Carolina Brew Scene - Summer 2016

COMPLIMENTARY

CAROLINA

BREW SCENE SUMMER 2016

Beer for the Village

School of Hops

Here’s to Duck-Rabbit

Historic transformation in Rocky Mount

Community college creates craft brew curriculum

Farmville brewery’s success story

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Carolina Brew Scene

Summer 2016

Check Six Brewing Company 5130 Southport Supply Rd Southport NC 910-477-9280 checksixbeer.com open daily at noon karaoke and live music weekly call for schedule

9 IRONCLAD BEERS BREWED ON-SITE + SEVERAL GUEST TAPS Book your next event at Ironclad Brewery • Comfortably holds more than 400 guests Stage, sound systems and 12 ft HDTV • No cost to use the space for events

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of Rocky Mount Twice recognized as an All-American City, Rocky Mount guarantees to make you feel right at home with a wide variety of restaurants, downtown living, and recreational activities abound: Tournaments at our world-class sports complex, hiking the Tar River Trail, swimming, and golfing. Enjoy our art and music festivals, parades, the farmers’ market, barbecue cook-offs, picnicking, museums, and our beautiful Park System. Also, explore the Rocky Mount Mills, home to the Brewmill brewery incubators, offices, residence, breweries and restaurants. Rocky Mount was recently featured on UNC TV’s North Carolina Weekend show as a NC destination.

TO LEARN MORE, VISIT DOWNTOWNROCKYMOUNT.COM

Please scan this QR Code to view the UNC TV edition on Rocky Mount.

Summer 2016

Carolina Brew Scene

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Carolina Brew Scene

Summer 2016

Editor’s Draft

Carolina Brew Scene Staff, Credits, & Contributions Publisher Mark Wilson

Editor

Jeff Herrin

Production & Art Director Becky Wetherington

Content & Photography Abbi O’Leary Adam Jennings Bill Stancil Brie Handgraaf Corey Davis Josh Walfish

Contributors

Anita Riley Greenville Girls Pint Out Jenna Bailey Kymberlie An Lamonte Blue Nicole Schmidt

Advertising Bryan Wilson Lewis Smith

Contact

bwilson@rmtelegram.com lsmith@rmtelegram.com

On The Cover

Photography by Abbi O’Leary

Anne Craig, left, and Abbie Decker enjoy a beer at Koi Pond Brewing Co. in Rocky Mount.

we’re not just a one trick pony North Carolina’s greatest gift to the world walks on four legs and goes well with hush puppies. And some would say that barbecue alone should secure our place as the Cradle of Modern Civilization.

But in recent years, our fine state has been slowly pulling back the curtain on another backyard secret.

Around the hickory pits and charcoal grills where good pigs go to become great dinners, men and women battling heat and mosquitoes refresh themselves with beer.

True. It was little more than a mass-produced product of blandness, at first. But over the past decade or so, we have watched its metamorphosis into an explosion of finely crafted scents, colors and flavors, barely contained in a glass.

From Asheville to Charlotte to Raleigh-Durham to the coast, a new wave of creation and delight has become a heralded complement to a great plate of ‘cue.

North Carolina’s reputation for craft beer is real. The state consistently is named as one of the best producers in the country. Major players from the West Coast and beyond have opened breweries here. And now Eastern North Carolina is coming into the picture in a huge way.

Led by Duck-Rabbit, a well-established success story in Farmville, new breweries are opening in places like Rocky Mount and Tarboro.

This inaugural issue of Brew Scene offers an early, in-depth look at the vision and work behind the burgeoning craft beer industry in Eastern North Carolina. In future issues, we’ll expand our horizons to take in other locales as well. But it’s an exciting time in our part of the state for new players like Koi Pond, Sweet Taters, The Tarboro Brewing Company -- and us.

So relax a little bit. Fix yourself a barbecue sandwich.

Pour yourself a glass. We’re happy to be at the table with you.

Jeff Herrin, Editor

carolinabrewscene.com

Summer 2016

Carolina Brew Scene

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B G, E S, K,  B O T, W, M R T, T 3174 US Hwy 70W • Smithfield, NC 27577 919-934-3433 • www.doublebarleybrewing.com

6

Carolina Brew Scene

Summer 2016

ingredients

What’s Brewing?

Issue no. 1 • Carolina Brew Scene 5

Editor’s draft

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A Vision of Revitalization

10 12 18 20 24 30 36 40 44 46 48 49 50 54

Brewmill signals a new era in Rocky Mount

Mill VIllage Today Community balances history and the future

Mill Village History A new day dawns at a venerable site

Monk to Mill Trail Legendary jazz pianist paves the way

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Koi Pond Brewing Company Craft brewery opens at mill

Sweet taters brewery Building on farm-to-table recipe

Duck-Rabbit Farmville brewery’s success story

Tarboro Brewing Company Community is key for new player

Nash Community College Serving a curriculum for success

40

Red Oak Wood Shop Taphouses draw from craftsmen

Scavenger Hunt Cape Fear Rollergirls brew a fun challenge

Women In Beer Brewsters make an impact

Greenville Beer Gardens A tour of pubs around ECU

Pin Up Bartender Choose the right glass

Parting Gifts Recipe from Wilmington Homebrew Supply

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Mill Village Economics

a vision of

Revitalization Written By Corey Davis Photography by Adam Jennings

It’s no secret the excitement surrounding Capitol Broadcasting Co.’s redevelopment project of the Rocky Mount Mills derives from the success and economic impact of the American Tobacco Campus within Durham.

“Like the American Tobacco in Durham, the Rocky Mount Mills is being revitalized with the vision and cooperation of so many leaders in both the public and private sector,” said Capitol Broadcasting Co. Development Manager Evan Covington Chavez.

“There are challenges both similar and unique to each project, but creative, innovative thinking is being applied to both to create a success.”

The mixed-use project of American Tobacco is a poster child for urban redevelopment, with office space, entrepreneur space, retail, restaurants and entertainment and educational venues. Just like the old Rocky Mills, 8

Carolina Brew Scene

a former cotton mill, which initially closed in 1996, American Tobacco’s mill fell into a state of despair.

American Tobacco sat vacant in downtown Durham as the factory declined into a center of decay in the 20 years following its 1987 closing.

However, with Capitol Broadcasting Co. coming to take over and reopening the American Tobacco Campus in 2004, it has been referred to nationally as the definitive example of re-purposing and re-developing historic properties. The district has been dubbed the Durham Renaissance of downtown.

Since the resurrection, North Carolina’s largest historic renovation project has expanded to 200,000 square feet of parking space and 800,000 square feet of office, residential and entertainment facilities. On any given summer night, residents can be seen catching a baseball game at the Durham Summer 2016

Bulls’ stadium, attending a concert on the ”island” beneath the Lucky Strike water tower or watching a showing at the $48 million Durham Performing Arts Center, ranked among the top theaters in the country.

Matt Honeycutt, real estate development manager for Capitol Broadcasting Co., said one of the major economic developments of the restoration project has been the influx of jobs. The hope for the continuing redevelopement of Rocky Mount Mills is to bring much-needed jobs to a city lacking employment opportunites and help spur economic development throughout the Eastern North Carolina region.

“We have 4,000 employees at American Tobacco everyday, which means people going to eat lunch down there, eating dinner, getting a drink, needing a place to stay from time to

“

I THINK THIS PROJECT

HAS THE POTENTIAL

TO PUT ROCKY MOUNT

ON THE MAP” - MARGO KNIGHT METZGER

time or going to a baseball game,” Honeycutt said. “We’re hopeful to have similar impact with that much space at the Rocky Mount Mill in creating plenty of jobs and bringing people together.”

One of the main reasons for Capitol buying the once abandoned Rocky Mount Mills in 2007 was transforming it into North Carolina’s first craft beer incubator in Rocky Mount, while making craft beer an economic development tool for Eastern North Carolina, as the state continues to have a thriving beer industry.

Margo Knight Metzger, executive director of NC Craft Brewers Guild, a not-for-profit 501(c)6 taxexempt organization comprised of brewers, vendors, retailers and craft beer enthusiasts focused on promoting North Carolina beer, said craft brewing in North Carolina contributes $1.2 billion to the state’s economy annually and generates 10,000 jobs for North Carolina.

