New Year, New Beer

by Joan Wilkerson Hoffmann | Jan 1, 2019 | Breweries, Community, Local Beer

As we wind down and reflect about all the tasty local beers that we enjoyed in 2018, it’s hard not to get excited about all of the good things to come in 2019!

Three breweries will be breaking ground on and opening up new facilities in the new year—Bill’s Brewing Company, New Anthem Beer Project, and Wilmington Brewing Company.

Photo Courtesy Brian Lantz Photography

Bill’s has a production facility opening up right behind Captain Bill’s (And Bill’s Front Porch) at 107 Cinema Drive that will include a new 20-barrel brewhouse so that local taps can keep Bill’s beers flowing all year long. There will also be a new taproom and beer garden where folks can sip some suds and keep an eye on the action at the volleyball courts.

Photo Courtesy Brian Lantz Photography

New Anthem Beer Project has been working at a nice clip to work on their new space at the old Capp’s building at the corner of Front and Greenfield Streets, located in the burgeoning South Front District. Their new 30-barrel system will keep New Anthem fans across the state in cans and the second taproom will provide a new place for a pint for friends who don’t want to trek downtown. We can look forward to a more established barrel program and some mixed culture sours, as the Dock Street space will be used for more experimentation.

Photo Courtesy Brian Lantz Photography

Wilmington Brewing Company is sticking close to their original facility, opening an event space right next door! (If you’re facing the Kerr Avenue brewery, it’s to the right.) The space will be used for special events only—think can releases and private parties. It will allow the brewery to expand their existing location to accommodate more friendly faces in the taproom, and more room for their brewers to do their thing. Ever thought about having your next birthday/engagement/retirement party at Wilmington Brewing? Well, soon you can.

Of course what we’re really looking forward to are all of the new beers that we get to drink next year!

Flytrap Brewing launched their new bottle program on the celebration of their 4th Anniversary, so we can’t wait to try what they’ve got in store. The word is that it’s going to be even more fun, funky, and fruited. (And if you haven’t been by to try what they already have—run, don’t walk.)

Flying Machine Brewing Company, our newest member of the Cape Fear brewing family, has lots of fermented creations in store. You can expect to see them flex their creativity with their ever-growing cask program and get ready for barrels—lots and lots of barrels. Soccer fans should also get excited, as the new brewery hosts Soccer Sundays. They open at 9 am daily and have a strong coffee program featuring beans from NC company Counter Culture; the beer and wine start pouring at 10 am.

Have you heard of a Rosé IPA? Well, you have now and you should be really excited. Wrightsville Beach Brewery is rolling out their Rosé IPA to kick off the year with bright, bubbly effervescence and a hint of strawberry. They’re also bringing back their local honey lager. Both will be taproom only releases, so go ahead and make a lunch date. Fried oysters and honey lager? Done and done.

Other fun beer releases from the Cape Fear region include the Peach Pucker Peach Sour from Front Street Brewery, the new Operation Bumblebee barrel program from Salty Turtle, Beer de Garden from Skytown Beer, plus all of your faves at Waterman’s and tons of Belgian goodness from Mad Mole. You’re gonna want to budget a little extra money for Uber in 2019.

Photo Courtesy Brian Lantz Photography

And while we’re looking ahead, you’ll want to go ahead and put Makai Brewing’s 1st anniversary into your calendar—it’s Saturday, January 26th.

If you’re looking for a place to host your next event, the team over at Ironclad has you covered. With a full bar featuring lots of taps with house-brewed beer and plenty of space for catering AND a dance floor, your next office party could be, as the kids say, LIT.

Waterline Brewing is coasting into 2019 with a slew of events featuring local musicians, artists, and makers to benefit local charities. Keep an eye out for their weekly markets! It’s a great place to sip a fresh, local beer and shop for someone special or just treat yo’self.

The guys at Broomtail are talking nerdy with the first locally harvested yeasts of the region. After three years of harvesting and propagation, they’re brewing with the new yeasts to create beers that quite literally feature local flavor.

Make 2019 the year of new experiences! Have you been to Southport lately? It’s probably been too long since you’ve had a tasty crab cake from Provision Company and definitely too long since you’ve visited Check Six Brewing and enjoyed a Dugan’s Chocolate Stout. Go do that! You’ll be glad you did.

