Tag: North Carolina

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Durham Brewery # 1 – Ponysaurus Brewing Co.


This month we head to Durham, North Carolina. A family friend was in town from the land of Duke and it prompted me to take a peek at breweries in the area. Let’s head to one now….
http://ponysaurusbrewing.com/
Ponysaurus Brewing has an origin story unlike others in that they started brewing in an attic. In what must have been a claustrophhically tiny space that was above the entrance to The Cookery in Durham, NC.

They have been named a “Next Level Brewery” by Food & Wine, and thrillist.com calls their beer “the best pint in Durham, and one of the 50 most underrated breweries in America.”

So here is a sample taster tray to peruse….
Oyster Saison
“Brewed originally in collaboration with Durham’s St. James Seafood Restaurant and Raw Bar, this dry, hoppy Oyster Saison is the perfect ode to the sea. 50 pounds of fresh, whole oysters infuse a whiff of ocean breeze, along with underlying notes of minerals and brine.”

Don’t Be Mean To People. A Golden Rule Saison
“North Carolina Farmhouse Ale. Proudly handcrafted and canned by Ponysaurus Brewing LLC in Durham, NC, with the help from other proud brewers and people, who believe in Rule No. 00000001.”

Bière De Garde
“An homage to higher-gravity French farmhouse ales, Biere de Garde roughly translates to “beer for keeping.” Our version reflects the historical realities of this style of farming, when brewers made do with what was on hand. With three types of barley, wheat, rye, and oats, its aroma smacks of apple, pear, almond, and vanilla, with just a hint of lemon rind.”

“Weizenbock”
“German style, using many of the same ingredients in the Weissbier/Weizenbock but with the addition of some darker malts and a little higher ABV. We brew this beer with all German malts, hops, and yeast.”

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In the Tap Lines for January 2018

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Welcome to 2018! For L.A. Beer fans, it will be a busy first month to the year with many anniversaries and events already on the calendar, anchored by the L.A. Beer and Food Festival. But we will duck outside for this month’s A Book & A Beer and to Durham, North Carolina to visit some breweries from our computers.

~ e-visits to three breweries from Durham, North Carolina perhaps Barrel Culture Brewing and Blending, Clouds Brewing, Fullsteam Brewery or Ponysaurus Brewing Co.
~ special featured reviews of beers bought during one visit to Sunset Beer.
~ Heads-Up on Los Angeles Beer Events
~ Three suggested beers to buy this month. One light, one medium and one dark
~ A Book & A Beer reads The River Why
~ I will tap the Firkin and give my no holds barred opinion on the craft beer world.

Here are two events to get your January started in the Los Angeles craft beer world:
1) January 4th – Boomtown Brewery Tap Take Over at Harajuku Taproom
2) January 13th – Transplants Brewing 2nd Anniversary

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Partners in Brewing


If you cast your mind back, you will remember that Southern Tier and Victory Brewing have combined forces under the Artisanal Brewing Ventures banner. Now the two breweries have announced plans run a R&D brewery and taproom together in Charlotte, North Carolina.

The innovation brewery will do both beers that are “specific to Charlotte and the Carolinas” and will also pour flagship brands such as Southern Tier’s Nu Skool IPA and Pumking along with Victory’s Golden Monkey and Prima Pils.

The facility will have a “25-barrel brewhouse capable of producing approximately 10,000 barrels annually. The facility will include a fermentation cellar, quality lab and packaging hall along with a beer garden and indoor/outdoor private event spaces.”

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Craft in Controversial States # 1 – Wooden Robot from Charlotte, North Carolina

I try not to be too political on this blog. Opinionated, yes, but I try to keep the outside world outside this blog. But when commerce collides with politics, even craft beer becomes involved.

But with a political season in full on wacky mode, I find it hard to divorce the two. So this month, I will combine them but like church and state, they will be separated. I will first touch on a political topic in a state and then we can cleanse our palates with a look into a brewery from that state. Sort of a good news-bad news type of post.

Astute readers will probably notice that I am not a fan of Republicans and may notice a streak of Libertarianism that I inherited genetically from my Dad. That leads us into North Carolina where apparently people are afraid about peeing. To me, this seems to be a whipped up controversy in response to federal marriage laws. The equivalent of losing a ball game but instead of taking the ball away, you take away the bathroom for the players to use. Frankly, I prefer to take a bathroom break in peace from EVERYBODY because a bathroom break is just that. A break. But now, due to politicians, the bathroom apparently is to be scary because we don’t know who the hell is in there. I don’t want government in the ‘loo but others seem to like Big Government telling people where to do their business. Fear of the different is as much a part of America as apple pie and is alive and kicking in 2016.

Those are my views, now, lets go to Charlotte and have a beer and maybe a polite exchange of ideas too.
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We head to Wooden Robot now to check out their offerings.

Here are my choices for a taster tray. (Hard choices to make just to get down to five!)

Universal Automaton Sour Farmhouse Ale
“Universal Automaton is the first release that has completely fermented in our 30 BBL oak foeder. Brewed with local malts from Riverbend Malt House and fermented with our house mixed culture, this beer displays notes of tart citrus, decadent stone fruits, and a dry, slightly funky, finish.”

Extra Good Gluten Reduced Pale Ale
“Extra Good starts off with a similar malt bill to Overachiever Pale Ale. We then hop it generously with Citra and Equinox in the kettle and fermentor. This beer is treated with an enzyme to reduce gluten, resulting in a deliciously hoppy brew for everyone, whether you’re sensitive to gluten or not!”

