In their Visitor Center, they generously serve eager beer lovers free samples from nine taps, plus various bottles of Weyerbacher beers. The day I was there, they had some of my most favorites on tap — Old Heathen (which is one of the best Imperial stouts out there in my opinion!), Merry Monks, Blithering Idiot, and Quad (oohhhhh Quad!) to name a few.

I also got to taste Fifteen for the first time, their 15th anniversary smoked Imperial stout, which I was shocked to discover I actually liked better than Old Heathen! Fantastic beer!

After sampling every last beer they had to offer, we hopped on the brewery tour. Weyerbacher brews on a 25-bbl system, which I was surprised at, considering how far and wide they distribute their beer. They usually brew four days a week, brewing twice each day to fill their 50-bbl fermenters.

The brewing system…

… and the fermenters

Weyerbacher is big on barrel-aging. Here you can see some of the bourbon barrels currently in use.

Bourbon barrel aging

It was a pretty hot day, so the tour guide said we would go into the cold box for a few minutes. He ushered us over to what I thought was just a metal wall extending along the length of the brew house. Uhhhh nope, it was actually their insanely massive cold box! I couldn’t believe the size of that thing!

The outer wall of the biggest cold box I’ve ever seen!

Tour-goers inside the case-filled cold box

So that’s where the Weyerbacher lies!

This was definitely one of the more… interesting breweries I’ve been inside. To put it lightly, and I mean this in the best possible way, it’s pretty amazing what wonderful beers come out of such an ugly, ugly place! The tour guide readily admitted to all of us that this was not the most beautiful warehouse.

The building isn’t properly equipped to house a brewery either — there are no floor drains, so the brewers are forced to wet vac the floor every time they brew. I do not envy them!

But, Weyerbacher will likely continue to expand, which I presume will eventually include a slightly more glamorous set-up. And like I said, the beer that’s coming out of this brewery is freakin’ spectacular. If you’ve never tried anything from Weyerbacher, do yourself a favor and pick up a case! Pick one, any one, they’re all great!

This place was pretty packed for a Tuesday night! They clearly get a lot of traffic from summer vacationers to the area. Great atmosphere, cool layout with an upstairs dining room overlooking the downstairs bar area.

We got a sampler of every beer they had on tap. Everything was great; the IPA was particularly solid — balanced, well-rounded, a little malty, nice citrusy hops.

Front Street brews some organic seasonal beers in addition to their regular line-up. For every organic beer they pour, they donate 25¢ to Cape Fear River Watch, an organization that helps to protect the Cape Fear River Basin. The day we were there, the Hefeweizen was the organic selection. Light, refreshing, perfect for summer!

The menu had plenty of great comfort foods to choose from, many of which were southern-style dishes. After filling up on shepherd’s pie and meatloaf, we picked up a growler of Hefeweizen and drove off to the beach for five days of sunshine and relaxation. And I’ll tell you what, that growler of Hefeweizen sure did come in handy!

We had such a great time exploring the North Carolina craft beer scene. It’s been only five years since North Carolina popped the cap on ABV, raising the limit from 6% to 15%. Craft beer in the state has grown significantly since then, and I have a feeling we can expect to see plenty more growth in the years to come!

My only hope is to have the privilege of becoming a part of that in the future, as Tim and I plan to move down there in about three years. Hopefully the gracious people of North Carolina will welcome a couple of Yanks from PA with open arms! Based on the wonderful people we met on this trip, I have a good feeling they will.

So, look out North Carolina, we’ll be back! And we can’t freakin’ wait!

Asheville was my favorite city in North Carolina. Hands down. And not just because of the beer. I mean, yeah, that’s part of it, but this city just has so much going for it… Let’s start with the beer.

After a lovely morning of driving on the Blue Ridge Parkway through some amazing mountain scenery, we headed downtown to Asheville Pizza & Brewing for lunch.

Asheville Pizza & Brewing

We got a sampler, and all the beers were solid. The Ninja Porter was my fave. The pizza blew my mind. Already, our visit to Asheville was off to a very good start.

