I'm headed down in a week to look at homes in the area. I will be with wife, daughter and mom in law. So not a lot of beer opportunities on this trip. If you could hit one bottle shop, which would it be? I want to at least stock the hotel fridge with good stuff. I see Wicked Weed distributes to the area, I'm wondering how long it stays on the shelf? In the event that I could make it to a bar/restaurant, which ones come to mind as far as good food(to sell it to the family) but more importantly, a good tap/bottle list. Any and all info is appreciated. Thanks!
Assuming that you are in Raleigh (not Durham or Chapel Hill/Carborro), my personal first choice would be Bottle Revolution. Behind that, I would consider checking out Tasty Beverage. Depends on where you are staying in Raleigh though as there are a few decent bottle shops in North Raleigh. If you can convince the family to a brewery/restaurant for dinner, I would totally recommend Trophy Brewing (I took my wife and 2 year old daughter) and they enjoyed it - it is upscale pizza.
If you are looking to get a bunch of singles go to Bottle Revolution. If you are looking to get some sixers/big bottles/growlers go to Tasty Beverage or Ridgewood Wine & Beer.
For a bottle shop I recommend Ridgewood. For a restaurant I recommend the Busy Bee a sister restaurant of Trophy.
Thanks for the replies! I've looked these up and all look great. I will le you guys know where I end up and how it goes. I know the selection will not compare to the bottle shops, but how are the Whole Foods in the area as far as beer? I do not have them near me, but have been happy with what I've found in the ones that I've visited.
The Whole Foods over near N.C. State (Ridgewood, I believe) has long had a very good selection. I haven't been to the North Raleigh location since opening, but my bet is that it would be solid.
The Whole Foods near NC State has a decent selection but not quite as good (or as large as it was a couple of years ago). If you are at that plaza with the Whole Foods on Wade Ave, you are better off going to Ridgewood to grab beer.
The Whole Foods have good not great selections, but as has been previously mentioned the Wade Avenue Whole Foods is in the same shopping center as Ridgewood Wine & Beer so you could hit both in a very short amount of time.
Got home tonight, thoroughly enjoyed our time in the Raleigh area. Sampled a LOT of local beers, more than I expected to and was able to bring quite a bit home as well. Bought beer at Harris Teeter and Whole Foods. Nice NC stuff from Foothills and Big Boss...also had some Triangle and Fullsteam. Went to Bottle Revolution and thought it was pretty cool to have a draft beer while shopping. Excellent store, dropped too much money there, got a bunch of Wicked Weed for myself and friends. Another nice shop was in Apex, Beer Dispensary. I got more wicked Weed, had a beer while shopping, and again spent too much. We offered on a house, and signed a contract last night around this time, so it was a pretty awesome trip. Looking forward to living down there even more than I was before!
Since you mentioned Apex, there is a very new brewery there called Brueprint. Went to their opening and had some solid beers. Beyond solid was their German Hefeweizen. I'm pretty picky when it comes to German styles -- and U.S. "craft" brewers are notorious for messing up Hefeweizens -- but this one was really right on. Nice way to beat the N.C. heat. Other than that beer, I can recommend Raleigh Brewing's stuff. Everything I have had has been really spot on, and their House of Clay IPA (at 7.5% ABV) reminds me of Heady Topper in a number of ways. Enjoy, and congrats!
Thanks! Actually picked up two singles from Brueprint, had the Pale Brue Eyes last night and have a Brue Diamond in the fridge right now. Agree with you on the American hefeweizens, seems to me they are often thin and missing depth of flavor and the right carbonation. But I'm by no means an expert on the style. I will definitely look for the House of Clay next time I am there, sounds good!
Dude. Sorry to post just to crap on you, but if you think RBC's House of Clay tastes like or even remotely reminds you of Heady, you have taste bud issues.
The primary similarity I found was in mouthfeel. ABV is close on both, as are lab-tested IBUs. Hop bill/schedule isn't too terribly different; both use sugar to dry the beer out. Also visually the beers are fairly similar. While the taste similarities may be secondary to the above, IMO there were enough similarities to make me think the comparison was/is apt. You obviously feel differently. EDIT: Can you outline specifically what you think makes Raleigh Brewing's beers "mediocre" (as you have stated a number of times)?
House of Clay doesnt have the resinous hop punch that Heady gives you up front. Also, House of Clay is a rye IPA, whereas Heady is a straight DIPA. Apples to oranges, mate. The hop profile is markedly different, as is the grain bill. Now NoDa Hop Drop n Roll, that is Heady esqe.
There's a few Wicked Weeds that have been on the shelf for a while, Serenity/ Bretticent etc at least at Bestway , cases.
I have been there 4-5 times, and their beers have underwhelmed me each time. I have had a few of John's beers pre-RBC, which were excellent, but I know that commercial-scale brewing is a whole different ballgame. The last time I went, they were particularly bad, what with the House of Clay tasting severely underattenuated and with very little hop presence or rye spiciness. I also had a blood orange wheat that I was excited to try, however it was a bitter mess without any maltiness or wheatiness to speak of. Some of the guys in the homebrew store are extremely knowledgeable, and their prices on that side are great. I am willing to give their stuff another try, but when there are so many better options, I am finding it hard to find an opportunity to do so. I'll try a House of Clay next time I go there for homebrew ingredients and report back to you. Do you have any connection to the brewery?
Not connected to that operation at all. Just had a couple of chances to drink their beers when visiting relatives there (last time was Christmas 2013). Like I said, I really enjoyed the House of Clay and found some similarities to HT. I'm willing to back away from that comparison, however, given that there are much more apt ones (Hop Drop n Roll) and that I don't want to in any way mislead someone moving there by creating unrealistically high expectations. Personally, I really enjoyed the beers I had from them and would be sad to hear that the quality had in any way declined. I'm pretty well-known as appreciating subtlety and balance over intensity of flavor, so perhaps we just have differing expectations (e.g., I'd never think to say that HoC has "very little hop presence"). Now, your comment about underattenuation concerns me, because I'd consider that a straight technical flaw. I picked up none of that when I drank that beer. Thus I am (again) thinking that maybe it's a difference in preference, and that perhaps you were expecting a highly attenuated "West-coast" (D)IPA style or something. Anyhow, I'd appreciate you reporting back. I'll also drop my brother (who lives up there) a line and ask if he's detected any quality problems. Cheers.
