Ok, so this one isn’t totally about beer.  I have a friend  that grew up in the Chicago burbs with me and has lived in Seattle for a while now. He and his wife are moving to the area in September.  I started making a list of things for him to check out, but I thought it might be nice to get some other input.  Maybe we can all find something new?  Please feel free to add your favorite things about NC in the comment section.

Some of my favorite things…

1)  BEER (surprise, surprise…) and FOOD

I love beer tours.  I love learning about how beer is made, I love meeting the people that make my beer, I even love the weird way breweries smell.  My favorite brew tour in the area would have to be Carolina Brewing Company.  I think its the most informative and they are the brewer that got me started on craft beer, so its kind sentimental for me.

The Big Boss brew tour is probably the most fun.  I don’t believe that people actually go there  to learn anything, but the crowd is usually a little crazier than the  one at CBC and its fun to people watch.  The seasonal beers from both of these brewers are my favorite and I am looking forward to the Big Boss release of Aces & Ates coming soon.

I have a few set places that I like to hang out and drink beer.  I am at Tylers Tap Room in Apex about once a week.  I think Tylers has the best bartenders in the area.  If you go there, sit at the bar.  You can order food and talk  with whoever is working behind the bar that night, they are really friendly and knowledgeable about beer.

I am a big fan of  Tir Na Nog.  They always have a good beer selection and they have a surprisingly good selection of vegetarian food in addition the normal pub food.  This is another place where your visit will be more enjoyable if you sit at the bar.

The patio at Mellow Mushroom is fantastic in nice weather.  They have a good selection of beer, but I have to be honest, it doesn’t always taste right there.  I don’t know why, but I have had more than a few beers that tasted kind of off there.  I still like it.  Its one of my favorite places to go for lunch when I am off work mid-week.

I also like The Rockford, its a little easier to find now that they put the name on the door.  They have a small selection of beer, but solid choices.  The food there is simple, but good, the side dishes are normally the best part of the meal.  If you are lucky enough to get a window seat, you can look out over the street from the second floor and see all the happenings on Glenwood Ave.

Food Trucks are awesome.  I know there is a lot of drama surrounding them now, but I really like the idea of them.  The veggie burger and fries from Only Burger was one of the best I have ever had.  I am also desperate to find and consume some dumplings from the elusive Chirba Chirba.

Bottle shops make me happy. I think my world became a  better place when The Beer Dispensary came to Apex.  Tim is a great guy and a total beer nerd like me.  He is always looking for something new and different.  I know every time I go in there, he will have something that I haven’t tired or heard of.  He is also good about posting new product on Twitter, so you know the second it hits the shelves.

Bottle Revolution – This place isn’t open yet, but I have been following its progress on Facebook and Twitter and I know its going to be great.  I met Ted at the Girls Pint Our event and he seems like a really nice guy and seems exited to bring some quality craft brews to the area.  He will be located right down the street from the RBC center, how brilliant is that?

Sam’s Quick Shop -this one is a little far for me, but worth the trip.  It’s a small building jam packed with just about every craft beer you could want.  Rumor has it, the got a few shipments of Terrapins Hoptaneous Combustion.  Unfortunately, I missed out, but just knowing they got it, makes me want to keep a better eye on that place.

2) THINK LOCAL (also mostly food based, I think I’m hungry)

I really like the think local vibe that we have going on here.  It has seemed to get really strong over the past year or two and I think its something we should all continue to push.

The farmers market in Raleigh is the first thing that comes to mind.  I was even told about it before I moved here.  It’s exactly what you would expect a farmers market to have, there is just much more of it.  A lot of times its even cheaper that buying at the grocery store.

Little Flying Cows Honey.  I guess honey is a strange thing to get excited about, but it really is the best honey I have ever had.  I could eat the creamed honey straight out of the jar with a spoon.  The family that owns it is really quirky, but I mean that in the best possible way.

Larrys Beans!  This is the best coffee I have ever had.  If you get a chance to go on the tour of the plant, you should go.  Its really cool how they operate and how environmentally conscious they are.

Stick Boy Bread Company.  Ok, I’m a little biased on this one because I am one of the bread bakers here.  I can honestly say the owners of this business are some of the nicest people I have ever met.  I shopped here before I worked here and although I would continue to support them based on how genuinely nice they are, I also respect their approach to business and think they offer very good products.  They use Larrys Beans and make the cheesy beer buns that they use at the Aviator Smokehouse.  So you can support two local business at once here.

The Got To Be NC festival – This is a great thing to go to each year.  You will find local businesses of all sorts.  They really promote local wine, but not beer (shakes fist and looks disappointed) .  Maybe they will change that next year?  Its a good opportunity to try samples of products from local companies.  We had friends in town with kids when we went and we had a great time in the toddler area playing with the games they had set up.

