Archive for August, 2008

Pop the Cap, the grassroots organization that changed the face of beer in NC forever, has come to a close. Sean Wilson, president of Pop The Cap since he was just six-years-old (that’s a joke, obviously, but he has been involved from the start), is moving on to bigger and better things.

Without Sean’s amazing talents in marketing, rational debating, and writing and speaking coherently, you, my friends, would not be drinking Chimay. You would not be sipping Green Flash. And you would have never even heard of The Beast. Highland Brewing Co. would have never made Imperial Gaelic, no Pisgah Solstice, and no French Broad Wee-Heavy-er. Basically, beer people, our currently happy beer lives were made possible through Sean and the other fine folks behind the scenes at Pop The Cap.

The final PTC dinner was held this week at Poole’s Diner in Raleigh.

So, to Sean, cheers! We will miss you and your silly pranks like the e-mails on our tablet in-store, i.e. omg [at] zimarules [cot] com. We thank you and wish you best of luck with your new endeavors—which thankfully will continue to involve your love of both North Carolina and beer (although not necessarily in that order). We’re looking forward to the initiation of the NC Brewers Guild and the unique and crazy concept that is to be Fullsteam Brewery. Go forth in good beer!

[Photo: flickr/Sean Wilson, left]

More and more of you are expressing interest (and often fascination) in the idea of cellaring beer. You can really get our geek side riled-up if you ask about it. While a lot folks want to try aging their beer, there seems to be a misperception that you need this gargantuan climate-controlled hideaway to accomplish such a feat. Not so. Cellaring can be as much as you keeping your beers in a cardboard box, away from light, in a cool place. Ideally, you want the storage area to be around 55° (+/-, depending), but you can get away with a basement temp or often just a cool, closeted area. Some people use a beer fridge, which is not our favorite way, because corks can dry out or oxidation can occur. But to each his own. Time is also a factor, meaning how long will you age the beer. Corked beers age better outside the fridge.

As far as cellaring is concerned, light is beer’s worst enemy. Heat is beer’s second worst enemy. In that order. As a simple rule, we always buy two of something we want to age—one for now, one for later, to see how it evolves.

So, why cellar/age your beer? It’s simple—beers evolve and change, often developing more intense and rich flavors than when they started out, pulling out the complexities in the beer that weren’t there when it was fresh. Sometimes you’ll hear the term “too hot” or “calming down,” meaning the true balance isn’t found in the beer yet. This often happens with super-hoppy, overly-malty beers, or just plain boozers. Often, a little aging will take off that alcohol burn and turn it into a delightful, smooth sipper.

That’s a pic our cellar above. A couple shelves from Lowes and you’ve got your own! Nothing fancy. And we store the goodies we’ve found along the way to savor with friends. Give cellaring a try. If you can stand not to drink the goods, that is.

Here’s a bunch of Google searches to keep you busy.

We’ve finally gotten to downloading some photos from the camera this week. Check out Adam and Missy Reinke of MALT brewing at the ballpark! (He made a Gaelic Ale clone and we can’t wait to try it.) Perhaps we were the first to ever brew at McCormick Field?

Friday night is our final event with the Asheville Tourists this year. Join us for the Ommegang Dinner at McCormick Field!

Thanks to Adam at Beernews.org for getting this up on YouTube for me. And no, Atwater decided NOT to recall the bottles saying it’s “not uncommon.” Terrible, terrible decision. Lawsuit, anyone?

Thanks to EVERYONE who came out for the wacky Beer & Cookie tasting yesterday. It was definitely a elbow-rubber—huge success—and we’re going to do it again as the Fall seasonals arrive when Jamie makes her incredible pumpkin cookies!

The Thirsty Monk website is up
Thirsty Monk/Pinthouse has a website on Google now with downloadable lists of the beer available. Now that’s handy, isn’t it?

Pisgah makes soda
A cream soda by Pisgah Brewing is available at the Mellow Mushroom. Creamy. Yummy. Look for some new brews from them in the upcoming weeks, too.

Wedge to make beer for Marco’s Pizza
The Wedge is just cranking out the beer down in the River Arts District. Beer spies tell us that they are private-labeling a pilsner just for Marco’s Pizza. We love that idea.

Brewgrass Festival sells-out (again)
Sorry, folks, but tickets to Asheville’s Brewgrass Festival have sold-out. Many of you have been writing us in desperation, but we do not have any tickets available. They are long gone. You can chance a trip and hope to get one at the gate from a seller or try Asheville Craigslist. Currently there are more “wants” than sellers, but you never know.