*drool*

We checked out the fairly new OysterHouse Brewing, which just opened in 2009. We chatted with the bartender, only to find out that he was actually the brewer too! He’s been brewing all the beer for OysterHouse on a Sabco Brew-Magic. Gotta love the nano-brewing spirit!

We tasted the Moonstone Stout, a dry Irish stout brewed with oysters. The brewer explained to us that this adds no oyster flavor, but it does add sea salt, calcium, and other minerals which affect the water chemistry of the brew. I’ll tell you what, them oysters make some good beer.

The Brew-Magic at OysterHouse Brewing

We made a quick stop over to Green Man Brewery as well. Unfortunately it was getting near closing time, so we didn’t get to spend too much time there. But I did get to try the IPA on cask, which was great. Hopefully we’ll make it back there next time we’re in Asheville!

Green Man Brewery

We had tried to make the tour at Highland Brewing, but as it was the Monday holiday for July 4th, the brewery was closed! Bad timing on our part! Lucky for us, the next day, we headed over to Mellow Mushroom for some lunch, where they had a couple Highland beers on tap. The Oatmeal Porter and the Kashmir IPA were faaaantastic!

Mellow Mushroom

Our final stop in Asheville was Bruisin’ Ales, the famed bottle shop!

Bruisin’ Ales bottle shop

What a cool place! Tons of craft beers from all over the place! We picked up a couple local beers — French Broad Rye Hopper (which was aaaawesome!), French Broad 13 Rebels ESB, and Highland Gaelic Ale. Then we headed on down the highway…

The selection at Bruisin’ Ales

I could have spent another week in Asheville. Hell, I could spend my whole life there! So many breweries (there were more that we didn’t get to go to!), awesome food, really cool town. The people were incredibly nice, which seems to be the pattern in North Carolina, though it was even more so in Asheville. I just loved the vibe I got from the area. Everyone seemed like they were just… happy! And how can you blame them, the mountains are just gorgeous. So much to explore!

I will definitely be back. Definitely definitely definitely.

The bar at Pisgah was definitely an afterthought. It’s right inside the very industrial-looking warehouse where the brewery is located, which actually makes for a pretty awesome atmosphere. You really feel like your right in the heart of the brewery. Doesn’t get any fresher than that!

They had 12 beers on tap the day we were there, so of course we had to sample all 12! All were good, but I definitely had a few favorites.

The Nitro Stout is peeerrrfect. Exactly what I look for in a dry stout — smooth, creamy, roasty, dry as a bone.

Baptista is a really cool beer. It’s full of fruity esters (in a good way), kinda hits you in the face, dries out, and leaves you wanting more! From the website: “This Belgian Noël takes it’s name from Jan Baptista van Helmont (1579-1644), the Flemish chemist and physician who first discovered CO2 and coined the word “gas” by recognizing the existence of gases distinct from air. This energy luminary was the founder of pneumatic chemistry and also the first to bridge alchemy and early chemistry. Hats off to the man behind the bubble. Proost and Happy Holidays!”

Cosmos is a really interesting beer. It’s a Baltic porter fermented with Belgian yeast. Really nice combo of roasted/chocolate flavors and fruity Belgian yeast character.

I do believe my favorite beer was the Solstice (so hard to choose from so many incredible beers). It’s everything a Belgian Tripel should be — soft, a little fruity, with absolutely no indication that it’s 9.5% ABV. I ordered a second pint of it. I probably shouldn’t have done that.

It’s really no wonder Pisgah has about a bajillion medals hanging above their bar. Whatever they’re doing over there, they need to keep doing it!

The tap room is open 7 days a week, and get this, they have live music, like, all the freakin’ time! I wish we had been there on a live music day! They did have an iPod going though, and they played the entirety of Pink Floyd Animals. So, that almost made up for it.

Next time I’m down that way again, I’m definitely, definitely stopping at Pisgah. And I highly suggest you do too. I seriously can’t talk up their beers enough. Wish I could buy them up here in PA!