The state boasts the largest number

of craft breweries and brewpubs in the South, with more than 160 breweries.

Metzger said the Triangle region has the most breweries followed by Asheville and Charlotte regions.

Overall, North Carolina ranks in the top 15 nationally in the number of breweries, according to NC Craft Brewers Guild.

Honeycutt said with Capitol still in phase one of the project, it hasn’t fully determined the sort of economic impact the Mill will potentially have on the area. Metzger said Rocky Mount Mills has the potential to make Rocky Mount economically viable again.

“I think this project has the potential to put Rocky Mount on the map for manufacturing again, as well as make it a bona fide tourism destination and enhance qualify of life,” she said.

American Tobacco has about 80 apartments, Honeycutt said. The mill village will have more than 100 renovated homes or apartments equiped Summer 2016

with amenities such as a patio, grill, fenced-n yards and landscape done by Capitol. The Mill has a 71/2 acre island for outdoor entertainment and will have outdoor seating, a playground and running and cycling trail.

“This is less about economic impact and numbers and more about community growth,” Honeycutt said. “People have left this area and we’ve got to find a way to bring people back. Ultimately, we want people who work in Rocky Mount to live in Rocky Mount. At the American Tobacco, in addition to creating jobs, we wanted to create a place where people want to come live, work and play and this is the same thing, we’re doing here.”

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Mill Village Today

A

commute of more than two hours might seem a bit much to some people, but Stacy R. Barnes embraces the time to write while en route to Averett University in Danville, Va. The professor is a new resident of the Mill Village in Rocky Mount and could not be happier.

“When I saw this house, I told Scott (Roberts, general manager of Rocky Mount Mills), ’This is the one,’” Barnes recalled.

Barnes was born in the Twin Counties and remembers boarding the train with his mother when they moved to Virginia. That train now enables him to live in Eastern North Carolina and continue his work in higher IT IS ALL ABOUT education.

“I don’t BALANCE BETWEEN THE want to be in the middle of HISTORY AND THE FUTURE too much, but I want to be close,” he said.

OF THE VILLAGE” In addition to living - MATT HONEYCUTT within a mile of downtown Rocky Mount — and the train station — Barnes lives within walking distance of the farmers market that is open from April to November. He’s also close to the Rocky Mount greenway, one of the largest dog parks in the state and, of course, the Rocky Mount Mills campus. Two craft beer taprooms already are open for business and more are set to come online in the near future.

“It is amazing what Capitol has done so far.

I’m so impressed,” Barnes said. “They’ve really

“

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Carolina Brew Scene

“THIS IS THE ONE.” Story By Brie Handgraaf Photography by Abbi O’Leary got it going on. You can feel the energy.”

Capitol Broadcasting Co. purchased more than 80 acres to include the huge brick warehouse that housed one of the first cotton mills in the state as well as countless homes known as the Mill Village, many that had gone by the wayside. In a few months time, the company had renovated several homes and was leasing them before crews even finished their work.

The one- and two-bedroom homes rent for around $1,000 a month, which is largely unheard of in the Rocky Mount market.

Capitol officials said the unique amenities of each house, such as kegerators and fenced in backyards with grills and yard games, paired with the nearby attractions offered at the Rocky Mount Mill, Battle Park and Tar River Trail make it a popular contender for residents already living in the Twin Counties and those considering a commute.

“The buzz term in real estate is ‘live, work and play’ and the Mill Village provides one of the few opportunities in this area to do that,” said Real Estate Development Manager Matt Honeycutt. “If your company is housed at the mill, you can work there, then live across the street then have drinks and dinner with your friends without ever having to get in your car.

“We’re creating an urban environment in a nontraditionally urban setting.”

By the end of 2016, Capitol plans to have 25 houses built and renovated along River Drive. Construction also will begin soon on 40 to 50 apartments in the main mill building and a community center with pool and workout facility at Peachtree and Elm streets.

“When it is all said and done, there will be the community center, as many as 10 breweries, up to four restaurants, two beer gardens and a 7.5-acre island that will be a concert venue with running trails, a playground, outdoor seating Summer 2016

for picnics and so much more,” Honeycutt said.

Capitol Development Manager Evan Covington Chavez said they’ll have about 150 residential units of varying sizes within the next few years. Because Rocky Mount Mills is a historic district, Capitol is ensuring continuity even for new houses such as Barnes’ home.

“It is all about balance between the history and the future of the village,” Honeycutt said. “The first way to make it look and feel as if it was back in the day is to salvage everything we can. But we also have to balance it with new and modern features, and part of that is the functionality of these homes with today’s lifestyles.

“Since this is part of the Brewmill concept, it just made sense to include kegerators in the homes to pay tribute to what the mill will be going forward.”

While the kegerators are popular with the young professionals, Chavez said they also have been a selling point for an older generation hoping to get grandchildren to visit.

“This is a type of residential choice that doesn’t currently exist in this market,” Honeycutt said. “There are people who want a dog and a yard, so they lean toward the Mill Village homes, but there are people who are at a point in their lives where they don’t want to cut the grass, so the apartments in the mill appeal to them. It is great to be able to have options for everybody.”

To learn more, email info@brewmill.com.

Open houses and additional events will be posted on the Rocky Mount Mills page on Facebook.

“I got into redevelopment in a past career and stayed interested, so when I saw what they were doing here, it just hit me,” Barnes said. “I knew as soon as I left that I was going to move here. I said, ‘I like what I see.’”

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Summer 2016

Carolina Brew Scene

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Mill Village History

The

Mill Village A new day dawning

A

new day is dawning for a Rocky Mount neighborhood that for almost 200 years has been known as the “Mill Hill.” And while Rocky Mount Mills is being transformed into a Brewmill site, the Mill Hill is being transformed into the “Mill Village.”

Houses on the Mill Hill, having been home to hundreds of mill employees in the passing history of the cotton mill, are passing away. Time has made them tired, worn out and fragile, and several have been torn down and removed. Others have been remodeled, updated and sold. The Village is listed on the National Historic Record, and the homes will maintain the original character of their long history.

The Mill Village stretches from the cotton mill, down Falls Road to Ridge Street, and west almost to Sunset Park along the Tar River.

The old houses bore the benchmarks of family life on the Mill Hill, year in and year out through the passing history of the area. They watched from their foundations on Falls Road, River Drive, East and West Elm Streets, Carr

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Carolina Brew Scene

By Bill Stancil Photography by Abbi O’Leary Street, Spring Street and Ridge Street as dirt paths out front finally were paved over.

Knowing intimate things about each family to whom they gave rest and shelter, they heard the happy sounds of holidays, marriages, first parties and first dates. They witnessed the sorrows and anxieties of world wars, the joys of victories and anguish of defeats. They welcomed soldiers back home again.

They saw their residents at their best and their worst, the laughter and joy of new births in the family and the heartbreak and tears of family deaths. Their time here is over. The Mill Hill is saying “goodbye” to await rebirth as the new Mill Village.

Rocky Mount Mills was a leader in establishing a mill village and began building houses for their employees in the 1880s. There were 161, two-, threeand four-bedroom houses built on the Hill, according to John Mebane, former president of Rocky Mount Mills Corp.

By 1900, it was reported that approximately 92 percent of textile workers in the United States lived in mill villages that were owned by the companies.

Summer 2016

In operation since 1818, employment at Rocky Mount Mills varied over time.

“The highest employment number was probably in the 1940s, at about 950 employees,” Mebane said. “In the mid- to late 1970s, full employment was about 735.”

With changes in employment numbers, the occupancy rate of the Mill Hill rose and fell accordingly.

“When houses were built back then, there were no screens on the windows,” Mebane said. “Malaria became an issue and we wanted to protect our employees, so the mill had window screens installed on every house in the village.”

The electrification process had not reached every area yet, and most homes used candles and kerosene lamps for interior lighting. The machines in the mill were powered by the water turbines under the mill. Mebane said the mill purchased coal-fired generators to produce enough electricity to operate lights in the mill village.