Paranoid Android Deux Farmhouse IPA
“A collaboration with our friends at Bird Song, Paranoid Android Deux is our second version of our Farmhouse IPA. Paranoid combines citrusy and fruity American hops, with light malt backbone from 100% local malt, and a funky, spicy hop character from Wooden Robot’s mixed farmhouse yeast culture.”

Good Morning Vietnam COFFEE VANILLA BLONDE ALE
“A collaboration with our neighbors at Charlotte’s own Enderly Coffee. We combined fresh roasted Madagascar vanilla beans to produce an eye opening, enjoyable ale.”

Hop Boulders Sour Double IPA
“The bigger boulder version of our Return of Hop Rocks Sour IPA. Hop Boulders takes the tart, grapefruity hop character of it’s little brother, and turns it up a notch.”

PS – I do not know the views of Wooden Robot. So maybe they don’t want to be drawn into it. Don’t complain to them. Direct questions to me.

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Year of Podcasts – Tales of the Cask

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Here is the 4th beer-y podcast of the year.  And thanks to the power of the interwebs, we can listen to Tales of the Cask in L.A. even though they are based in North Carolina.

The strong point of the podcast, for me is the news section.  Episode 100 even had shout-outs to Monkish Brewing and to LA Weekly!  Maybe I just picked the right episode to listen in on.  The main section of their triple digit podcast was with Lagunitas which had some good nuggets of the Petaluma brewery lore and some “scarce” beers.  The pace could have been picked up and the questions more advanced for my taste.  Primarily because I have already read the Tony Magee book, I felt ahead of the game.  I wanted more info on the Chicago brewery and other brewing topics.  But then a recent podcast with Anchor Brewing was much tighter (and again mentioned L.A.) and the beer talk was more on point with more details.

Overall the podcast is too long for me though.  But I like the format and the people.  Nice distinct voices and good commentary.  Smart folks.  If packaged in 30 minutes, I would enjoy it more.

 

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NBA Contenders – Brewery # 3 NoDa Brewing

Charlotte has an eclectic roster.  Two Indiana rail thin forward-centers.  The mystery that is Lance Stephenson.  The mystery that is Michael Kidd-Gilchrist’s shot and a grear workhorse in Al Jefferson. But they might have enough to win their division with Miami losing LeBron.

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And NoDa is a perfect fit because of one beer: Jam Session. “The evolution of American Pale Ale—still a session beer but it sacrifices nothing—clear hop flavor shines through without being too dominant, and there’s a great malt flavor uncommon to the variety. The backbone of this beer is the balance of imported Maris Otter and Caramunich malts with the pine and citrus flavors of Centennial, Simcoe, and Citra hops.”

And here are the other brews to taste while watching the Hornets:

Hop, Drop ‘n Roll – “2014 World Beer Cup® Gold Award Winner, American-Style IPA. Hops in your face. Crisp, mouthwatering, American citrus hops dominate for an ideal IPA character. It’s hopped before, during and after the boil with late boil additions of Citra and Amarillo for a complex flavor profile. The rich golden color comes from a blend of English and American base malts accented with substantial amounts of Vienna and Wheat malt. This is the beer that started it all for NoDa Brewing.”

Cold Crash Winter Ale – “Crash through the cold weather with our malty, hearty ruby red ale! Cold Crash offers a malt-forward and dark fruit-accented flavor profile with a distinct winter spice sharpness, subtle hop presence, and a warming 6.3% ABV. Perfect for the cooler months or just warming the soul.”

Midnight Madness – “This is our version of a Cascadian Dark Ale, more commonly known as a Black IPA. Made with six hop varieties: Cascade, Centennial, Columbus (Tomahawk), Chinook, Simcoe, and Warrior it has a nimble complexity surprising for it’s style. Sweet malt notes linger in the finish and despite its opacity it’s fairly medium-bodied and smooth.”

 

 

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Review – Thunderstruck Coffee Porter from Highland Brewing

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Yet another first!  Thanks to the still giving in February generosity of Christmas past, I had my first ever Highland Brewing Company Beer!  And since, I had written a piece on coffee beer for a past edition of Beer Paper LA, I thought I would give their coffee beer done in collaboration with Dynamite Roasting a whirl.

There is a medium hit of light and silky coffee on the nose but that is then replaced with pure, straight up milk chocolate.  And that flavor dominates the rest of the 12oz.  And I mean that in the best possible sense.  The coffee flirts underneath and as it warms a bit more coffee ground bitterness does rear its head but primarily this is like hot chocolate and I liked it.

And for a first beer, it does intrigue me enough to try more from this North Carolina outfit.

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North Carolina brewery # 3 – French Broad

Our last stop in North Carolina is French Broad Brewery in the east coast craft beer mecca of Asheville.

The first beer that caught my attention, partially due to the patriotic name, is 13 Rebels ESB — Named for the 13 colonies, our Extra Special Bitter features generous Goldings profile and a complex malt palate. I am predisposed to breweries that have ESBs, brown ales or milds on their regular menu and this would be the first one that I would go for. Then my hoppy extreme side would get a chance to order the IPA because who wouldn’t want to solve this conundrum “Here’s a really easy riddle: what has twelve hops additions and rules your face?”

French Broad has been around since 2001 filling taps and growlers with their offerings.