3) DOG STUFF

Any one that truly knows me knows that I am obsessed with my dogs.  They are more important to me than beer or hockey!  I am actually covered in tattoos of my dogs.  Given that, I had to include some dog related things too.

The Pet Pantry (FeedYourPets.com).  Since I am talking non-stop about local food, I thought I would include pet food as well.  The Pet Pantry uses almost all American sourced meat.  They deliver pet food directly to your front door.  Most days if you place your order before 6am, you get your pet food the same day.  I have gotten a personal reply from the owner every time I have placed an order and a sample bag of dog treats with each time as well.  They have a Facebook page and post coupon codes on there every once in a while.

BEST PAW FORWARD-  Dog training.  I’ll admit, I’m Franks worst nightmare.  I feed my dogs treats in hopes to make them love me more.  I get as excited to see them when I come home as they are to see me.  I let them sleep in my bed.  I would be a Best Paw Forward failure!  That being said, Frank knows what he’s talking about when it comes to dog training and if I chose to listen to his advice, my dogs would  be better behaved.  I have known him for a few years through a dog rescue that I sometime volunteer with.  He offers group classes and personal classes in your home.  He is a trustworthy guy and rumor has it he is also a craft beer drinker, so that scores him extra points in my book.

4) MUSIC

I grew up on Chicago area punk and random straightedge and hardcore.  The music I have found here is very different than that, but I have come to enjoy it very much.

Avett Brothers- They have absolutely blown up over the past few years.  for some reason their website is broken right now,so I had to put up a You Tube link

Mandolin Orange – I first started listening to them after finding the sone “One More Down“.  They are nice and chill.

The Bowerbirds- They seem a little darker and creepier than the other bands but in a really good way.

Lizzy Ross – I first saw her play at a dog rescue event I was at.  I cant figure out how that voice comes out of such a tiny girl.

I’m sure I missed some obvious stuff, but this is just a starter list.  I would love to hear what some of your favorite NC things are!

This August has been one of the most unsettling months I have ever had in my life.  It started out with my cousin being diagnosed with a very serious and very aggressive form of cancer.  One week to the day later I got a phone call that a very close friend also had been diagnosed with cancer. Both my cousin and my friend live in other states, so I have felt absolutely helpless and totally guilty that I cant do anything for them.  I have also had two very close friends move out of state recently.  I don’t mean to be a downer, but I just want you to understand where my head is at this month.  It has not been a good month.

This month beer has become my therapist.  I don’t mean that in an alcoholicy (I know thats not a real word, I like to make shit up) kind of way.  It has just become a much needed distraction.

I went to my first Girls Pint Out event at the Busy Bee.  I am kind of anti-social, so initially meeting all the new people stressed me out.  I am very awkward and kind of shy so just inserting myself into a room full of strangers is something new for me.  The Girls Pint Out ladies were very welcoming and  made me feel comfortable.  I got to meet some cool new people and even got to take home some new brews to try.  I met the local rep for Great Lakes Brewing company and found out that they should be showing up in our area soon.  She also lived in Chicago for a while, so it was nice to have someone to talk about home with.  I got to meet the people starting Haw River Farmhouse Ales , they are both super cool  and I cant wait to try their beers.  I also met the guy opening Bottle Revolution and I am looking forward to using his store as my pre-tailgating spot for the Craft Beer Caniacs.  It was a great event and a really nice welcoming bunch of ladies (and guys).  I am looking forward to doing it again.

We made a road trip to Asheville to meet up with our friend that is sick.  He is starting chemo this week and wanted an opportunity to see his daughter before he started.  Luckily, Asheville happens to be their meeting place between Raleigh and Tennessee and they didn’t mind us intruding on their family time for a little while.  Seeing him was obviously the highlight of the trip, but it was nice to stop in at some of our favorite beer spots.  We hit up Bruisin Ales of course.  I think it would be beer nerd blasphemy to be in Asheville without stopping by there.  We also went to the Thirsty Monk, LAB , Wedge and my new favorite hangout Pisgah Brewing.  All of the places were fun, but Pisgah was exactly what I needed.  Great beer, super chill environment.  I could hang out there all day.  It was about 15 minutes or so out of the downtown area, but it is well worth the trip.

Since I have been home, I have already been to the opening of Tasty Beverage, Pint night at Tylers Taproom in Apex (best bartenders ever) and spent a bunch of time on-line talking to beer people and plotting our craft beer takeover.  Although I have not really had much beer to drink this month, the whole social scene around it has been needed and very much appreciated.

