Suggestions for muling from Raleigh

There's lots of great stuff out there right now, so your buddy might be best off asking the guys working in whatever bottleshop he stops by.

That said...

Wicked Weed's bottled IPAs (Tier 1: Freak of Nature, Pernicious) are fantastic and they have a couple of sours and funky beers out in distribution.

Olde Hickory's Lindley Park is great, if you like BBA Raspberry Imperial Stouts.

Foothills Jade IPA is always a great choice. Their Seeing Double gets overlooked among new IPAs, but is as solid as ever.
Natty Greene's American Sour (Flanders Red) just hit shelves in GSO, so it might be in Raleigh, too. Haven't had this year's batch, but I was a big fan of last year's offering.

Burial Beer Co is one of the new "IT" breweries, as they have been releasing some great cans recently. Bolo Coconut Brown is fantastic (drinking one now) is still on shelves in my neck of the woods, so it might be available in Raleigh, too. All of their stuff is good, though.

Haw River Farmhouse Ales is another strong up-and-coming-but-already-here brewery in NC. Their St. Benedict's Breakfast Double is fantastic and they have a really nice Farmhouse IPA on shelves, too.

There's lots more great stuff from NC that doesn't make it out of the state, but I've already spent long enough writing this post.

 

@Sumcontrabass summed it up pretty nicely.

There are some hyped up things from "IT breweries" here right now (e.g., Wicked Weed, Olde Hickory, Burial, Alpine, etc., which are all great), but if you're looking for something local to the Triangle, have your buddy keep an eye out for anything from Steel String and Haw River, or even the new Ponysaurus cans that just came off the line this week. I have yet to have a bad beer from Steel String, and really think they are a highly underrated brewery for the area. Their sour program is new, but they have made some killer beers and are experimenting in more successful ways than other breweries in the area. Haw River is amazing, too, and their Cotton Pickin' IPA is world class. Ponysaurus is brand new, but their Bier de Garde is worth a shot (and the packaging is great).

Just to clarify, you can't go wrong with Wicked Weed, Burial, or Alpine, but if your friend is coming through Raleigh, why not pick up something(s) more local?

 

I haven't seen any Cottonpickin still on shelves here in a while, but Haw River is releasing their new foeder beer called Rusted Plow (a brett saison) next week that will definitely be one to look for.

Definitely Lindley Park and maybe Olde Hickory's regular imperial stout. Event Horizon should be out soon too, but probably not by next week. Do you get Oskar Blues where you're at? If not, have him pick up some Death by Coconut. Definitely 2nd Burial's Bolo Brown if he can still find any. And of course a couple Wicked Weed IPA's and sours.

Cold Mountain from Highland is out now as well. I think it's flat out gross, but A LOT of people love it.

 

I would say grab just about any Wicked Weed, but for sure Pernicious IPA, its amazing. Its hard to go wrong with their sours too. I was in town visiting Raleigh yesterday and I just grabbed whatever I could off the shelf. I've done that before and of course some are better than others, but I haven't regretted anything yet.

 

Event Horizon hit the shelves at Pipe and Pint and Bestway in Greensboro today, so it shouldn't be long before Raleigh gets a shipment.

 

Nice, well then OP's buddy should definitely grab that one.

 

No Event Horizon in Raleigh yet.

Silent Night from Mother Earth is popping up today though.

 

Event Horizon should be all over Raleigh tomorrow. Not sure how much longer your friend will be in NC.

 

Event Horizon hit today at Sams Quick

 

Any chance Event Horizon is still around any where in Raleigh?

 

@sdterp Should be availbale in Durham _ Sam's Bottle Shop, Sam's Quik Shop and maybe Glass Jug. Shouldn't be too hard to find. The quik shop may even have Lindley Park around

 

It's all over the place. You shouldn't have any issues locating a bottle.

 

Thanks for the info. Wanted to make sure it was around before calling places.
Found out Tasty beverage has it, which is closest to my beer mule.