The bar that I had heard the most about before my trip was Raleigh Times. The building was built in 1905, and their website contains a lot of the history of it. Really beautiful architecture, great atmosphere. The food was great, and they’ve got a handful of draft beers, as well as an extensive bottle list, including American and Belgian craft beers.

Raleigh Times

We also stopped by Busy Bee Cafe, a really hip little bar with about a dozen drafts (craft beers only!) and many, many more in bottles.

The Pour House was full of activity when we passed by. We had planned to go in, but they were having a concert, and it was looking a little crazy! They’ve got 30 drafts, plus bottles, and plenty of live music. Definitely looked like a fun place to hang out!

We spent some time in Tir Na Nog as well. They had several beers on tap, including a few local NC beers, and we had a sweet spot at the bar. They too were setting up for live music that night!

Tir Na Nog

We ended our evening at Flying Saucer, which was by far my favorite bar of the night. 81 taps and 200+ bottles! The beer selection was so extensive, it was tough to choose!

Flying Saucer

Apparently if you get 200 beers at Flying Saucer (not all at once, obviously) you get a saucer on the ceiling with your name on it. The night we were there, a beer-loving couple each got a saucer of their own. Clearly regulars!

My overall impression of the Raleigh beer scene was that it’s a great city for beer bar hopping. There are several bars within a very easy walking distance, each with many draft and bottled beers. If you’re ever in Raleigh, you’ll find no shortage of craft beer!

The owner, Mark Doble, brewer and avid pilot, opened the original brewery location in an airplane hanger in 2008. Aviator has since moved to a new location, in a large warehouse with plenty of room to continue to grow, add more fermenters, and make more fantastic beer.

Aviator’s fermenters, bright tanks, and some happy tour-goers

The 12 bbl brewing system

We took a tour and tried some brews, which were excellent. The WortHog American Wheat was super refreshing on that hot day. I was really impressed with King Rat Imperial Oatmeal Stout, which had that rich, chewy character that I always look for in a stout. Also really dug the Devils Tramping Ground Tripel. Great quality beers all around!

The best part of the whole Aviator experience was getting a chance to chat with the owner Mark — pilot, engineer, and total geek in all the best ways!

The “bartender” is actually owner, Mark Doble

In a former life, Mark was an electrical engineer for a very large, well-known IT company. Like every other engineer I know (myself and my husband Tim included), Mark’s creativity was stifled by the mega-corporate-ness of his day job, which fortunately led him to do lots of tinkering on his own time.

Mark, who conveniently taught himself how to TIG weld, built his own yeast propagation system, and cultures all his yeast in his very own yeast lab. He set up a system, from scratch, that reports the temperatures of all the fermenters directly to his iPhone. Like, he wrote the software and built the hardware and everything.

He has plans to attach RFID tags to every keg that leaves the brewery to display real-time tracking of all Aviator beer. This way when a keg runs out at one of his accounts, he can promptly replace it. Mark feels that this sort of information will be crucial to their ability to grow and expand. Umm… Freakin’ genius!

Aviator is definitely worth checking out if you’re in NC. If you can’t make it into the brewery, they also have a tap house downtown. The place was hoppin’ when we went, and they have all their beers on tap, plus growler fills! Either way, guaranteed enjoyment. I highly recommend!

Aviator Tap House

Our very first stop on the trip was Fullsteam Brewery in Durham, NC, a brewery-in-planning set to open up next month… Not that Fullsteam really needs an introduction. Before beginning the lengthy process of opening his brewery, founder and Chief Executive Optimist Sean Lilly Wilson led the charge to Pop The Cap on ABV in North Carolina, as well as lobbying to pass the bill that allows North Carolina breweries to hold beer tastings. Smart guy!

We were thrilled that Sean was so receptive to us coming in for a visit. Heck, he and brewer Chris Davis were more than just receptive. They practically rolled out the red carpet for us by slow-cooking ribs in preparation for our arrival! Talk about southern hospitality!

