The Locals HINTS AND HAULS THREAD

Have you been following Tom Crabtree on Twitter today?

 

Yes, I am very sad to hear about Charlie.

 

Snow update! Only an inch to two

 

Old man Oliver!

 

Rest of my night in Charlotte.

Olde Hickory Death By Hops:


Followed by a sampler flight of Birdsong Higher Ground and Honey Pie, D9 Viking Fraoch, and Green Man Dweller:


Also picked up a few bottles in case I don't have time to stop tomorrow on the way out of town:

 

Couple of awesome bottles you picked up @JNForsyth. I like Event Horizon better than Lindley Park, but you'd already tried that one at Duckworths. Oblivion is probably my favorite bottled sour from Wicked Weed. Said I couldn't at least offer to stop in and see a fellow Local, but I was on my way to the airport already

 

#vbs

 

Fear and Loathing in CT

 

Not a problem. Gotta sit in meetings all day but hopefully I get done soon enough to swing in to Good Bottle on the way to the airport. I have a pretty good handle on what to look for but are there any local hidden gems I should be on the look for?

 

@mklisz I was planning on shipping your swag box today, but with the Blizzard would you rather I ship next week? If I shipped today it would land Saturday afternoon.

 

Virtual Bacon Share?

 

Woo Hoo! Al's/Pizza boy has been a long time "I hope I get a chance to try that one day" want of mine! You all talk so highly of them, that (while a ninja attack is super fun...) I'd love to accept this box. Of course, I will definitely be paying it forward with a LIF in the future too.

I'll BM later today with my info. If I doesn't work out, then no worries.

 

I mean, they'll still fill growlers I'm sure, just no crowlers while that is down.

 

Not sure what you know about and what you don't, so I'll do a top hit list.

• Wicked Weed - I think everyone in the world knows about this one
• OHB - You've already covered the biggies though
• Duck Rabbit - If you find Anarchy on a shelf somewhere, buy what you can. It's expensive ($5/12 oz), but man its so good. Most of the rest of their beers I'm not a huge fan of.
• NoDa - HDR is their best, but some of the others are good too
• Foothills - I'm really not a huge fan of a lot of their base beers, though People's Porter is fine. You'll barely miss Sexual Chocolate... The really good part of their normal lineup is their IPAs. Hoppyum and Seeing Double are both good, and Jade and January are pretty awesome. I think January/Barley (which should be easily findable right now) is their best IPA right now.
• Mother Earth - Another brewery that does some solid stuff but doesn't knock your socks off. Silent Night on the other hand... Very solid stout and worth considering if you see it (its a winter seasonal, so probably is already gone depending on the store)
• Pisgah - They have some very limited distro. If you see it, I'd pick it up. Vortex II is a great beer. If you happen to see Chocolatized Vortex II (which I can't actually remember if they bottled), buy that in a heartbeat.
• Fullsteam - These don't hit western NC as much as they do the Triangle, but they make some interesting beers. Most of them I wouldn't call 'good', but many of them are different than anything out there
• Green Man - They make some good stuff (Dweller, sours, etc), but they're expensive and I'm not sure that I think they're worth it (others obviously do). Their base line (ESB is probably the biggest one) is a solid representation of the style, but not going to knock anyone's socks off.
• Highland - Lots of strong local support. I'm not a fan. Just tossing it out there as you'll almost certainly see it.

Looking at a distro comparison, here's what I'd take a look at non-local:

• Epic - Big Bad Baptist is, I'd say, the best easily available stout on the market, especially for the money (around $13). Ridiculously good and just came back into the state with a vengeance. Elder Brett is also very good. Others like the Brainless series (I'm not really a fan).
• New Belgium - Seriously, PA doesn't get New Belgium? Um, they make good beer, maybe get some? They have such a wide lineup that I can't even figure out where to start La Folie is my personal favorite I think, but depends on whether you like really sour sours.
• Boulevard - This is another one that's national enough that I'm sure you have an idea of the lineup. Love Child 4 is a great sour, but doubt its sitting on shelves anywhere anymore.

 

Tobias Fünke?

 

Awesome! This is exactly what I was looking for. Should have brought a bigger bag!

 

If you picked up 2 beers from WW (Oblivion and Black Angel if they're available), Duck Rabbit Anarchy, NoDa HDR and Foothills January, you'll have a pretty solid haul. Not sure if that fits in your bag though with the couple you already picked up The nice thing is that all of those other than January are smaller format bottles.

 

Most off the clothes in my checked bag were for beer wrapping anyways, I can put some in my carry on to fit more beer if need be. Bummed about missing Sexual Chocolate though, been wanting to try that one ever since I heard about it.

 

That's the spirit, who needs clothes when you've got beer!

 

I know, right? I'm flying home anyways, plenty of clothes there.