French Broad Altbier Cask at Busy Bee

After enjoying French Broad's quaint tasting room last week, I was excited to hear that they would be bringing a cask of their Altbier to the Busy Bee here in Raleigh. Altbier is one of the rarer German styles, and unlike many other is actually an ale. The name actually means old beer. Now this doesn't mean old as in bad. It has a couple of implications, the first being that altbier is traditionally fermented longer than normal. The other is that the beer is brewed in the "old style" which means using ale yeast, as lagers had not been developed yet.

French Broad's version was poured with a nice creamy inch of head, no doubt that this one came out of a cask. The color was a nice deep amber and slightly cloudy. Drinking this beer was an absolute pleasure, it was very drinkable, with nice bready and caramel flavors accentuated by some light floral hops. I've had this beer in bottles before, and the cask version really stands out in my opinion.

As a final note, it appears that Busy Bee has installed a beer engine, which should mean that they will begin having many more cask events such as this one. Looking forward to their next surprise for sure!

New Tribeca Tavern in Cary

Yesterday was opening day for Tribeca Tavern, the new creation of Rocky Top Hospitality. It is billed as a place to go for microbrew beer and food. I did not try the food, but did have a chance to sit at the bar with a client and sample the offerings they had on tap. All of their draft selections are NC beers, with the line up being:

-Big Boss Angry Angel
-Carolina Pale Ale
-Aviator Old Dog ESB
-Highland Gaelic
-Duck Rabbit Milk Stout and Brown Ale
-French Broad Ryehopper
-Foothills People's Porter
-Lonerider Shotgun Betty

They also have their line of Mash House beers. Prices are on the high side of reasonable, at $5/pint for their draft selections and also $5 for the Mash House beers, but they come in a 23 oz. serving.

I sampled one of the seasonals, the Aviator India Brown, which was very good, and the Mash House stout, which was definitely drinkable, but not outstanding. Noticeably missing from the tap list was anything from Durham's Triangle Brewing Company. Perhaps in the future they will be available on tap there as well.

Also, a bit disappointing was the lack of any great beers in bottles. The most adventurous they get in bottles is Fat Tire and the 60 minute IPA from Dogfish Head. For a place that bills itself as a microbrew establishment, they could stand to carry a wider selection in bottles, from more than your standard Harris Teeter and Food Lion fare.

The menu looked creative and reasonably priced, from their made to order guacamole, to a more gourmet version of "Cheesy Poofs".

For the first day, all drafts were $3, and the bartender said they would be offering a different style of beer each day as a special, so all IPA's on Wednesday might by $3, Pale Ales Thursday, etc.

All in all, it is nice to have a place for NC beers on draft on this side of Cary. With plenty of TV's and a good menu, this is a solid start, but will have to do more from a beer selection standpoint to keep those who don't consider Sierra Nevada a microbrew satisfied.

French Broad Brewing Tasting Room

I'm currently enjoying my afternoon with fresh French Broad brew at their tasting room in Asheville. The brewers are working away in the background, and the smell of fresh wort is permeating the atmosphere.

I have had their Belgian Stout and Wee-Heavy-est, a Scotch ale brewed with Belgian yeast. I believe I will take home a growler of the stout, as the rest of their lineup is available in the Raleigh area.

The tasting room is small and really just a portion of their brewhouse. They do however host a lot of live music events. Very laid back and a great place to just relax with some great brew and music.

Pisgah Brewing, Black Mountain, NC

I'm in Asheville for a few days tagging along with my better half for work duties. On the way in last night we stopped by a place that we should have gone to a long time ago. Pisgah Brewing is located outside of Asheville, in Black Mountain. While I've had a couple of their beers that were picked up at Bruisin' Ales (and have a few more aging gracefully), their tap room offers their whole lineup along with seasonals and also a few guest taps.

It is currently their "Stout month" which meant that the guest taps included Bells Expedition, Oskar Blues Ten-Fidy, Brooklyn Black Chocolate, Highland Black Mocha, and French Broad's Belgian Stout. The Pisgah taps included their Nitro Stout, Pale, Porter, IPA, Endless Summer, Brown, Roast Chocolate Stout, Vortex I, Vortex II (2009 AND 2008), Solstice, Baptista Noel, and Hellbender.