Chris gave us a thorough tour of the brewery, a beautifully cobbled-together collection of equipment, including a mash tun from Germany, an English-style open fermentation vessel, horizontal dairy tanks, and a homebrew-sized pilot system (built by Chris himself!).

Fullsteam’s newly built-out brewery

The craziest German mash tun/lauter tun/boil kettle I’ve ever seen!

Brewer Chris showing us around the place

Horizontal dairy tank (left) and open fermentation vessel (center)

Construction inside the facility is still in full-swing, with plans for a stage, a bar area, and much more. And there’s no shortage of awesome, funky, steampunk decor! I can tell already that this is going to be an awesome hang-out hot spot in Durham!

The stage

The facility is simply enormous, with another huge space on the side where they plan to add on a banquet-style type area for parties. Below you can see that it’s currently housing their cold box and fork lift.

Future party space up in here

After touring us around, Chris let us sample Carver right out of the fermenter. Carver is a sweet potato beer, but you won’t find any pie spices in this one. It’s super smooth, easy-drinking, subtle, yet complex. I absolutely loved it, and have no doubt that this beer will make them a million bucks!

When the ribs were done, we were lucky enough to get to pair them with Hogwash, a fantastic hickory-smoked porter, perfect with North Carolina barbecue. Mega, mega awesome.

Based on the beer we tasted, Fullsteam is going to succeed. Nay, they’re going to blow away the beer scene in Durham! They’ve already got people knocking on their door, hoping to get Fullsteam beer in their hands, and they haven’t even opened yet! Their current brewing system is about 15 bbl, but they’re already thinking about upgrading to a bigger system. I say go for it! The more Fullsteam beer the better!

We had such a great time talking to Sean and Chris, and I’d like to thank them for letting us check out the place. Keep an eye on these guys, they’re gonna go far!

Vince decided we would brew a Baltic Porter, the very one he plans to send to GABF this year! Even better!

Brew day started at 8am. After getting set up, we mashed in the huge porter. Vince said he had never filled his mash tun so high! He let us help out by stirring and adjusting the mash temperature.

Tim stirring the mash

The mash smelled absolutely fantastic — rich, chocolatey, roasty, like the best oatmeal in the world. It was mega hot and steamy up there during mashing and lautering, but I managed to snag a good picture of the sparge arm doing its thing.

Sparging the Baltic Porter

After we finished collecting 11.5 bbl of wort, it was time to clean the mash tun. We did so by shoveling the grain out through the front of the vessel into garbage cans that would be given to a local cattle farmer for feed. It was hot, steamy, sweaty work, but it totally made my day. Me. Shoveling out a mash tun. How freakin’ cool is that??

Me shoveling out the mash tun

Here’s where things started to go a little downhill… The boiler stopped working. Just completely crapped out on us. No boiler means no steam, which means no boil. What the heck do you do if you can’t boil the wort?

Well, after hours of trying to fix the thing, Vince made the decision to transfer the unboiled, unhopped wort into a sanitized fermenter for storage until the boiler was back up and running. It was a Friday, which meant that it wouldn’t be fixed until Monday at the very earliest. He had never had to do anything like this before, so the decision was not an easy one.

So, slightly disheartened, we continued with the clean-up process. Vince sent Tim down into the boil kettle to scrub it down, which frankly he could not have been more ecstatic to do! Tim hopped right in and went to work!

Vince instructing Tim

Tim cleaning the kettle

After cleaning up and spraying down the rest of the brewhouse, Vince promised us that he would have us come in shortly after the boiler was fixed so we could finish out the brew. He felt unnecessarily bad about the situation, and wanted to make sure we got the full experience. Amazingly nice guy!

So that following Wednesday, we came back to finish off the brew. Vince pumped the wort back into the boil kettle, brought it up to a boil, and it was business as usual.

Me adding hops to the boil

After adding hops and clarifiers, Vince knocked out the boil and started the whirlpool. After that, he pumped the wort through the heat exchanger to chill it, and over to the fermenter, cleaning and sanitizing as he went along. He pitched the yeast, and that was that!