“The railroad laid tracks on our land in order to haul coal to the mill for the generators, and the mill village houses had lights and street lights, even before the city of Rocky Mount had them,”

he said.

Rent for the homes was deducted monthly from the employees’ paychecks, but the light bill had to be paid at the mill office, said Mary Brown Tharrington, who worked in the Personnel Office at the mill.

Tharrington came from a long line of mill employees, and said that before her time there, the mill had bags of flour brought in by train and given to employees.

The mill built a school for the village in 1929. The school sat on the corner of Falls Road and River Drive. It had six grades, with combination grades of first and second, third and fourth, fifth and sixth. So if you were, for instance, in the third grade and you passed your courses, you just moved to the other side of the room at the beginning of the next school year.

When the school burned in 1933 or 1934, classes were held in nearby Marvin Methodist Church until the school was reopened.

Originally, the mill owned the school from about 1929 to 1954, when it was turned over to the Nash County School System.

Tharrington remembers being in the second grade at Mill School the year the school caught on fire. She was one of the first people to purchase one of

the rebuilt homes on Falls Road, moving in 2006 to a house that had originally been built in 1908.

Her parents, Lonnie and Dehurse Brown, moved to the Mill Hill in 1937 and resided on West Elm Street. Her grandparents came to the mill in the 1800s to work.

Some of the homes housed generations of the same families who worked at the mill – parents, grandparents – a continuing occupancy of the same family.

Vernon Moody, who lived on Spring Street, which originally was named Cedar Street, says his entire family worked at the mill – his daddy and mama and grandparents.

“It was a good life for the times, even at the wages the mill paid,” he said.

“Living there still has fond memories for me.”

He also recalled attending Mill School and how much he liked riding his bicycle down the street with other students at lunchtime to eat at the Hot Dog Stand.

“It was a quick trip from Mill School and was always full of people,” he said.

Over the years, the Hot Dog Stand has changed ownership a few times, and is still thriving. The business variety in that area of Falls Road, along with the Hot Dog Stand, is as historic as the mill and the homes on the Mill Hill. Convenience was a big part of the attraction for folks living there.

In addition to the Hot Dog Stand, a service station, three grocery stores, a barber shop, beauty parlor, seed and feed store, dry-cleaner & laundry business, jewelry store, Rocky Mount Tile Co. and Davis Five & Dime Store were located in or near the village.

Not every home had telephone service, as people were still in the grasp

“

SOME OF THE HOMES

HOUSED GENERATIONS OF THE SAME FAMILIES WHO WORKED AT THE MILL –

PARENTS, GRANDPARENTS – A CONTINUING OCCUPANCY OF THE SAME FAMILY. of The Great Depression that began in 1929, so some residents of the Mill Hill remember having to go to a neighbor’s house to use the telephone.

“We had lots of good neighbors on the Mill Hill,” said Margie Strickland Henson. “And I remember so well going next door to Mr. and Mrs. Lonnie Brown’s house to use their telephone.

They were good neighbors and did not mind sharing their telephone with us.”

Most of the houses had a front porch, a back porch, a utility house and space for a garden. And, in some houses, the occupants operated neighborhood ‘stores’ on the back porches, making it convenient for homeowners, and especially children with a sweet tooth to purchase soft drinks, candy, Summer 2016

some food and other items.

Folks who needed those items quickly could go to the Taylor house, the Bass house, the Ellis house or the Coley house and pick them up.

In addition, the Coleys sold fishing bait ... worms of different varieties, raised in worm beds, and Catalpa worms that could be picked right off the Coleys’ Catalpa trees in the backyard. Business was brisk in the springtime and summertime, because everybody on the Hill was within walking distance – or a short drive – to Tar River and Stony Creek.

On Friday afternoons, it seemed everybody was having the same supper.

Whether the fish came from the river or the fish market, Friday was ‘fish day’ on the Mill Hill.

While adults liked to purchase the fishing bait the Coleys had, Vickie Strickland Ezzell, a former resident of West Elm Street, whose backyard met the Coleys’ backyard, recalls making frequent trips to Mrs. Coley’s store to buy candy.

“One of the best things I ever bought there was a little Christmas angel as a gift for an aunt and uncle,” she said.

Another memory that became dear to her is the day she was caught smoking an Indian cigar from the Coleys’ Catalpa tree and was punished by her dad, who made her smoke three of them.

“I resolved never to smoke again,” she said.

While the back porches were doing a brisk business, the front porches were centers of Southern hospitality for families and visitors, and usually came to life early in the afternoons, evenings and even into the nighttime, especially on weekends.

“Come on up and have a seat,” was the invitation to those walking down the street. “Pull up that rocking chair over there, or have a seat in that swing.”

Children played ball in the streets, roller-skated up and down the streets and rode up and down the street on tricycles and bicycles. If they were not in the street, they played with their toys in the yards, were on their knees shooting marbles, driving toy trucks and cars through the dirt on homemade trails, or jumping ropes or swirling Carolina Brew Scene

13

Mill Village History hula-hoops.

The streets were where they had their disagreements, boys and girls, and got things settled between them, sometimes with fights.

In summertime, swimming was a priority, but not always in a pool. Tar River and Stony Creek were close by and swimming holes called Flat Rock, Back of The Lots, and The Elephant Hole were convenient (although dangerous), and it was many a boy whose mama suddenly asked him why his head was wet in the summer, when she knew he would not wash it on purpose.

Asking people who grew up on the Mill Hill why they liked living there is a trip back to their childhood. You can tell when the best parts of their youth comes to life for them again, as they talk about it.

Since the work began changing the Mill Hill into the Mill Village, many former residents, families and individuals have joined a club started by former residents Joe and Gail Williams, to remember and talk about their years on the Mill Hill. The club, at last count, has 76 members. Facebook has been the vehicle for posting and viewing old photographs of individuals and families who speak of those years.

Joe Williams grew up living at 39 West Elm Street and also residing for a few years on Carr Street. Gail Williams lived at 25 West Elm Street and 33 West Elm Street.

“Someone started a posting on Facebook called ‘Rocky Mount Back When,’” Joe Williams says. “We thought it would be great to start a club for the Mill Hill, since it played a very important part in the history of the area, and we have been amazed at how it has grown. We hear from someone almost every day who has ties to the Mill Hill and want to be included in the club.”

Many of the members do not live here now; they moved away and began new lives. Among those who still live on the Mill Hill in the house she grew

“

IT WAS JUST A SHORT

WALK TO THE MILL AND

WE MADE A LITTLE MONEY. WE WERE PROUD TO HAVE THE JOB, SO WE WORKED HARD AT IT” - LEMUEL ‘DINK’ STRICKLAND

up in, is Betty Wood of 5 West Elm Street.

“I was born when we lived at 35 West Elm Street,” she said. “In March of 1946, the house I live in now be-

came empty, so my family moved here. I celebrated my fourth birthday here in April 1946.”

That was normal on the Mill Hill.

When a better or bigger house became empty, a family who needed more space put in a request for the house.

If the mill approved the request, the family moved into it. Several of the houses changed families many times over the years.

The house at 15 West Elm Street also was called “home” by several families, as were other houses nearby.

Lemuel (Dink) Strickland, whose family was one of the last who resided there, recalls the days growing up when he and a friend, Tony Hardy, were among the young people hired to go to the mill on Sundays and clean up so the place would be clean on Monday.

“It was just a short walk to the mill and we made a little money. We were proud to have the job, so we worked hard at it,” he said.

Bobby Strickland, who lived there as a small child in the 1970s, remembers the railroad track that ran across the street to the mill.

“I liked getting up early and walking down that track before the train came by,” he said. “Sometimes, a few of us used to lay coins on the rails, and when he train came by, it would smash them into bigger coins.”

He also talks about the toy cars that he buried in the backyard.

“They were Red Line Hot Wheels

KEGERATORS The renovated homes in the historic Mill Village come equipped with kegerators, but many beer enthusiasts have to either make their own or buy one ready-made to get the taste of beer on tap in the comfort of their own homes.

