull City Burger & Brewery, Craggie, Durham, fullsteam, home brew, Mother Earth, Nantahala, NC Beer News, triangle, Video | Comments off

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 Nantahala Brewing 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, Asheville, Winston-Salem, Greensboro, Wilmington, NC and beyond Contact us at dave (at) away (dash) team (dot) com
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BIG DAY FOR BEER IN NC!

Aug 11

Posted by Anna in Duck-Rabbit, festival, foothills, fullsteam, Legislation, NC Brewers Guild, Twin City Taps, Winston-Salem | No Comments

 

This Saturday, August 13th, 2011 is the Sixth Anniversary of POP THE CAP!

Pop the Cap was a grassroots movement started in 2003 by about 40 beer lovers to lift North Carolina’s 6% alcohol by volume cap on beer. Thanks to this group and the thousands of other NC craft beer lovers who joined forces with them, Governor Mike Easley signed House Bill 392 into law on August 13, 2005, lifting the 6% ABV cap to a more-reasonable 15%.

I asked Sean Lilly Wilson, the Chief Executive Optimist at Fullsteam Brewery, and creative force behind Pop the Cap to share this thoughts on this significant day.

What inspired you to pursue Pop the Cap in NC? 

Sean: I just thought the alcohol cap was a really dumb law. I was just getting in to craft beer, and the discovery that you couldn’t buy or brew one-third of the world’s beer styles seemed so bizarre and antiquated. So I started asking around about it. I had just started working part-time at All About Beer magazine, and I asked Daniel Bradford if he agreed it was time to challenge the 6% alcohol by volume law.

Within a couple of weeks, Daniel, co-founder Julie Johnson, myself, and around 40 craft beer enthusiasts (many of them homebrewers) gathered on a dreary February day in 2003 to talk about how to change this Prohibition-era legislation. That was the spark.

What do you think were the crucial elements to Pop the Cap legislation passing?

Sean: Hiring an expert, timing, and good grassroots marketing.
Hiring an expert: we quickly learned that there’s a process to getting laws changed. Petitions and letters to our legislators weren’t
going to cut it. Our best move was to hire Theresa Kostrzewa, a registered lobbyist who took on our cause. TK coached, mentored, and sometimes chided us — navigating the tricky waters of legislative change and focusing us on key talking points. For example, we thought that the argument “North Carolina is losing a lot of tax dollars as people shop for beer out-of-state” was a good talking point, but revenues from beer paled in comparison to the lottery matter passed the year prior…and the “we’re losing money to Virginia” argument didn’t resonate with legislators. So we focused on the “antiquated law” aspect, which is easy enough because, well, it was an antiquated law.

Timing. We gathered in early 2003 and gained momentum over the spring and summer. But it was too late for us to have an impact that calendar year. 2004 was a “short session” in the NC legislature, which essentially means that changes to the General Statutes are limited to bills that impact state funding (not policy matters like ours). So 2005 was our target year. Had we pushed too early, our energy would be for naught.

Grassroots marketing. Effective lobbying is about capturing people’s interest and attention. Legislators and constituents are busy people. How do you get the public rallied, engaged, and focused on the talking points? How do you ameliorate the concerns of legislators about raising the allowed alcohol percentage on beer in a Southern state? Pop The Cap was as much a marketing campaign as it was a lobbying effort. One day I heard two legislators chatting informally down the hallway. One said to the other, “What do you think about that “Pop – The – Cap” bill? I didn’t hear the other gentleman’s answer, but it didn’t matter. To me, they were talking about the issue. That was the victory. The rest of it was cake, because it’s not terribly hard to convince people that a six percent alcohol cap on beer was, in fact, a dumb law.

It has been amazing to see the rapid growth of the craft beer industry in NC since Pop the Cap passed six years ago. Why do you think this piece of legislation has had such a profound influence on the NC craft beer scene?

Sean: I don’t think the cap had a profound influence on the NC craft beer scene. North Carolina had all the fundamentals already in-place. Removing the 6% alcohol cap simply freed the industry to do everything it was already doing, to reach its full potential as “The State of Southern Beer.” Breweries like Highland, Duck-Rabbit, Foothills, Red Oak, Weeping Radish, and many more were already shaping North Carolina into a great beer state. Retailers and restaurants like Tyler’s, Barley’s, and the Flying Saucer created great craft beer culture. And leaders like Daniel Bradford of All About Beer / World Beer Festival educated customers.
Other states have recently lifted their cap and not had this blossoming of craft beer, so it’s not like lifting the cap suddenly creates a great beer state. Removing the cap simply gave breweries, retailers, restaurants, and wholesalers a level playing field. Again, the fundamentals were already in-place: we have an educated populace, a significant tourism trade, passionate industry leaders, and brewery-friendly beer laws. That’s why North Carolina is a great beer state.

