Looks like they just tapped a beer called Lower Haight that they are describing as a hazy IPA. Is that the first time they've put that one on? thanks for the recs
Hey all! Been browsing this thread and was curious about two things as I'll be driving down from the DC area on Thursday to Durham, hanging out in Durham Friday, and then driving back to Asheville from Augusta on Sunday. I think I have a pretty good idea of which breweries to hit at least in Asheville, but is there anything I should definitely seek out or places I need to hit on the trip? Thanks for your help!
Durham recommendations: Bottle Shops/Beer Bars: Sam's Quik Stop, Beer Study Durham Breweries: Ponysaurus, Fullsteam If you want to venture a bit further, I'd recommend OG Beer Study in Chapel Hill and Steel String Brewery in Carrboro. And if you want to go further than that, Haw River Ales in Saxapahaw
I believe they only do growlers, and they'll have it on the tap list what's available for growlers. Otherwise they sometimes have cans available to go (they're basically prefilled crowlers, I think they are like 25.4 oz cans). Just keep an eye out on Facebook, as they're usually really good about announcing what's available in cans.
Stopped into High Branch today for the first time. They are doing 32 oz growlers of most beers and also had a few 25 oz cans of McGill Street left. Their beers are excellent! I was especially impressed with McGill Street and the Ninja Slippers with BA coffee. Can't wait for my next visit.
i was there today (first time) and grabbed a couple McGills Cans $8 and a 32 growler of DDH Pounder for $10 which was excellent. He did say that they will fill a outside growler...bring plenty!
The most recent batch of Cloud Surfer was undrinkable to me and a drain pour. It wasn't even reminiscent of previous batches. Trophy is one of the most inconsistent breweries I can think of. I'm pretty much done with that. Assclown's Imperial IPA is fantastic. One of the better double IPAs in the state.
Enjoyed both Trophy's "Outta This Citra" and Bond Brothers "Long Story" this weekend, both 8%ers. Very different but both solid brews. Sounds like a Wilmington trip is in order! Been wanting to check out the amphitheater there, shoulda gone to the Greensky show.
Won't lie- the newest batch of burials gang of blades is so dang juicy and good. One of the best batches I think!
WBC and New Anthem are running ahead of Heist right now in the best of NC hops battle for me. I have to give WBC the race right now by a nose, statewide. And Iput them in the conversation with Veil. It's good to be spoiled. I think Burial took a step back with their latest Gang of Blades release, but their Ceremonial series continues to impress. It's good to be spoiled by solid local craft.
I was visiting family south of Wilmington and made a trip to WBC and New Anthem. Kitten Biscuits from WBC was amazing, and Neon God from New Anthem was great too. Also sampled All the Cool Kids are Doing it, and thought it was good, but not a standout. Since I had the foresight to bring down some fresh Singlecut cans we were able to try them side by side to a crowler of Kitten Biscuits the next day. Rankings among everyone went #1 Singlecut Weird & Gilly (canned 5/17), #2 WBC Kitten Biscuits, #3 Singlecut DDH Workers Go Home (canned early may), #4 Singlecut Billy 18 Watt(canned 5/17). If we got to compare them directly I would say Neon God would slot in between DDH Workers Go Home and Billy 18 Watt. I was very surprised by what is coming out of Wilmington.
I haven't noticed much variation in Gang of Blades personally, but this canning is definitely something to pick up. The date is 5/25. The yeast makes it so juicy tasting
Drinking one right now. First time I've had it. I'm not very impressed at all. I like surf wax quite a bit better than this. Something in here that doesn't quite work for me. EDIT: just realized it's fermented with wild yeast. That must be it. Not a fan.
Tried both Kitten Biscuits and Cool Kids the other night with a buddy who had brought back some crowlers. Really liked both, but at 5% or so Cool Kids was the one that really stood out. Hope more Wilmington stuff (and New Anthem for that matter) makes its way to the Triangle soon.
High branch at Heist this past Wednesday for a collab, dipa, oh my...gonna need a crowler of that in my life. High branch is very good, pounder was awesome for a pale, and take the boys also damn good. Late to the party on too'quenchl, better than citraquenchl and blurred is the word, yea I said it. Crowler was almost a month old and was so fucking good.
Surprised to hear no one mention Bond Brothers Long Story yet. A shade above Long Stride IMO. Great mouthfeel. All Citra and Mosaic. And this batch of Gang of Blades is fire. Burial honing it in.
Long Story is another great IPA for the Brothers Bond!! Now if they could only get their Crowler availability problem fixed : )
Agree on both counts, they never have crowlers available of the beer I want and sometimes none of any beers at all. Have even had them give conflicting availability info over the phone and in person when I got there.
How do releases at High Branch go? I see they're releasing Pounder on Friday. I was going to stop there regardless due to Iron Maiden at PNC.
In the past, their releases haven't been too crazy. Amazingly, they are still flying somewhat under the radar (thankfully for selfish reasons, haha), so not a TON of people show up, with their cans typically remaining through the weekend (if not a little longer) if released on a Friday. This is definitely not always the case though. They also typically limit it to 2 cans or so of each beer released per person. Just find them on Facebook and they do an excellent job of updating can limits and such.
Had a Gang of Blades last night, was surprised to find a few four packs left on Saturday. It was very good, excited for another tonight.
Super fresh cans of All the Cool Kids... landed in at least a couple of places around the triangle today (Ridgewood + Beer Study Durham). Excited to try it tomorrow. Also Booneshine cans of IPA and Tropicale at Beer Study. Haven't had either, but I had a Palate Painter on tap that was pretty tasty.
Outta this galaxy is, in my opinion Trophy's best ipa hands down. It will be interesting to see how it translates to cans.
Agree. If it's even close to as good as the draft at Little Trophy was then it will be their best canned release so far.
This is, for me, Trophy's last shot. They have, by my count, at least three other beers attempting to be New England IPAs (what they call "modern"): Cloud Surfer (perpetually underwhelming), Full Extension (collab with Finback, a saccharine, buttered-popcorn diacetyl disaster), and the DAVE series which is just a joke...doesn't resemble NEIPAs in color, clarity, taste, or aroma). I will admit I heard great things about Outta This Galaxy when it was on draft at the pizza location (was it on draft at maywood, too?). And Galaxy is one of my favorite hop varieties. But yeah, if they fuck this up too I'm officially donezo.
Didn't AMB just release "modern" IPA too? What does modern even mean in regards to an IPA? Like if they can't make it a proper NE Style then just call it an ipa.
short list Howard's Lake Fever Black IPA has a complex flavor and lots of hops. New Belgium Citradelic i like the flavor Sierra Nevada Torpedo HOPPY says it all
Are you thinking of AMB's "Not an IPA" IPA? I had one over the weekend and thought it was pretty good. Not a NE-Style IPA, though. Kinda reminded me of Surf Wax (or at least one of the Surf Wax iterations) with its lemony citrus flavor. I haven't had a ton of stuff from AMB, but this might be my favorite IPA from 'em so far.
I saw Beer Study got some stuff from Wilmington recently too. Does anyone know if they're going to start distro here or did JD just get it himself?
Im pretty sure they went down and picked it up. From being down there this week, I would think WBC is closer than New Anthem to starting distribution.
They picked it up. Overhead them saying they are getting cans of Steez this weekend. Gets my hopes up this will start being more regular.