Capitol Broadcasting Co. Executive Brewmaster Sebastian

Wolfrum said it is a relatively easy do-it-yourself project. To start, get a fridge or freezer big enough to hold a keg, a CO2 tank, a regulator, a keg tap, a faucet tap and lots of beverage hose.

“Once you have the tubing for the CO2 to dispense the beer and all of the tubing to run the beer to the faucet, all you need is a keg of

cars. I buried them when I was through playing with them, to keep other people from finding them,” he said. “Then, I would just dig them up again whenever I wanted to play with them. I must have left at least 25 of them buried. Time passed and we moved away and I just never dug them up.”

“Growing up on the Mill Hill was wonderful to me,” said Billy Hicks, who was born in the house that sat beside the Confederate Monument adjacent to Battle Park.

“We were so convenient to town, and one thing I looked forward to was walking uptown with my daddy.

Mama made me wear a cap, and I would take Daddy’s hand, and he and I would walk uptown. We would stop on the river bridge so I could look at the goats on the little island near the mill. I gave Daddy my cap, and he would put it in his pocket. Then we would go on uptown.

“When we came back, we would stop as we crossed the bridge, and Daddy would put my cap back on my head so that Mama would not scold us. Those are days I will never forget and are among my best memories of the Mill Hill.”

The neighborhood also had a small ballpark on River Drive, that during the early years and up until it was torn down in the 1960s, drew softball players, neighborhood leagues and fans from Rocky Mount and other places.

“The ballpark was a wonderful

place where ball games were frequently played by league teams or by neighborhood children,” said Hicks, who was involved in softball teams and leagues for several years.

“

WE INTEND TO BUILD

NEW HOMES ON THE

VACANT PARCELS THAT

WILL MATCH THE HISTORIC HOMES IN CHARACTER AND ARCHITECTURE” - EVAN COVINGTON CHAVEZ “Everybody in the neighborhood stayed busy with work and raising their families, most of the time, so the ballpark was a good place for neighbors to sit and talk to each other, whether or not a ball game was going on. It was just a friendly place to live.”

Many of the houses were not insulated, and were cold in the wintertime and had other deficiencies, by modern standards. But there was a certain pride to living there, so much so that when someone was asked, “Where are you living now?” the answer was, the

beer that holds 5.16 gallons or 15.5 gallons as those sizes are the main ones available,” Wolfrum said.

DIY-ers should drill a hole into the fridge or freezer for the faucet, usually in the door or out the front. Some drill a larger hole into the top to get a draft tower installed or to mount on the countertop.

“If you do not want to get handy at home, there are almost ready-assembled kegerators for sale online or at homebrew stores,” Wolfrum said. “Or you can get one already installed when you lease a home at the Rocky Mount Mills.”

Kegs range in price from $60 to $180 depending on the

“Mill Hill,” given before the name of the street.

Most of the houses were built between 1880 and 1920, according to Evan Covington Chavez, Real Estate Development Manager for Capitol Broadcasting Co. “We intend to build new homes on the vacant parcels that will match the historic homes in character and architecture and rent them as well,” she said.

And the beat goes on almost daily in the Village, as building materials are hauled in and the work progresses. Builders are busy on almost every street – laying foundations, tearing out the old and installing the new where older houses stood, remodeling houses that remain, adding bedrooms and bathrooms, installing new roofs and enlarging the square footage.

Traffic is increasing on the village streets as word spreads about the additions being made to the mill site and the village area.

“Our hope and goal is to rebuild the community and offer residents a unique experience living in historic homes along the Tar River, and enjoying the rebirth of the Rocky Mount Mills and the Mill Village,” Chavez said.

That same pride of place may be heard again soon, up and down Falls Road, River Drive, Elm Street, Carr Street and Ridge Street, when someone again asks the question: “Where are you living now?” The answer will cheerfully ring out: “In the new Mill Village!”

size and rarity of the beer, but Wolfrum said a kegerator provides brew enthusiasts with pints for between $1.25 to $2.50 each. Keeping the beer at 38 degrees enables the beer to stay fresh for about three months, but Wolfrum recommended rinsing the tubing every two weeks to keep from having an accumulation of biofilm that could change the flavor of the beer.

“Kegerators attract friends and family to come over for a sip because with a kegerator you always have fresh beer and you can get beer that you cannot get in bottles or cans, which is mainly your small, local brewers,” Wolfrum concluded.

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Monk to Mill Trail

Monk to Mill Trail

A path to creativity

By Corey Davis

There’s a buzz around town about a rail trail’s potential to be part of a much larger project, which could draw residents, tourists and businesses to Rocky Mount.

The proposed Monk to Mill Trail is designed to be a 2.5 mile multi-use trail, connecting Thelonious Monk Park to the Rocky Mount Brewmill.

The late Monk was a Rocky Mount native and a renowed jazz composer.

Brad Kerr, director of engineering for the city of Rocky Mount, said the trail would be created by converting unused railways into multi-use paths for bicycling or walking. The trail would connect many of downtown Rocky Mount’s significant infrastructures and public investments such as the proposed downtown community facility, Rocky Mount Farmers Market, Braswell Memorial Library, Rocky Mount Veterans Memorial at Jack Laughery Park, Imperial Centre for the Arts & Sciences and the Douglas Block, which includes the Monk Plaza.

The Monk to Mill Trail would cost between $1.2 million and $1.5 million, Kerr said.

Bob League, principal transportation planner for the city of Rocky Mount, said the project also would include “complete” streets 18

Carolina Brew Scene

making them usable to all people in all types of travel.

“Whether you are walking, bicycling, riding a bus or driving a car, it serves all users equally,” League said.

EHI Consultants Project Manager Ryan Holmes said the goal of the project is to connect Rocky Mount’s heritage of railroads, jazz and the upand-coming craft brewing industry.

“Extending the energy from the Douglas Block down Washington Street to Monk Park is essential as is extending the energy surrounding the Rocky Mount Mill to downtown,” Holmes said. “We want to commission local artists to incorporate that creative side with local history. We want to bring that history to life and connect it.”

Despite the potential and excitement of the trail and street enhancement projects, League acknowledged there’s a chance neither will come to fruition. The city is continuing to seek funding for both projects through the N.C. Department of Transportation and a Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery Grant.

The TIGER grant provides a unique opportunity for the Department of Transportation to Summer 2016

invest in road, rail, transit and port projects that promise to achieve national objectives, Kerr said. He added the city was passed over for receiving the grant last year while places like Wilson earned a similar grant.

“We applied for $16.5 million and this year, we’ve done some refinements and that figure will be increased,” Kerr said. “If we have to go through another grant it will take a whole lot longer, so we’re hoping this works out.”

Holmes said many residents expressed their vision about how the trail could be similar to the 22mile American Tobacco trail, North Carolina’s longest rail-trail and the Charlotte Rail trail, drawing tourists and locals.

“All of these projects are about improving and connecting the urban core and creating an opportunity to get from the surroundings neighborhoods to downtown and not neccessarily need a vehicle,” Kerr said. “Also, by creating this project and creating this re-investment, we’re creating additional recreation and an environment where people want to be and live. Once those things happen, you’re going to get economic development.”

Celebrating a century of

Monk

An artist’s rendering of plans for the proposed Monk to Mill Trail in Rocky Mount

Part of the allure of the proposed Monk to Mill Trail is celebrating Rocky Mount’s native son and jazz legend Thelonious Monk.

Monk, who died in 1982, is considered one of the giants of American music. He was known for his unique improvisational and idiosyncratic jazz style and renowned for his distinctive style in suits, skullcap and sunglasses.

Monk moved away from Rocky Mount when he was 4. He is one of five jazz musicians to have been featured on the cover of Time magazine. He was inducted into the N.C. Hall of Fame in 2009. Monk also is the second-most recorded jazz composer after Duke Ellington.

Rocky Mount has honored Monk by building the Thelonious Monk Park located where Monk grew up in the Around The “Y” Community off South Washington Street and Monk Plaza in the Douglas Block in downtown Rocky Mount.

