by Joan Wilkerson Hoffmann | Jul 25, 2019 | Blog, Breweries, Community, Local Beer
Photo Credit: Cape Fear Solar Systems
Get ready for an awesome Saturday at Wilmington’s solar powered brewery, Mad Mole!
The brewery entered and won the Brews from the Sun competition, hosted by Solar United Neighbors (SUN), and will be honored by the organization this Saturday with a big party at the brewery.
Out of the twenty one US solar powered breweries that entered the competition, the three from North Carolina came out on top with Mad Mole in first, Birdsong in second, and Wiseman in third. The two other categories available for entry were brewpubs and regional breweries. All categories were in accordance with the Brewers Association definitions.
Saturday will be a day filled with music, food trucks, and many toasts to environmental sustainability. Attendees will find Salty Sistas and Pepe’s Taco’s to snack on, and entertainment will be provided by Wildcat 69 and John Rogers. The brewery also just canned their first batch, so on top of growlers and crowlers, there will also be four packs of Boston Mole Party NE IPA to take home.
Solar United Neighbors will also be in attendance to present Mad Mole with their award. So whatever your plans are, cancel ’em! Let’s show SUN all of our pride and excitement for being home to America’s Favorite Solar Craft Microbrewery!
More details can be found here
by Joan Wilkerson Hoffmann | Jul 23, 2019 | Blog, Breweries, Local Beer
Throwback Thirsty: 6.8% A West Coast IPA brewed and dry hopped with Topaz; piney, resinous, and slightly dank. A collaboration beer brewed with Mike Donohoe, owner of Session Beer Market, as a celebratory sipper for Skytown’s first anniversary and Session’s second anniversary.
Boston Mole Party: 6.4% Their original juicy IPA recipe with pounds of Mosaic, El Dorado and Citra hops. This ultra-refreshing IPA is very light on malts, but heavy on citrus and grapefruit with touches of stone fruit and blueberries aromas. Now available in 16oz cans!
Loco Mocha: 7% A seasonal IPA brewed with Simcoe, Mosaic, and Loral hops. Aged on cacao nibs and coffee.
Good Peach: 6.8% A blend of golden sour and mixed culture saison with a healthy dose of peaches to create a fruity and refreshing summer brew.
Rosé IPA: 5.2% After a small, experimental batch in the spring, the folks at WBB knew they had to make it again! A crisp, bright, fruity IPA for summer sipping!
Grandma’s Kitchen: 5.2% Ed Teach’s German Lager is a showcase for the balance of Munich malt and Nobel hops. This time it’s aged with Madagascar Vanilla beans, this beer offers a rich & bready malt profile with a balanced sweet vanilla finish that is reminiscent of fresh baked goods.
by Joan Wilkerson Hoffmann | Jul 16, 2019 | Blog, Breweries, Local Beer
It’s time to talk about Kölsch! You’ve probably had a cold, crisp glass of the straw-colored liquid, but do you know its history?
Kölsch comes to us all the way from Cologne, Germany. The city takes so much pride in its liquid, in fact, that there are laws in place to prevent anyone outside of the Cologne from calling their beer a “kölsch.” All others are considered to be “Kölsch-style ales.” In the grand scheme of beer, kölsch is a relatively new style, barely dating back 100 years. And it drinks like a lager, but it’s an ale…but it gets treated like a lager. Confused? Well you should be. It’s confusing.
Let’s break it down a little further.
At the end of the day there are only two kinds of beer–lagers and ales. Lagers take a long time to make because they’re fermented at low temperatures. Ales move significantly more quickly and ferment at higher temperatures.
Kölsch uses ale yeast for fermentation, but at some of the lowest temperatures possible for ale yeast to perform under. It’s then lagered (stored to increase clarity) for four-ish weeks. It’s a very similar process to making lager, but it ends up being ale.
None of this is really important for drinking the liquid, but we figured it would be nice to know.
The Port City has a broad spectrum of kölsch for locals and tourists to sip the summer away with. It’s a perfect summer beer because it’s crisp, bitter, and typically on the lower end of both ABV and carbonation; it’s a beer meant to be consumed in quantity. In Germany, it’s served in traditional glassware called a stange and bartenders won’t stop filling your glass until you put a coaster on top to indicate you’re done. (At Flytrap Brewing they serve in the stange as well, but you gotta ask the bartender for another when you’re done. Silly NC beer laws.)
Here’s a list of all of the kölsch available in the Greater Wilmington Area:
–Flying Machine Brewing Company Vimana (available in cans)
–Flytrap Brewing Kölsch (available in bottles)
–Front Street Brewery Coastal
-Salty Turtle Beer Company Coastline
–Waterline Kölsch
–Wilmington Brewing Company Beer Garden
–Wrightsville Beach Brewery Cobia
Special mention for a fruited take on the style:
–Mad Mole Raspberry Kölsch
So find a Wilmington taproom and order a kölsch to crush!
by Joan Wilkerson Hoffmann | Jul 15, 2019 | Blog, Breweries, Local Beer
Tides of Tangerine: 7% Let the tangy goodness of this summer wheat ale guide your taste buds to bliss. As smooth as the glassiest day at sea, this tart, tangerine wheat ale is balanced with a refreshingly sweet finish. Never underestimate the strength of the tide, as it can be more powerful than it seems.