I am looking forward to my Haw River tasting next week and finally the end of August!  I look forward to September, better news, new friends and fall beer.

So last night I ran into the dreaded beer snob.  I have never met this guy before and right out of the gate he was hostile and condescending. It started with insults to anyone that drank beer from the big three companies.  While I can understand his hatred of their business practices and flavorless beers, I just dont think insults are the way to get people drinking craft beer.  I may get upset when I see someone with a Bud Light or Corona in their hand, but its not because I think they are stupid, I just think they have no idea what they are missing out on.

I couldn’t get away from this guy because he was with a group of people I know, so unfortunately the conversation just spiraled out of control from there.  I tried to explain to him that if you gave them an alternative to what they are drinking you may be able to open their eyes to the world of craft beer.  I like the starting small approach and let them discover what they like for themselves.  If someone likes some of the more popular big beers, maybe suggest a Yuengling lager or something like that.  Its easy to find, light tasting, comes in cans, is cheap and has a cool history. You can then ease into a ton of other harder to find beers that are also light tasting and by that time they usually are ready to branch out into other styles.

Of course this guy wasn’t having any of what I had to say.  He looked at me and asked “do you even drink craft beer?!”  I happened to have two flights with 8 different beers in front of me at the time, but I guess he thought I had ordered the In-Bev sampler?  He then rattled off a bunch of rare foreign beers  and continued to mock me when I hadn’t heard of all of them.  He was attacking anyone who didn’t drink craft beer, anyone that drank IPAs, anyone that hadn’t heard of every beer he could name.  I haven’t met someone this annoying in a long time.

I’m glad the beer snobs are few and far between, but it got me thinking, what if he was my first exposure to the world of craft beer?  I probably would have run in the other direction and never tried anything.  He was to craft beer what PETA is to the animal rights movement.  He had a ton of mis-directed passion and it just would have turned me off to the whole idea of it.

The best thing about craft beer (besides the beer) has been the community.  I love that complete strangers talk to me on Twitter about it. I love that I know the name of  the people at the bar I go to on pint night. I love that my friends range in ages from early 20′s to  70′s and they all nerd out over craft beer. I love that when I talk about one beer I like, I will get 20 other suggestions of things I need to try.  I love that when I get ahold of a rare beer, the first thing I think is “who can I share this with”?  I love that I know the name of the people that brew the beers I drink.  I love that even though I am not a beer expert or a good writer, people have been kind and supported the things I do.  I love the craft beer community.

This was the first time I have ever attended Mead Day.  I normally only drink beer.  I like learning about brewing beer, so I am open to learning about making mead and even wine.  I don’t want to be one of those people that say the don’t like something when I have only tried one or two examples of that thing. Beer, Mead and Wine tastings are a perfect way to experience a variety of different styles without having to fully commit to any one particular thing.

This was my first trip to Starrlight Mead in Pittsboro.  It was a perfect day to go. They had food, crafts, music, medieval sword fighting, beekeeping info, and handmade chocolates by Red Light Chocolates.

The first thing I have to say about this event is I was really impressed by how incredibly friendly people were.  The second thing is, I think I might actually like mead!  This goes to show you, you really need to experience the full spectrum of things before you completely write them off.  I thought all mead was sickly sweet and syrupy.  Some of it is, but most of it was not.  The mead tasting was $5. for 7 samples and you got to keep the logo glass. I dont know if that is the normal cost or if it was a Mead Day special but at that price its well worth the risk.

The Off-Dry meads tasted a lot like wine.  The Traditional tasted like white wine with a honey after taste.  The Blackberry Off-Dry had a really unusual taste.  It was like four different levels of flavor.  At first I tasted a wine taste, then a sort of fruity taste, then a kind of earthy taste, then I could kind of taste the honey.  Im not sure I liked it, but I would really like to try it again to see if my opinion changes.  The two Semi-sweet meads were the the style I have had before.  These are way too sweet for my taste, but the majority of the people I was there with liked these the best.  The Sweet Peach was the one I was looking forward to the least.  I was thinking it would taste like melted candy.  It actually had a real fruit taste to it.  It was still too sweet for my taste, but it was not at all syrupy and tasted like fresh peaches. My favorite two were the Meadjito and the Spiced Apple meads.  The Meadjito was sweet, but the spearmint taste really balanced that out for me.  the Spiced Apple was also sweet, but it tasted like everything that it good about Thanksgiving and Christmas.  I ended up buying a bottle of that to take home.

I’m really glad I went and tried something outside of my comfort zone.  I ended up meeting some cool new people and I ended up walking out of there with a bottle of great mead.  I cant wait to go back to Starrlight Mead!