While Monk’s son, T.S. Monk, has made Rocky Mount a regular stop in his own musical career as a drummer, another relative has stepped up efforts to create developments in Monk’s hometown to further commemorate one of the great musical geniuses of the 20th century.

Bobby Monk, a cousin of Thelonious Monk, is in the process of raising money for a $200,000 bronze statue to go in front of the Rocky Mount Train Station. Bobby Monk’s plan is to unveil the statue in October to celebrate his famous legendary cousin’s 99th birthday.

But Bobby Monk’s dream does not stop with a statue. He envisions a downtown cultural center that would offer scholars and fans a place to study Monk’s life and music with hopes of completing and opening it as part of Thelonious Monk’s 100th birthday celebration.

The projects could put a spotlight on Rocky Mount and create an economic development opportunity, he added.

“Once the statue and the culture center are done and everyone knows about them, it’s going to turn little Rocky Mount into a destination place, where people are going to come to see where he was born because he had fans all around the world,” Monk said.

Koi Pond Brewing Company the magic touch Written By Josh Walfish Photography by Abbi O’Leary

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Summer 2016

Eric Ghiloni will never forget the first time someone told him his beer was the best they ever had.

I

t’s a memory that sticks out because of the unique way it made him feel, a warmth that served as motivation to continue on his path to becoming a full-time brewer.

“If somebody compliments my beer, I freeze,” Ghiloni said. “I just look at them and smile. There is nothing better than somebody drinking a beer of yours and saying I love this. I really hope to never get over the amount of joy that brings me.”

He’s probably been frozen at the bar too many times to count since Koi Pond Brewing Co. opened in January to rave reviews. The success most likely stems from Ghiloni’s simple philosophy to brewing beer – make sure people can drink it.

“I always wanted all of my batches to be drinkable,” Ghiloni said. “In fact, I wanted all of them to be good, and I was really close to all of my batches being good.”

A few pesky cranberries aside, all of Ghiloni’s ideas have come to fruition in cold, frothy form after a little bit of tweaking. After friends continued to rave about his beer, Ghiloni began considering upgrading the hobby to his new career.

As Matthew Sperati explained it,

what sets Ghiloni apart is his ability to turn an ordinary recipe into an extraordinary one.

“Every time we tasted Eric’s beer, we believed it was exceptional,” Sperati said. “Eric, in my opinion, just has that magic touch, and he makes the beer taste better than any other brewers can do.”

When Ghiloni finally decided to switch careers and become a fulltime brewer, he and his wife, Mary,

“Eric, in my opinion, just has that magic touch, and he makes the beer taste better than any other brewers can do.”

- Matthew Sperati teamed up with Sperati and his wife, Deborah, to begin the process of starting a brewery. As luck would have it, the website for the Rocky Mount Mills project had just gone live and was soliciting businesses for the area.

One phone call later, the road to the creation of Koi Pond Brewing Summer 2016

Co. was paved.

“I’m pretty sure I picked up the phone and called (Sperati) and said ‘Hey Matt, did you see this,’” Ghiloni said. “When the Brewmill made their intent known to the public, we were probably one of the first to reach out to them and say this is something we want to talk about.”

The culture of craft brewing made Ghiloni’s transition from hobby to business much easier.

In the 18 months or so between the phone call and when the doors opened, the two couples traveled North Carolina to various breweries for research. They would take notes on what they liked about certain places, what they didn’t enjoy and which elements would transfer well to their business. They would be able to talk to the owners about patterns they’ve seen and mistakes that they made when they were first starting.

But perhaps more surprisingly is how open and honest the brewers were in teaching Ghiloni and his staff some of their techniques.

Ghiloni said he has dozens of people he can call for brewing advice that would be more than willing to help him out, a unique aspect of his latest occupation.

“Because of the industry and how it is structured and how each brewery is pretty much an open door to other Carolina Brew Scene

21

Koi Pond Brewing Co

As much as the warmth of a as motivation, Ghiloni said he breweries, translating hobby into business, that aspect of it is not anything I’ve seen in any other industry or any other hobby,” Ghiloni said. “But everybody has their trade secrets. I have things I do that no one outside this brewery is ever going to know ... but there’s a certain willingness and eagerness to help your fellow brewer in this industry.”

Koi Pond is located in an old mill house, a unique feature for an industry built almost exclusively in renovated warehouses. The interior decoration is exactly what one would expect from

22

Carolina Brew Scene

a brewery named after a type of fish, but that makes it no less inviting to consumers.

The taproom is packed with tables, chairs and barstools, all handcrafted by local artisans. If the indoors is too stuffy, there are several picnic tables on a patch of grass in a makeshift outdoor area overlooking the construction ongoing across the entire Brewmill.

That construction is symbolic of what Ghiloni and Sperati are hopeful will be a bright future. The N.C. Craft Brewers Guild coined the term “co-opetition” to symbolize the

Summer 2016

cooperative competition that arose in North Carolina, which is exactly what the pair are anticipating will occur around them in the future.

“It was exciting being the first, to be the first in something is always a great thing,” Sperati said. “(The other breweries) to a certain degree will be competition, but really what they will do is foster synergy where they will draw more people in and create a bigger pie that we can all share in.”

The taproom itself is open only four days a week at the moment, partially due to the fact the brewery’s success

compliment continues to serve simply loves to create beer. has meant it is close to maxing out the production on its current equipment.

Both Ghiloni and Sperati laughed at this being one of the major issues they have faced four months into the opening, joking that it is a great problem to have.

Admittedly, they didn’t know what to expect when they opened their doors on Jan. 3, but said in hindsight it would have been better to buy bigger and ramp up production to match the success.

“You can’t just imagine how successful you can be,” Sperati said.

“If you have good beer and a good place to hang out, people will support you.”

As much as the warmth of a compliment continues to serve as motivation, Ghiloni said he simply loves to create beer. That passion is one of the major reasons Koi Pond’s original plan of focusing on five flagship beers to launch the brewery flew out the window before it even opened.

Ghiloni’s busy mind concocted several more recipes while in the process of fine-tuning and perfecting

Summer 2016

the flagship five, leading to 15 different beers being listed on the company’s website. But that is also the mark of a true artisan, someone obsessed so much with their craft that they can’t turn off their brain if they smell or taste certain ingredients.

It is a gift that he loves giving to the world to let them enjoy. His happiness stems from the process and watching someone enjoy the end result.

“I love to brew,” he said, “but even more than that, I love to share my beer with people.”

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Sweet Taters Brewery

By Brie Handgraaf Photography by Adam Jennings With the namesake crop as the first ingredient in its beers, Sweet Taters Brewery & Restaurant has embraced the plow-to-pint craft beer trend. It is more than just a trend to its owners, though.

“We have an incredible local connection with our focus on sweet potatoes,” said Business Manager Chris Flora. “Beer is important to who we are, and we really want everyone to enjoy it, but more important to us is the atmosphere of the restaurant and brewery. We want everyone to enjoy themselves and have a good time with their whole family.”

Sweet Taters opened at the end of April at 1121 Falls Road as part of the Rocky Mount Mills redevelopment, drawing throngs of fans seven days a week. Fresh, local ingredients were incorporated into not only the beers on tap, but also their lunch and dinner menu.

“We want to be local as much as possible,” said 24

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Summer 2016

Flora. “On the restaurant side, we have a ton of local produce, local beef with angus cattle for instance.

We’re two blocks from the farmers market in Rocky Mount, so we definitely plan on taking advantage of that.”

Hickory Meadows Organics in Whitakers supplies the brewery with the bulk of the sweet potatoes the brewery uses. Farm co-owner Billy McDaniel stumbled onto the partnership through a chance meeting with Brewmaster Erin Flora. Flora told McDaniel she’d been buying sweet potatoes from the store, but with pounds needed for each batch, a wholesale deal offered obvious advantages.

“The trend nowadays is for people to know where their food is grown, and that translates into beer as well,” said Hickory Meadows co-owner Peyton McDaniel. “It is great seeing what we produced incorporated into their products. That isn’t an

“

THE TREND

NOWADAYS IS FOR PEOPLE TO KNOW WHERE THEIR

FOOD IS GROWN, AND THAT TRANSLATES INTO BEER AS WELL” - PEYTON McDANIEL

experience we get very often.”