Sweet Boy: 8.4% A big, bold and beautifully light bodied west coast double IPA. Crisp citrus notes and all American hops. Named for Head Brewer Dani’s gorgeous, loving Saint Bernard, Sweet Boy.
Cucumber Berliner Weisse: 4.8% Introducing Flytrap’s first ever Berliner! The tart and refreshing nature of this brew is accentuated by the cooling addition of local cucumbers.
Beach Time: 5.4% A summer crusher session ipa full of citrus, pine, and tropical fruit hop flavors. Available in 16oz cans.
Southern Cross 2019: 7% Citra and Motueka hops in the kettle & dry hop, smooth and citrus-forward hazy IPA. A beer brewed yearly in honor of those who have or are still serving within Marine Special Operations Command.
Subconscious Illusion: 7.2% Double dry hopped with Citra, Mosaic, and El Dorado. Limited to one growler per person. Available by the pint Saturday at Broomtail and Sour Barn as long as it lasts.
by Joan Wilkerson Hoffmann | Jul 11, 2019 | Blog, Breweries, Community, Local Beer
Photo Credit: Matthew Ray Photography
Don’t miss your chance to buy tickets for Wilmington’s very first beer festival on the newly returned Henrietta!
Flying Machine Brewing Company teamed up with Wilmington Brewing Company, Wooden Robot (Charlotte), and Ancillary Fermentation (Raleigh area) to brew a collaboration beer called BOATS! (Yes, there’s an exclamation point) and host a four-brewery beer festival on a boat. Ticket holders will receive a glass, a hat, and unlimited samples, as well as a cruise on the Cape Fear River. And to top it all off, they can feel good about buying the tickets because it’s basically a $65 donation to the Cape Fear River Watch. That’s right, 100% of the proceeds will go to the local nonprofit.
But don’t let us tell you. We sat down with David Sweigart, co-owner of Flying Machine Brewing Company, to get the scoop on this Saturday’s Brew Voyage.
AT: Can you walk us through the event? What happens when the ticket holder arrives?
DS: There are two tours. Logistics for parking are provided on our website, but we recommend taking an Uber, Lyft, or taxi to and from the event. Passengers for each cruise will be given a commemorative hat and a glass, and invited to sip the evening away with four NC breweries on a river cruise. It’ll be chill. There is an inside/cover spot, so it’ll happen rain or shine.
AT: Does the price of the ticket cover the beers?
DS: Oh, yes. It’s unlimited pours.
AT: What was the inspiration for the event?
DS: Well, number one we’ve got two beautiful landmarks here and that’s the Cape Fear River and the [beaches], and we just wanted to utilize it. We wanted to have a fun event that was kind of low-key, chill, that brought in some outside breweries. But we also wanted to take advantage of some of our local environment like the Cape Fear River, which is a beautiful body of water. So take a boat trip and add on the respective breweries who we’ve paired with? Talk about a very intimate craft beer setting, and on top of it 100% of the proceeds to the Cape Fear River Watch.
Tickets for the event can be purchased at https://www.flyingmachine.beer/brew-voyage. And you should.
by Joan Wilkerson Hoffmann | Jul 7, 2019 | Blog, Breweries, Local Beer
A weekly roundup of local and craft beer that can be found around the area on tap, in bottles, or in cans. These are not beer reviews and should be used for entertainment purposes only.
Cali Mole Rush: 6.3% ABV 67 IBUs This is a classic West Coast IPA hosting restrained caramel notes twisted with a resinous and bitter finish.
From Us Wit Passion: 6% Belgian inspired witbier with freshly zested lemonpeel and conditioned on 160+ lbs of passionfruit puree. Tart. Tropical, Refreshing.
Hammer of God: 5.3% A Pils and rice unfilitered pale lager brewed as a tribute to fallen Marine Raider MSgt Aaron Torian.
Turn the Volume Down: 7.2% An Imperial English-style Brown Ale with notes of toffee and caramel. A nod to our vibrant local music scene.
Battleship Pacific IPA: 6.3% This tropical juice-bomb of an IPA is dedicated to all of our veterans, especially those who served on the USS North Carolina in WWII. In their honor, Front Street brews with hops from the south Pacific: New Zealand Waimea and Waiiti bring notes of guava, passion fruit, and lime, with a smooth mellow finish free of bitterness.
Makai Brewing
Blueberry Temptress: 4.9% The second of the sour Temptress series, this kettle sour was made with 42 pounds of blueberry purée. Just in time for National Blueberry Month!
