NC In Beer Advocate

Browsing through the latest issue of Beer Advocate, I was pleased to find quite a few mentions of our home state. Foothills Sexual Chocolate was featured on a few of the "Top Beer" lists. The beer review section was where the most action was - with the following reviews:

Olde Hickory Brewing - Hickory Stick Stout and Table Rock Pale Ale
Mother Earth Brewing - Dark Cloud Dunkel and Endless River Kolsch
Olde Mecklenburg Brewing - OMB Copper

None of the beers received a score less than a B!

Then to top it all of, the beer destination was Asheville, NC. With places like Boston, Philadelphia and California getting a lot of beer press, it is both refreshing and encouraging to see our local scene get some coverage.

Mother Earth Beer Dinner tomorrow night at Dos Perros in Durham

From the ncbeer.org web site (www.ncbeer.org)

"Mother Earth Brewing
Tuesday, February 9^th, 2010
7pm
$35

We’re happy to help welcome one of North Carolina’s newest breweries into the market. Mother Earth Brewing of Kinston has taken a very devoted approach to the environment through both the construction and operation of their brewery. Of course, they’ll be here on the 9^th to give you the details, but if you’re curious, check out their website www.motherearthbrewing.com. As for the beers themselves, I was really impressed. The Wit had a beautiful citrus quality, the kolsch made me pine for baseball season (hence the hot dog, which btw, is a classic Mexican street food), the IPA actually reminded me of a Southern Rhone red wine, and the dish I wanted for the Dunkel popped into my head right away. I’m really looking forward to this one.

Ceviche con pomelo, nopales, y salsa de tuna verde (Citrus-cured grouper with grapefruit, cactus, and prickly pear coulis)
-Weeping Willow Wit

Perro caliente de tocino-envolvió (Mexican-style bacon-wrapped, house-made hot dog)
-Endless River Kolsch

Frijoles “Flor de Mayo” con pato y chorizo (Mexican “Cassoulet”)
-Sisters of the Moon IPA

Lomo de puerco en salsa de ciruela (Pork loin in prune sauce)
-Dark Cloud Munich-style Dunkel"

Sounds tasty...if i could make it, I would be out there. There still are spots available, so get a seat while they last.

Exciting News from TBC

From an email today:

"This Thursday, Feb. 4 Triangle Brewing Co. will be participating in the unveiling of Durham's first operational Beer Engine. We are positive that it is functional, cause Andy and I spent the better part of the day today installing it. Yes, it was a pain in the arse, but nothing is too much for our beer. The plan is to tap weekly casks of TBC everything Thursday and run it thru the weekend (or until it goes dry). The first cask that will be tapped is our IPA. So come enjoy beer at its finest. The event is also a fundraiser for a young man with autism, who will be receiving a special bike. The cask tapping will occur at 5:30pm, so swing by for a pint to two. We will also, be pouring at cask of our Best of Both Worlds Stout. Cheers and see you Thursday."

Very nice that we finally have a beer engine in the area that will allow us to enjoy cask beer more regularly. Props to Triangle and Alivia's for making this happen!

Events coming up this week at Big Boss

--THURSDAY--*BIG OPERATOR CASK @ REVOLUTION PIZZA-Charlotte* When- Thursday @ 7pm Where- Revolution Pizza / 3228 North Davidson St/ Charlotte / 704-333-4440 More - http://www.revolutionpizza.com/JJ is headed down to Revolution Pizza in Charlotte for a Big Operator Cask. He’ll tap that thing at 7pm. Don’t be late!

--SATURDAY--*SLACKERS & DOCO @ TPHMH - Raleigh* When- Saturday @ 10 pm Where- Pour House Music Hall - Raleigh More- http://www.the-pour-house.com/ Music- http://www.theslackers.com/The Slackers bring their “Jamaican rock n roll” sound to Raleighwood with local support from DOCO. The Slackers are the real authentic deal and have shared the stage with Rancid, Joe Strummer, Floggin Molly, Jimmy Cliff, Pennywise, Toots & the Maytals and The Pogues Show support for the Rude boys!--

FEBRUARY @ Tolliver’s Crossing – Asheville--At Tolliver's, Big Boss is the brewery of the month for February!! Celebrate Groundhogs Day, Valentine’s Day, President’s Day and all days in between with Bad Penny/ Hell's Belle Draft specials- $3.25 plus Angry Angel Bottles- $3.00 all month long.http://www.tolliversirishpub.com/

Advance notice:February: Broadstreet Beer Dinner/ Bark and WineMarch: St Patricks DayApril: Cuegrass Festival / Hickory Hops / World Beer Festival

http://www.bigbossbrewing.com/event.php

On draft in the Big Boss taproom: -ANGRY ANGEL Kolsch Style Ale -BAD PENNY Brown Ale -HELL'S BELLE Belgian Blond Ale -HARVEST TIME Pumpkin Ale -BIG OPERATOR Belgian Black Raspberry -SACK TIME Amber Rye- LTTLE LARRY Belgian Pale ale

Holiday Spice Homebrew

I was lucky enough to get the ingredients for a 5 gal batch of homebrew for Christmas. The beer is American Brewmaster's Holiday Spice Ale. I was hoping to brew it a bit sooner than the 3rd week in January, so that it would be ready while we still had some colder weather. The full body and spice additions make this style of beer perfectly suited for cold winter days.

Out of the box, the kit was designed for an all-extract recipe with slightly under a pound of specialty grains to steep. Since the last brewday was our first attempt at a partial mash, I decided to add some 2 row barley to the grains and make my own mini-mash. In some leftovers from previous recipes, I had 10 oz of melanoidin 2-row malt. Melanoidin is typically used in German style lagers, to add malt character and flavor. The kit included a spice bag that was added to the boil for the last 10 minutes. It contained a stick of cinnamon, a small chunk of ginger, and a few cloves. One pound of light clover honey was added after the boil was complete as well.

Everything went smoothly, and it was maybe my cleanest brewday yet. Original gravity was measured at 1.073, slightly higher than the 1.071 target, because of the change I made to add a partial mash to the recipe. The Holiday Spice Ale should stay in the fermentation bucket for a little over a week. Hopefully it will still be cold enough to enjoy this beer after it carbonates.

Lexington Avenue Brewery opens in Asheville

I was in Asheville over New Years, and heard a lot of buzz about the new brewery about to open, Lexington Ave. According to ncbeer.org, it appears they opened on Jan. 7. Looks like they are going with the "gastropub" concept and are going to be brewing naturally carbonated brews. This just adds to the already robust craft brew scene in Asheville. They are located at 39 N Lesington Ave., and should be added to the list when visiting western NC in search of good beer.

Cask for New Years Eve!

I just found out that the Raleigh Times Bar will be tapping a cask of Foothills Brewing Total Eclipse Stout at 6:30 PM on December 31. Total Eclipse is really enjoyable on draft, I bet the cask version is tremendous.