Nash County is a leading producer of sweet potatoes in the state, with North Carolina ranked first in production in the country. In addition to Hickory Meadows’ produce heading to Sweet Taters, the farm’s sweet potatoes are sent to distributors selling across the country and the globe.

“If you go west of here, the soil is more compacted with a lot of clay, but sweet potatoes grow really well here,” Peyton McDaniel said. “Logistically this area is the best in terms of exporting through the deep water ports, and most of the sweet potatoes are grown along the Interstate 95 corridor where we’re located.”

The Floras have toured the fields where their ingredients are sourced, adding such visits are essential to developing their brand. They also harvested hops last August with other brewers at Cardinal Pine Hops

Farm in Wilson. The harvest party was attended by a myriad of brewing enthusiasts who plucked the small green acorn-shaped hops from 20-foot tall bines. Then they turned around and used the wet hops in their batches.

“There is such pressure at harvest because hops are so sensitive,” Cardinal co-owner Guilford Leggett said. “You have 48 hours when they are ready to pick to ship and throw them into a boil or you have to throw them into a dryer and start the process for pellets.”

He started growing hops in 2014 with two rows of five different types - cascade, centennial, columbus, nugget and chinook - then built six more rows to fill a halfacre of land, producing 342 pounds of hops. Another quarter-acre is planned after this year’s harvest for Cardinal Pine, which was the eighth hops farm in the state and the only one east of I-95.

Summer 2016

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Sweet Taters Brewery Cardinal Pine also is one of the only farms that has a commercial dryer, hammer mill and pelletizer that enable the farm to sell North Carolina hops year round.

“We’re in a position now to reach out to the microbreweries in Raleigh and Charlotte because there has been a big increase in microbreweries in recent years,” Leggett said. “Our niche is locally produced hops, which gives microbreweries a unique advantage to advertise.”

“

As for the Floras, they are proud to offer a unique lineup of craft brews all named after a type of sweet potato.

“Sweet potatoes are naturally sweet and sugar is what the yeast eats to create alcohol,” said Chris Flora. “All that sugar and starch is converted to alcohol, then what is left is a subtle earthiness.”

The brewery will have 10 core beers but will offer some seasonal beers as the menu of the restaurant evolves as well.

AS FOR THE

FLORAS, THEY ARE PROUD TO OFFER A

UNIQUE LINEUP OF CRAFT BREWS ALL NAMED AFTER A TYPE OF SWEET POTATO.

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Summer 2016

“Craft brewing is really just starting in this area. Until Koi Pond and us, there was about a 50-mile radius before you hit a microbrewery. We’re starting with educating about craft beer, but there also are a lot of transplants here who’ll have more experience with craft beer,” Chris Flora said. “We produce beers for those palates, but Erin also has some gateway beers for those just starting into the craft beer industry.”

The Art of PAIRING When it comes to pairing food with alcohol, brew enthusiasts advocate reaching for a pint instead of a goblet.

“There is a lot more variability to wine,” said Greg Flora, manager at Sweet Taters Restaurant and Brewery. “In wine, there is mostly grapes, but in beer, there is the grain and the yeast so there is a more not hesitate to jump in and try something. being scared to try something new,” he and beer could be delicious, but you won’t Starting with the lightest beer recommended.

“Remember that dry, bitter and sour add up whereas the sweet and wholesome Wolfrum, executive brewmaster at Capitol Broadcasting Co. “With a richer, spicier food, you’ll want to go hoppy or with a brown ale whereas lighter or wheat beers won’t match fried things go well with a nice Belgian wheat beer or a golden ale to cleanse the pallet.

Something nice and crisp goes really well.”

Flora recommended trying an India Pale Ale with spicy foods. “It is similar to how you pair wines in that the lighter the beer, the lighter the food they go with,” he said. “The stouts and heavier beers tend to go with heavier food.”

There is one hard and fast rule to

said.

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Duck Rabbit The philosophy of a good brew Paul Philippon has been brewing beer for nearly 30 years and he’ll never forget the day he first heard the term “home brewing.”

“I was a beer lover, like people are, and I was in college working in the summer at a research farm to make money. At the end of one day, my supervisor said he had to get home to bottle his latest batch of home brew,” Philippon said. “Bells went off in my head, so he told me to go to the Summer Meadow Herb Shop to get the ingredients, and I got started.”

The first batch made by the dark-beer lover was a brown ale he described as nothing fancy, made with the hope he could just brew something that tasted like beer.

“I was really happy with it,” he recalled. “I don’t know how I’d feel if I tried it today, but it was enough 30

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to keep me going and want to try to make more.”

That was 1987 in Ithaca, N.Y., and Philippon soon started entering his brews into competitions.

“My love of brewing was growing as I was getting more and more serious about it. I was enjoying it more and more, but at the same time, I saw opportunities becoming scarce in the career I was pursuing,” he said. “I felt like I saw people more talented and smarter than me struggling to get good jobs in that field, and I thought that if they were struggling, I’ve got little hope, so I took a hard, inward look at what else would make me happy.”

He dove head first into brewing, attending conferences and working at other microbreweries. In 2004, Duck Rabbit was born, but the name actually came later. The brewery's Summer 2016

Rabid Duck, a Russian imperial stout, is one of the seasonal beers that takes its name from a story retold by an eavesdropping employee.

“When we were brand new and hadn’t selected our name yet, we were invited to sell at the Farmville St. Patrick’s celebration,” Philippon said. “My one and only brewer at the time was in Greenville later, and someone said they tried a new beer named Rabid Duck or something.”

With a laugh, he selected the name Duck Rabbit to pay homage to his past career in philosophy.

The logo also has a philosophical background with a depiction of the two animals depending on the viewer’s perspective.

The brewery sold about 200 barrels of beer in 2004 and has grown ever since, selling just under 8,000

barrels in 2015. Unlike some brewers who add bottling to their repertoire down the line, Philippon added it immediately.

“It was partly because I love bottling, but it was partly a function of our location,” he said. “We’re out of the way, even in Farmville, so with a rural Eastern North Carolina home, I felt like bottling was really necessary to get our beer out there.”

Milton & Miles owner Bryan Rankin remembers trying Duck Rabbit for the first time when he added the company's brews to the craft beer selection at his Rocky Mount restaurant.

“They are one of my favorite regional breweries,” Rankin said. “I like their beers. They are well made and represent the individual styles, but they also each have a uniqueness that you can tell is Duck Rabbit.”

The Milk Stout is the most popular Duck Rabbit beer, often selling out before the shelves are restocked, but the seasonal brews also are popular among customers.

“For us, we’ve always tried to start as close to home as possible with our products,” Rankin said. “Duck Rabbit is our first choice for dark beers because the quality is so high.”

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Duck Rabbit

“

THE FIRST BATCH MADE BY

THE DARK-BEER LOVER WAS

A BROWN ALE HE DESCRIBED AS NOTHING FANCY, MADE WITH THE HOPE HE COULD JUST BREW SOMETHING THAT TASTED LIKE BEER.

Duck Rabbit has grown from a staff of three employees to nearly 20. The reach of the brews has expanded over the years, too, with distribution across North Carolina first, then growing to eight other states along the East Coast.

Attendees of beer festivals across the country also can try Duck Rabbit on tap with a full list of the events available on the brewery's website.

“I definitely think Duck Rabbit beers are a reflection of me,” Philippon said. “It is my taste. I like other things too, for sure, but when you taste a Duck Rabbit beer, you’ll have an understanding of who I am and what I like.”

Fans flock to the Farmville brewery three days a week for tastings and tours with attendees enjoying lawn games, food trucks and more as the days grow longer. Some fans have questioned his decision to open in such a rural location, but Philippon said the price was right for the 4.5 acres he owns and leaves 32

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room for expansion in the future.

He’s learned a number of lessons along the way. One surprising one was how much paperwork is involved in owning a brewery.

“The amount of paperwork is numbing, and you have to find a way to deal with that somehow,” he said. “You delegate as you can and carve out time when you can’t.