Vince pitching the yeast

So, we’ll see if the 5 day delay in between mashing and boiling will have a negative effect on the beer. Who knows, it may turn out great and still get sent off to GABF! Or, it may turn out horrendous, in which case we’ve already decided that the three of us will have a few pints before dumping it, to really taste the failure.

Vince taught us so much in such a short amount of time. Tim and I know an awful lot about the brewing process, but seeing it actually happen on a professional system is a whole ‘nother story. Just seeing little things, like how to adjust the mash temperature, how the pumps and hoses hook up to various vessels, and what types of cleaners and sanitizers are used on which pieces of equipment, really started to fill in the little gaps in the mystery of large scale brewing.

Vince gave us a crap-ton of excellent advice throughout the whole process. We are immensely grateful to have had the opportunity to come in and brew with him! He said we’re welcome back any time we want. We will definitely take him up on that offer.

It was a gorgeous day, the music was great, and the beer was plentiful! There were a couple BBQ items available to order, and there were six beers on tap specifically to pair with the BBQ.

I ordered the House Smoked BBQ Pork Sandwich, served with Memphis-style BBQ sauce, which is a thin, vinegar-based sauce.

Each beer paired well with BBQ for different reasons. Four of the beers were from Iron Hill, and two were actually guest beers. I got a sampler of all six to try them out!

Smokin Blonde Ale. Belgian style Blonde Ale with biscuit-like character and a subtle sweet smoke flavor from the use of smoked malts. The Belgian yeast lends a fruit and spice character.
This was my first and favorite beer of the day! Malty and creamy with a hoppy bite, a dry finish, and the slightest hint of smoke. The smoke matched the smoky flavors in BBQ, and the malty flavors provided a nice contrast to the acidity of vinegar.

Munich Dunkel. German dark lager with pronounced roasted malt aroma and flavor and a crisp, clean finish.
The caramel and roasted malt flavors in this beer matched these same flavors found in the BBQ.

Smoked Porter. Smoked and slightly bigger version of our Pig Iron Porter. Rich, roast, and chocolate malt flavor is balanced by a mild bitterness and pronounced smoked malt aroma.
The smokiness on this beer was perfect — definitely there, but not overdone. The smoke in addition to the roasted, malty, chocolate flavors complimented the roasted, smokey flavors of the BBQ nicely.

Wee Heavy. Strong Scotch Ale, distinct malty sweet and fruity aroma and flavor complemented by a background slight smoky flavor from the use of peated malt.
I have to say, the yeast character was a little too fruity for me. But the malty, peaty, smokey flavors of this beer did compliment the BBQ well.

Stewart’s A Dark & Smokey Weisse. A dark German-style wheat ale brewed with cherrywood and beechwood-smoked malts, and fermented with yeast from the legendary Weihenstephan brewery. Soft fruity notes and complex phenols combine with an intense smoked character.
A guest beer from Stewart’s Brewing in Bear, DE. This was an excellent beer, tasted like cherries and fire! It starts out sweet, smokey in the finish, then dries out completely, making you want another sip. Again, smoked beers work great with BBQ by matching the smokey meat.

Dogfish Head Palo Santo Marron. An unfiltered, unfettered, unprecedented brown ale aged in handmade wooden brewing vessels. The caramel and vanilla complexity unique to this beer comes from the exotic Paraguayan Palo Santo wood from which these tanks were crafted.
A guest beer from Dogfish Head. The wood character really dominates this beer. It’s rich, thick, and malty, with caramel and vanilla flavors. This richness matches the richness of the BBQ. The caramel flavors also find a match in the meat.

The great music, delicious food, fabulous beer, and gorgeous weather made for a perfect day. I always love trying different pairings, and this was a great way of demonstrating what beer styles work well with BBQ. And who doesn’t love BBQ?

I had a chance to speak with the chocolatier, who told me about the mendiants he brought with him – thin, delicate disks of chocolate that melt in your mouth, fully opening up all the flavors. He brought four different kinds of chocolate, and each one was paired with Iron Hill’s Bourbon Barrel-Aged Imperial Stout.

