So I am heading to NC and was wondering what are the breweries I cant miss out on, or beer that are exclusive to the Raleigh Durham to Fayetteville NC area and input would be appreciated.
Haw River Brewery if you can swing out just past Chapel Hill. Tiny space, fantastic and interesting beer.
I'm not too familiar with the brewery scene in the areas mentioned but try to track down some NoDa - Hope Drop 'N Roll, Westbrook(SC) - Gose and just about anything Wicked Weed. If you will be closer to the Durham end then Sam's Quik Stop is a must for a bottle shop. Raleigh also has Bottle Revolution, BottleMixx and a couple Total Wine stores that will cover you with a wide selection. Raleigh Beer Garden has their Grand Opening on July 20th as well. Probably going to be slammed but the place has something like 344 taps! Would be an adventure just to see the epicness of that!
Olde Hickory Brewery, especially if you can find Event Horizon, Lindley Park, or Omega Point. Their base lineup is pretty solid too, including: Death by Hops (would probably go for NoDa's Hop Drop 'n Roll though), Irish Walker, Imperial Stout, etc. Can't go wrong with anything from Wicked Weed or Haw River as already mentioned. If you are looking for a cool brewery in the Durham area, Fullsteam is pretty neat and their lineup is pretty decent as well at the brewery. Foothill's Jade IPA and their IPA of the month are worth a try (if you happen to find a keg of Sexual Chocolate while out and about at bars, definitely give it a try). Honestly, you can't really go wrong with anything you pick while you are down here that is local! I would definitely hit Sam's Quik Shop while in Durham as well. I'm sure the Raleigh/Durham area guys can direct you more on that though.
I'm usually alone on this one, but Duck Rabbit is an NC staple. Current seasonals are Dopplebock (should still be kicking around) and Schwarzbier, which are both great. Core lineup is solid as well. Stop by any bottle shop in the Raleigh area and ask them to point out the good local stuff. There's a ton of NC breweries have an open mind and try whatever sounds good to you!