“You’ll learn that sleep is less important than you used to think it was.”

His biggest advice for those new to the industry, though?

Get a job in the field before opening a brewery.

“There are 100 ways to skin a cat, but my advice is work in the industry before you found your own company,” he said. “Having said that, I’ve seen people start breweries from scratch and have success, but to me that is a big roll of the dice. I think it is best to learn the industry from the inside first, then branch out on your own.”

Summer 2016

Not undervaluing your product is his second piece of advice.

“Quality beer comes first,” he said. “You’ve got to make a quality product, then you’ve got to sell it at an appropriate price. Once in a while, in times of growth in the industry, you’ll see people sell craft beer at discount prices, but I think that is a huge error.”

As for those who are new to the Duck Rabbit beers, the recommendation is to start light.

“I would say the Amber Ale or the Milk Stout is a good trial beer, depending on how dark you want to go,” Rankin said. “The amber is dark, but not too dark, while the Milk Stout has some perceived sweetness, which helps because people think really dark beer equates to really bitter.”

For more information on Duck Rabbit and where to try it, go to http:// www.duckrabbitbrewery.com/.

Duck Rabbit Craft Brewery: Arrive a stranger, leave with new friends

By Kymberlie An On a sunny Friday afternoon in early April, the Duck Rabbit Craft Brewery is bustling with patrons on the front lawn listening to live music by Greenville musicians Billy Smith and Jason Bullard.

A cornhole game provides a resounding “thunk” as the bean bags hit the boards.

There are benches, chairs and picnic tables add to the welcoming atmosphere.

Patrons also bring their own lawn chairs and sit chatting in small groups while enjoying one of the Duck’s fine beers. Everyone is smiling and laughing.

Everyone is welcomed.

Farmville native Jamin Dixon enjoys this atmosphere. He and his wife Natalie have visited several times.

“There are always people who are from here but there are also people from around the area,” Dixon said. “This is one of our favorite places to come.”

It’s also family-friendly. Dixon brings his two little girls, Mary Clair and Caroline, along for the evening and several other children run around on grass while their parents get to enjoy some adult time sampling and sipping the Duck Rabbit’s fabulous beers.

Inside, the taproom is separated from the brewery by a glass wall. Rocky Freeman serves patrons at the custom-made copper bar and there are two small tables with bar

stools. Its close quarters but everyone is gracious and makes the small space work.

It’s a dance of sorts, but one that you get used to quickly. Nod and smile, say hello, let them pass to the bathroom and repeat when they exit the bathroom. And it works for everyone.

Originally from Ahoskie, Freeman is the taproom manager. In addition to working on site, she draws the Duck Rabbit suds at such regional events as Greenville’s Umbrella Market held throughout the summer, at Pirate Fest in April and at Freeboot Fridays during football season.

Freeman inquires with first-time visitors Keli Martin, Derek Eaton, Kristy English and Casey Garrison what they’d like to drink and offers samples if the patrons are unsure of their choice. The group of four was invited to check the Duck out by regular patron Maria Stubbins who is often at the Duck on Friday nights with her husband J.R. “I’ve always liked the beer,” said Eaton.

“My favorite used to be the Milk Stout but now it’s Hoppy Bunny.”

The Milk Stout is Duck Rabbit’s most popular beer and is available year round.

Hoppy Bunny is an America Black Ale that is brewed with eight varieties of hops to provide a balanced bitterness. Milk Stout and Hoppy Bunny are two of the

Summer 2016

four core beers manufactured year round.

The other two are the Amber Ale and the Brown Ale. Paul Philippon founded the Duck Rabbit Craft Brewery in 2004 after he learned the trade through working at a succession of breweries. He’d also been a hobbyist since 1987. The Duck Rabbit is tucked into the back pocket of Farmville’s downtown core. Philippon selected the location carefully for a couple of key reasons; he didn’t want to rent and he wanted to be able to expand without moving. The tasting room didn’t open immediately. That didn’t happen until Aug. 19, 2011, and was originally only Friday nights.

Farmville resident Chip Galusha remembers that first Friday.

“I was here,” he said. “That was many, many beers ago.”

Since Freeman started a year ago, taproom hours expanded from Fridays only to 3-10 p.m. Thursday-Saturday and there’s more of a party atmosphere, according to patron and part-time employee Sherry Vick.

“Since Rocky started we’ve had a lot more nights like tonight,” Vick said. “It used to be just people in the taproom.

Now we have live music and food trucks.

It’s more like a party.”

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33

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Carolina Brew Scene

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35

Tarboro Brewing Company Written by Josh Walfish Photography by Abbi O’Leary

New company has deep roots in historic town 36

Carolina Brew Scene

Summer 2016

T

he joke around the craft brewing scene is that it takes a village to raise a pint.

Although it certainly rings true for most breweries, it hits particularly close to home at Tarboro Brewing Co. The brewery, which opened in April, possesses the fingerprints of the Tarboro community on everything from the plumbing and electrical work to the beer itself. That was the deliberate plan of Inez and Stephen Ribustello, the owners of the Tarboro Brewery Co., who also own a popular restaurant, On The Square.

“The reason it’s called Tarboro Brewing Company is because it was made by the people of Tarboro,” said

Inez Ribustello, a Tarboro native herself.

“Our general contractor lives a couple of houses away from us,” Stephen added. “We used a local plumber, a local electrician, we tried to use as many local entities as we could, even in the construction and then onto the employees.”

“

THE REASON IT’S CALLED

TARBORO BREWING COMPANY IS

BECAUSE IT WAS MADE BY THE PEOPLE OF TARBORO” - INEZ RIBUSTELLO

With three Edgecombe County natives among the core group of four at the center of the operation, that vision for a community-feeling has permeated into the staff as well.

Brewmaster Price Miller, another Tarboro High School graduate, said he

Summer 2016

had a dream once that a bakery opened up next to the brewery on Main Street and that the brewery was going to sell locally made pretzels with the beer.

That is the type of vision that everyone involved in the Tarboro Brewing Co. hopes to create around Tarboro.

“It feels good to say ‘I’m from here, we’re all local and we’re here to serve our locals,’” Miller said. “We wouldn’t be here at all working without the local people who invested their time and money into this idea.”

The idea for a craft brewery in Tarboro was not unique to the Ribustellos.

Franklin Winslow was walking down Main Street when he passed an old car dealership building that became the future home of Tarboro Brewing Co. “I was walking down Main Street one evening and seeing this building that I hadn’t noticed the entire time I was growing up,” Winslow recalled while talking on the phone from Pennsylvania, where he works for a brewery in Philadelphia.

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37

Tarboro Brewing Co. “I stopped to look in the windows and I saw this wonderful space in the front area and thought to myself … I bet that would be great for a brewpub or something. I took a few more steps and remembered it’s got this whole area in the back and I realized this isn’t a brewpub anymore, it’s a full brewery with a taproom.”

With the craft brewing market growing steadily in Eastern North Carolina, the industry is giving new life to various communities. The success of Mother Earth in Kinston and Duck Rabbit in Farmville has given the Ribustellos hope they can resurrect the image of the town.

“At one time, Tarboro was a flourishing town,” Inez said.

“When my grandparents were doing business here, it was a place to stop along the way. People were coming to visit this gorgeous old historic town. I just feel like this is an opportunity to create something that makes people want to come and see (the town).”

Part of that vision includes beers that are representative of the area – a blue-collar, hard-working, tight-knit town.

Some craft breweries across the country are focused on artisanal ingredients and introducing the consumer to new and unique flavors. But then there is the segment that sticks to the traditions of an industry built upon making a product that was meant to be shared with the rest of the community.

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Each has its merits, but it was very clear from the start it made sense for this venture to lean toward tradition.

“Stephen and I tended to lean toward approachable, gooddrinking beers that had interesting flavor and stood up on their own character but good enough that you wanted to come back for another one,” Winslow said.

“In all of our conversations, we kept talking about these beer styles and beers we enjoy sitting down and having a couple of because they were interesting and still had flavor without leaving your mouth tasting like shag carpeting from the hops.”