What craft beer trends do you see in other states that you would like to see pursued next in NC?

Sean: Certainly the push toward local, seasonal ingredients — that’s our core focus at Fullsteam. North Carolina was once a major hops-growing region, but post-Prohibition problems with blight pushed the industry toward drier climates. However, science has advanced a ton in the past 80 years, and there’s reason to believe that North Carolina can once again grow hops, barley, and other beer ingredients. My vision is that North Carolina will develop a Beer Economy that truly begins in the Southern soil and ends with a pint of fresh, local beer.

By definition, trends come and go. So we’ll go through phases where we brew and drink both the weird and the simple. Sour and aged beers will grow in popularity; low-alcohol session beers will likely become fashionable. But there’s one thing I’d love to see last forever: for people to remain positive, excited, and enthusiastic about craft beer in the great state of North Carolina.
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There are several special NC beer events happening this weekend. 
Fullsteam will be celebrating their 1 year anniversary on Saturday. Details can be found here.

 

This is the perfect time to plan on spending your weekend in the Triad Area. The special release of Olde Rabbit’s Foot is this weekend! You can get this special brew on tap this Friday at Foothills Brewery beginning at 7pm. Some of the biggest craft beer fans from inside and outside NC will be there to celebrate. 22oz bottle sales will begin at the brewpub on Saturday at 10am. They will sell out fast so get in line EARLY! See what makes this collaboration beer so special in this one minute video put together by Ryan Richards. 

 

After you have purchased your bottles of Olde Rabbit’s Foot, make your way over to the Twin City Taps Beer Fest. It begins at noon and is just five blocks away from Foothills Brewery. Be sure to stop by the NC Brewer’s Guild and say, “Hey”. We just got in some brand new NC Beer Fan t-shirts that we will have at our booth.

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TWIN CITY TAPS FEST

Jul 29

Posted by Craft Beer Collective in aviator, Beer News, Big Boss, Carolina Brewery, Craggie, Duck-Rabbit, Events, festival, foothills, Four Friends, French Broad, fullsteam, Green Man, highland, Liberty, Loes, lonerider, Mother Earth, Mystery Brewing, natty greene's, NC Beer News, NC Brewers Guild, Roth, Weeping Radish, Winston-Salem | Comments off

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, Asheville, Winston-Salem, Greensboro, Wilmington, NC and beyond Contact us at dave (at) away (dash) team (dot) com
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NC News round up

Jul 6

Posted by Craft Beer Collective in aviator, Beer News, Big Boss, Bull City Burger & Brewery, Carolina Brewery, Durham, fullsteam, lonerider, Mother Earth, NC Beer News, raleigh, Roth, triangle | Comments off

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. north carolina beer map © 2011 Craft Beer Collective / Away Team Media Bringing you the craft and culture of beer in North Carolina --> Raleigh, Durham, Asheville, Winston-Salem, Greensboro, Wilmington, NC and beyond Contact us at dave (at) away (dash) team (dot) com
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Four North Carolina Breweries Win Medals at the 2011 US Open Beer Championship

Jul 4

Posted by Anna in fullsteam, LAB, lonerider, Mother Earth, NC Beer News | No Comments

Congratulations to LONERIDER, MOTHER EARTH, FULLSTEAM & LEXINGTON AVENUE BREWERY for winning in multiple categories at the 2011 United States Open Beer Championship.

 

LONERIDER BREWING

GOLD – DeadEye Jack – Porter

GOLD – Coffee Porter – Coffee Beer

BRONZE – Sweet Josie – American Brown Ale

 

MOTHER EARTH BREWING

GOLD – Tripel Overhead – Wood / Barrel aged strong beer

SILVER – Sisters of the Moon – American IPA

SILVER  -  Endless River – German Kolsch

 

FULLSTEAM

SILVER – Hogwash – Smoked / Rauch beer

SILVER – El Toro Cream Ale – American Cream Ale

 

LEXINGTON AVENUE BREWERY

BRONZE – Helmet Fire – German Lager / Pilsner

BRONZE – Numbskull Oktoberfest – Marzen / Oktoberfest


Over 1200 beers in more than 50 different categories were submitted in the competition, as well as over 20 international beers. The US Open Beer Championship is the only brewery competition to include professional breweries and award-winning home brewers. A list of all 2011 winners can be viewed here.

 

 

 

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