And if you’d like to indulge in libations from all of these places at once, go ahead and buy yourself a ticket to the third annual Cape Fear Craft & Cuisine. I’m a little biased because I’m one of the event coordinators. It’s one of my favorite events and I’ve never even attended it, only worked it. It’s a 25-course pairing menu featuring 25 NC breweries and 25 local restaurants at AIRLIE GARDENS at the end of March. If you don’t think that’s the perfect combination of things…well, I just can’t even. It’s the perfect way to spend some time with friends and family and welcome spring to the beach.

Whew! Okay! That’s it for now. Cheers to a new year and new beer!

Meet The Brewers : Dani Bearss

by admin | Apr 2, 2018 | Breweries, Community, Local Beer

Meet the Brewers is an ongoing series to highlight the individuals who make the beer at our Wilmington breweries. Check back every week to see the latest interview. All photographs provided by Brian Lantz Photography.  Check out his instagram at  @brianlantzphotography

Dani Bearss is the head brewer at Waterline Brewing Company. A self-described nomad, she has traveled all over but settled down in Wilmington to bring us great beer. Recently I asked Bearss about her journey to head brewer.

Where are you from?

Originally I’m from Michigan, but I’ve always been a nomad. I’ve spent time living all over California as well and I just returned to Wilmington after spending a year in New Zealand, first hiking the 3000 km Te Araroa trail then working as a brewer.

 What first got you into brewing?

I used to work as a barista in a competition cafe, and when I learned about the craft beer movement, it was a natural transition between roasted beans and malted barley.  I was living in the land of Founders, New Holland and Bells, all of which were less than an hour away, and I knew a few of the people making beer professionally. I liked the combination of art, science and manual labor…when I saw the process commercially, I was hooked.

Waterline gave me my start into brewing when they were just as new to Wilmington as I was, and for a while, I was just a part-time bartender and over-eager volunteer to clean kegs and squeegee the floor.  Brian (Waterline’s former head brewer and part owner) saw how eager I was to learn and gave me every opportunity to move up as long as I was willing to work for it.

How long have you been brewing?

I started brewing with my friend back in Michigan maybe only five or six years ago and started brewing professionally a few years later when I got connected with Waterline.  I’ve been a volunteer, a cellar(wo)man, and an assistant brewer with my own commercial beers at Waterline, and in New Zealand, I was a lead brewer for Renaissance Brewing.  I returned to Wilmington and Waterline a few months ago to take on the Head Brewer position.

What was the first beer you made?

I think the first thing I made back in Michigan was a raspberry stout, one of my friends’ recipes.  The first all grain beer I ever concocted on my own was my “Port City Paradox,” a coffee porter that was both beer AND coffee–I brewed the coffee using beer as the solution instead of water.  I wanted to combine my two favorite vices: coffee and beer.  Delicious! And impossible to carbonate.

 What is your favorite beer to make?

I still get a rush anytime I get to brew a beer that I designed from start to finish–I think it’s a homebrewer’s curse that I’ll never get over, the fact that I have a beer on tap and people order it.  I’ve been really excited to bring back what I learned in New Zealand and introduce some beers made with lesser known NZ hops, like our XPA, and while it will always terrify me just a little, I love taking the plunge into brewing any new beer on a commercial scale.

 What made you want to start brewing on a larger scale?

I like the mental and physical challenge of large-scale brewing.  There are always new recipes and better ways to do things, and there’s a lot of science, but it’s a lot of moving hoses and kegs and lifting bags of grain and being on your feet all day.  I’ve logged nearly 3000 miles of backcountry hiking, and before I was ever into coffee and beer I worked with horses for a long time, working with professional teams and training sport horses.  There is something about the long hours, manual labor, and teamwork that calls to me.

Is there anything you do differently in your brewing process that other places do not do?

I think we all have our little brewery quirks, and it’s part of what makes the independent beer community so diverse.  Since coming back to Waterline, I’ve been starting to incorporate some of the techniques we used in New Zealand to produce low-gravity, flavor-packed beers that are easy to drink.  I like to make unexpected beers that go against the current trends, like the seasonal Gruit and the “new New” XPA, a low alcohol, crystal clear and super smashable New Zealand (“not New England!”) style pale ale.

 What is one thing you want your consumer to take away from trying your beer?

I always aim to please through something unexpected, whether it’s something people have never had or something they thought they had discounted in the past.  I strongly believe that you have to know the rules in order to break the rules, and I try to balance the “weird beers” with classic recipes when thinking about new beer.  We have the Roma Gose, the Coffee and Cream and the Gruit that were a lot of fun to come up with, but I also enjoy designing more traditional beers such as the Wee Heavy, the Porter and the new “Extra” Pale.  I hope consumers can always come to Waterline for a selection of traditional styles and experimental flavors.