We went through almost all the beers with $1 to $2 samples. The fresh Vortex II was the winner of the night, even outdoing the Expedition Stout side by side!

The taproom itself is very unassuming, located in an industrial park of sorts, with only a very small sign letting you know you're in the right place. This lets the focus be directly on the beer, as it should be. All Pisgah beers are certified Organic as well. Our tasting went a little backwards, as we worked from strong, high alcohol beers down to their "standard" lineup. This did make it a little hard to really experience the taste of say their Porter, but for the most part they held up on their own even after the big beers.

All in all, the taproom was a great experience where we got to try some amazing beers. It is definitely worth seeking out the next time you are in the Asheville area!

More info on the brewery can be found at their website.

Raleigh Times Belgian Tasting Night

On January 27, 2010, the Raleigh Times Bar teamed up with Brian Ewing of 12 Percent Imports for a night of Belgian beer tasting and the North Carolina release of the Grand Cafe Emelisse Imperial Stout.

It was a three course meal, served family style, with each course paired with two unique Belgian beers. Belgian beer has become very popular in the US, and yet 12 Percent Imports has managed to distinguish themselves from the more standard Belgian offerings by focusing on very small breweries. Many of the beers they import are brewed by people who have other day jobs and make beer on the weekends and holidays. The breweries were discovered by Brian Ewing on his many excursions to Belgium. Many of these beers are the essence of "micro" brew in Belgium.

During Brian's presentations, you could tell just how much passion he has for these beers. They were easily some of the most detailed and informative beer introductions and descriptions I've been exposed to. You can see the menu at the top of this post. The Times did a phenomenal job on the food, some of the best offerings I've had at their bar easily. The pate or the seafood boil were the highlights of the night. As far as beer goes, all six of these were new experiences for me. If I had to choose a favorite of the night, it was probably the Brouwerij't Gaverhopke Extra. While the menu classifies it as a quadruple, it is not exactly true to that style. It is really just the breweries "house" strong ale. Wild yeast is even used to brew it. The beer was one of the most unique I've ever tasted, with massive malt, some dark fruit flavors including raisin, and to top it off a little tartness from the yeast. I also really enjoyed the De Dochter Van De Korenaar Emrasee, a 9% dark strong ale. The menu references it as fully malted, which simply means that all of the fermentables come from malt - as opposed to additions of things like candi sugar that are common in a lot of Belgian beers. This beer was served at room temperature, and was a plethora of malt flavors.

The grand finale of the night was the NC release of the Grand Cafe Emelisse Imperial Stout. With releases previously only in New York and Philadelphia, we were certainly among the first in the nation to try this beer. It was very dark, with notes of dark chocolate, a touch of coffee, and wonderful thickness and mouthfeel.

Overall it was a great night, and a good price for all that we got as well. It sounded like The Times was going to start offering more nights like this, as this was deemed "Part 1 of a series". I will certainly be on the lookout for the next one!

Porters City Tavern going all "NC Brews"

In another example of the craft beer scene taking off in Raleigh, Porters on Hillsborough Street in Raleigh will be changing all of their taps over to NC draft beers. Already an outstanding place to eat, and boasting an above average beer list, this will push Porters over into the "must go" category. Beers that should be available as of the end of this weekend are (courtesy of the New Raleigh blog):

Mother Earth ‘Endless River’ - Kinston
Triangle ‘XPA’- Durham
Lone Rider ‘Peacemaker Pale Ale’ - Raleigh
Foothills ‘Hoppyum IPA’ -Winston Salem
Red Oak ‘Amber Lager’- Whitsett
Aviator ‘Hot Rod Red’-Fuquay Varina
Big Boss ‘Hell’s Belle’- Raleigh
Carolina ‘Nut Brown Ale’- Holly Springs
Highland ‘Oatmeal Porter’- Asheville
Huske Hardware ‘Sledgehammer Stout’- Fayetteville

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!