Durham bars

Some great suggestions. Sam's is a must. I'll second The Federal, Dos Perros and Milltown. Great food and beer at all three of these spots. Honorable mention to Bull City Burger. If you hit Milltown, go across the street to TJ's. It's a solid bottle shop that may have some things that are sold out at Sam's. I love the vibe at Fullsteam but the beer can be hit or miss. I tried the Wanderlust at the second anniversary party and it was a crime against humanity. Love the Igor though.
P.S. Ask for the cellar beer list if you hit Dos Perros. Trust me on this.

 

Ha! Why a "crime against humanity?" I know I'm biased, but as a tart brown ale akin to a Berliner Weisse/Oud Bruin, I find this year's Wanderlust refreshing and unique. Lots of patrons and beer drinkers agree.

 

Ill second that, Sean. I enjoyed it alot.

 

Igor was sooo good.

 

My husband and I thoroughly enjoyed it as well! We would love to see more sour/tart beers in the future btw

 

The berliner reference explains the thin mouthfeel. I thought that it tasted like a flat Tab mixed with cherries with some lacto (not enough) added. And yes, I love sours. This just felt like an experiment gone horribly awry. I'm honestly shocked that multiple people liked it. Really? Wow. I'm fine being in the minority on this one. I'd also suggest reconsidering your unofficial policy of questioning every so-so review of your beer on this site. Unless you want to be surrounded by yes men (and women), you should be encouraging honest feedback regarding your product. Don't take it personally.

 

I don't take it personally. When someone calls our beer a "crime against humanity" without offering up any details, I'm going to try and find out why -- particularly if there's something we could have improved upon. I try to do it in a way that encourages dialogue and doesn't come across as defensive. The honest feedback came in your second post; thanks for that.

Sean

 

I went through the same phase, but I learned to always give feedback in a manner that is conducive to growth and improvement of the beer. Just not liking a beer has no place on this site, or elsewhere. Now through yours, Win's, and others advice Ive grown to be better at giving my opinion.

 

Congrats on becoming self-actualized through beer. See you on the mountaintop.
P.S. Look for Kofi Annan in the Fullsteam tasting room any day now.

 

Ive been known to rant about beers here in NC being subpar, but its going to take some serious conversation with serious people about how to improve anything they feel is subpar or bad. Sean is doing a great thing by engaging in conversation to try to see what they dont like about the beer. This could seriously help the quality of beer as it pertains to people that dont like it. Weve had conversations about their Spring IPA which I didnt really care for. I gave him exactly what I didnt like, and what I thought would improve it.

Could you tell me (a third party) what exactly you didnt like about the beers you had? Im all for trying to improve the beer here in Durham (since I go to Fullsteam quite often compared to the other breweries here, and it will improve the quality of the beer I drink locally). A constructive conversation will bring about the most change. Being a grump just results in people viewing you as a grump.

 

I liked where Wanderlust was going....just don't think it got there. Reminded me of a tame/muted/undeveloped version New Glarus Enigma (which I love). What I liked....was that it wasn't like sweet cherry juice (like some missed efforts of this beer type have been), had some tartness that helped balance a little bit. Wasn't all the way there for me...but I won't be reporting you to the United Nations.

Basically, like you (peeto) talked about before...I look forward to what Fullsteam comes up with when your souring program becomes more developed/experienced, cause I like the ideas

Personally, I think subtlety can be a good thing in beer, but sometimes, so can highly-developed flavors that complement/contradict in interesting and complex ways. Of course, I know that can be personal preference...for instance, I think minimalism is boring and lazy.

 

Straight up, one of the challenges of our 15hl brewhouse is that it's a German-built brewery perfect for classic lagers. It struggles with dense grain bills and sometimes can't pull off a high ABV beer. That's why we won't have IGOR this year -- we simply missed the efficiency for an Imperial Stout. Hopefully when we have our dream 30-barrel brewery we can consistently hit a broader range of thicker, higher ABV beers. (and, unrelated, we'll develop more knowledge and experience on true aged sours. Thankfully we do have plenty of wine barrels to work with.)