The amazing thing about this pairing was that each chocolate made the stout taste completely different. It was as if I was tasting four different stouts with the four different chocolates! Pretty awesome!

The Bourbon Barrel-Aged Imperial Stout on its own was rich, thick, sweet, chocolatey, roasty, with a hint of bourbon and wood. Here’s how it tasted along with the chocolates:

Arriba – 39% cocoa
Grown only in the lush and tropical valleys of northwestern Ecuador, Arriba chocolate is rare and exquisite. This milk chocolate retains an intense cocoa flavor, equally creamy and fruity, with light herbal and spicy undertones.

This chocolate had the lowest percentage of cocoa out of the four. Definitely a milk chocolate — creamy, nutty, quite sweet, and less intensely chocolatey than the other, darker chocolates. The intense sweetness of the chocolate made the beer taste much, much drier and roastier than before I tasted the chocolate.

Alto el Sol – 65% cocoa
Alto el Sol is a small estate located in the heart of the Peruvian Amazon jungle, and it is here that the Saavedra del Castillo family grows organic cocoa beans with pride and superior care. Since this chocolate is made with beans from only this estate, it is our most exclusive. Its intense cocoa flavor and unique, slightly fruity, and acidic character will be sure to delight.

This was definitely a dark chocolate, but it was still quite sweet and very nutty. Because this one had a more intense cocoa flavor, the beer lost all of its chocolate flavor and became much more acidic and roasty, but not quite as dry as with the milk chocolate.

Ecuador – 70% cocoa
Ecuador has become one of the world’s leading cocoa producers since it started growing cocoa in the 17th centruy. With its high cocoa content, distinctive flavor profile, and intense aromas, this exclusive chocolate is refined with a hint of fresh fruits and flowers.

This was the darkest of the chocolates, and therefore had a very intense cocoa flavor, which made the chocolate flavors of the beer completely disappear, and actually made the beer taste much more bitter and roasty.

Aleppo Pink Peppercorn – 60% cocoa
A blend of three single-origin chocolates, our Aleppo Pink Peppercorn Mendiants have a subtle heat provided by chili grown in Syria’s famed Aleppo Valley.

The heat in this chocolate was wonderful! The lingering, slow burn in the chocolate made the chocolate flavors of the beer pop. It also made the beer taste incredibly smooth and rich.

I enjoyed this little chocolate pairing exercise. It really showed how the foods we eat can completely transform a beer. Magic!

Of course, I couldn’t stop there. Larry had too many other interesting beers on tap. So I got a sampler! (Don’t worry, I did not drive myself home!) Here are some of the highlights…

Cherry Tart. Refreshing American wheat beer fermented with lots of tart Michigan cherry juice.
Light, sweet, almost tasted like Dr Pepper or cherry soda.

Hopzilla. American style IPA, with notes of vanilla, lemon, cedar, and coconut.
I didn’t get a chance to ask Larry where the vanilla, cedar, and coconut flavors came from, but to me it tasted like this IPA was aged on wood. The bartender said he believed those flavors were all coming from the use of Sorachi Ace hops, but I’ve only ever gotten lemon flavor from those. Hmm…

California Steamin’. Hoppy American amber lager fermented at ale temperatures with herbal hop notes and nuances of caramel malt.
Nice caramel flavor, a hint of chocolate, smooth, creamy, with a gentle note of herbal hops. Really lovely beer.

Chinago. Saison brewed with Chinook hops. Intense notes of apricot and pine, with subtle yeast spice.
To me, this barely resembled a saison, because the Chinook just hit me in the face with apricot and pine. A very interesting though not very easy-drinking beer!

Self Titled. Barrel fermented American IPA.
Brett!! In an IPA!! Cool!!

As you can see, Larry is quite the creative brewer. The fact that he had 10 seasonals on tap in addition to the house beers is incredible! I highly recommend checking out Iron Hill West Chester. It’s the best of the Iron Hill chain in my opinion!