When an Indiegogo page for Tarboro Brewing Co. was created in 2013, the goal was for the taproom to open in September 2014. Yet the project ended up 20 months late.

It would be easy for the Ribustellos to point fingers at people or complain about the hardships they faced. Instead it made them realize just how big of a project they took on and motivated them more to see it through.

Unlike On The Square, which was already an existing restaurant when the couple bought it in 2002, they had to create a space for Tarboro Brewing Co. from a building that was a good template, but needed to be renovated to fit the needs of a microbrewery.

“It has been easily the hardest thing we’ve ever done in our entire lives,” Inez said. “But once you do something like this and it actually comes to fruition, you feel like you know a lot more than when you started.”

“I now know a lot more construction than I ever intended to,” Stephen quipped.

But the biggest issue might have been the one thing that jumpstarted the project in October 2014 – a grant from the N.C. Main Street Solutions program.

The $200,000 was just what the brewery needed to procure the investors necessary to open, but with it came the bureaucratic red tape of a state program. The conditions of the grant made the process that much more difficult for Tarboro Brewing Co. to finally open its doors to the public.

Yet with that perseverance comes the sweet tastes of success that have slowly been pouring into the company. The taproom opened in April with fresh red paint and stainless steel fixtures highlighting the family-friendly area that includes plenty of games in addition to the bar area. And the buzz can only grow stronger as more people come in contact with the product now that the brewery is open for business on both fronts.

And if the early returns are any indication, Tarboro might be back on the map sooner rather than later.

“

IT WAS VERY CLEAR FROM THE START IT

MADE SENSE FOR THIS VENTURE TO LEAN

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Nash

Community College Teaching the art of brewing takes class

By Corey Davis Photography by Adam Jennings Part of the redevelopment project of the Rocky Mount Mills, is 1,000 square feet of space occupied by Nash Community College’s Brewing, Distillation and Fermentation associate degree program.

The college’s Brewing, Distillation and Fermentation curriculum was launched in fall semester of 2015. The program is part of NCC’s expanded Culinary Arts and Hospitality Management group.

Dr. Trent Mohrbutter, vice president for instruction and chief academic officer at NCC, said the program was approved last year by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools. It’s one of only three Brewing, Distillation and Fermentation programs in the state.

Greg Quintard, professor of hos40

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pitality management at NCC, said the program was implemented in anticipation of the Rocky Mount Brewmill. Quintard teaches a class within the program heavy on human resource management with students learning about the legality and marketing side of the brewing industry.

Before the college’s Brewing, Distillation and Fermentation program launched, NCC began offering training for brewers through the Continuing Education program’s 360 Degree Brewer classes. The 10-course series provided instruction in occupational safety and health administration safety, stainless steel welding, fermentation, chemistry, plumbing, equipment maintenance, electrical systems, entrepreneurialism, microbiology and marketing.

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Chris and Erin Flora, owners of a startup brewery called Sweet Taters in the Rocky Mount Brewmill, were among the students to go through the program.

“We wanted to take advantage of the booming craft beer industry in the state and see breweries populate in Eastern North Carolina and specifically in Rocky Mount,” Ouintard said. “We anticipate this program growing like our culinary program and hopefully becoming our flagship program.”

The degree program offers students in the region the chance to hone their craft beer skills and hobby into a career. Mohrbutter said through the program, students can earn certificates such as an online business brewing certificate, which

will be offered by NCC in the near future.

But to earn an associate degree, students must complete a five-semester program, Mohrbutter added.

The significant connection between the NCC’s Brewing, Distillation and Fermentation program and Rocky Mount is the number of small business development courses installed in the curriculum, Mohrbutter said.

“This is not just about the making of the beer, but also about the marketing, sale, business startup and business sustainability,” he said. “Most of the students in the curriculum already have a passion for craft brewing and starting their own business. The small business piece is a very important component of that, and that’s why we specifically built our program around that entrepreneurial piece, so students will be able to know how to start their own business and open their own craft brewery.”

NCC’s partnership with the Rocky Mount Brewmill is to help startup breweries. Thomas Clawson, Nash’s Brewing, Distillation and Fermentation instructor, said students will go to the incubator at the Rocky Mount Brewmill, consisting of classroom and lab space to receive more complex level of brewing instruction after students complete the beginning level classes at the college.

“

THIS IS NOT JUST

ABOUT THE MAKING OF

THE BEER, BUT ALSO ABOUT THE MARKETING, SALE, BUSINESS STARTUP AND BUSINESS SUSTAINABILITY” - DR. TRENT MOHRBUTTER

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Nash Community College “We will teach them the same thing, just on different the Brewing, Distillation and Fermentation program is drawequipment,” Clawson said. “On a small scale, the students are ing people from beyond the Twin Counties to take classes. making about 5 to 10 gallons in class at NCC. When they get Josh Albreacht, 25, of Raleigh, is one of several first-year stuto a larger scale, they’ll be making anywhere between 50 to dents in the pilot program, learning the nuances of making 100 gallons or more.” craft beer.

The bushy beard and long-haired Albreacht said his roommate piqued Clawson said developing and teaching his interest in home brewing. After findthe curriculum has given him an opporBREWING IS A MULTIPLE SCIENCE ing schools only in Asheville with brewtunity to utilize all of his experiences in ery programs, Albreacht happened to the midst of a burgeoning industry as on Nash Community College DISCIPLINE, AND YOU KIND OF stumble American consumers move away from and went on to register for the program. industrially processed light lagers to the He said he didn't know Rocky Mount NEED TO KNOW A LITTLE BIT literally infinite number of possibilities existed until coming to the college. that are being created by basement brew“There are such significant differences ers and entrepreneurs alike.

ABOUT ENGINEERING, BIOLOGY AND between brewing at home and profes“Brewing is a multiple science discisional brewing, and we’re continuing pline, and you kind of need to know a CHEMISTRY” - THOMAS CLAWSON to learn a lot in the classses,” Albreacht little bit about engineering, biology and said. “There is so much chemistry bechemistry,” Clawson said. “When you hind it that I didn’t know about. It’s an are credentialed and have a solid foundation of knowledge awesome thing to make beer, but it’s a process, and I didn’t from a credentialed institution, it increases the likelihood of know it was such a process. My goal is to finish the program success. However, nothing is guaranteed, but what we know and hopefully start my own brewery and seeing what they’re with any credential is that the more specific a degree and cre- doing at the Rocky Mount Brewmill would be great because I dentialed a student, the more likely he is to be successful in anticipate this really being a huge success and growth happenthe field.” ing in the future for this area. This program by the college is Mohrbutter said part of the attraction and uniqueness of going to play a big part in it.”

“

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Red Oak Wood Shop Written by Brie Handgraaf Photography by Adam Jennings When slapping a ten-spot down for a craft beer, most customers’ eyes are on the tap. But at the Rocky Mount Mills campus, take a moment to study the bar itself because thanks to the artisans at Red Oak Wood Shop, the grain of the wood is nearly as interesting as the grain in the brew.

“Probably our most unique pieces in terms of rarity of wood comes from our L-Beam Collection, which is most prominently displayed in the side bars at Koi Pond,” said Red Oak Wood Shop coowner Marilynn Anselmi. “The wood is from one solid chunk, which in this case was hard pine. It was used in the 1700s and looked like an L in the corners of plantation houses.

“They were hand-hewed, meaning they were finished with an axe and adze, so no machine was involved in the preparation of the wood. All the joinery also was done by hand.”

The hand tools left iconic marks on the wood. That craftsmanship likely was under-appreciated when the wood was originally used, but Anselmi and business partner Jan Sullivan-Volz said those marks are selling points once the artisans have breathed new life into the wood by transforming it into a table, a desk or something else.

“Each piece of wood tells its own story: where it has been and how old it is,” said Sullivan-Volz. “We’re able to recognize certain features such as nails, saw marks and growth rings that tells us what type of 44

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wood we’re working with and its history.”

Red Oak Wood Shop started out of happenstance when a Singer sewing machine base Sullivan-Volz picked up for use in her mixed media pieces was transformed into a hot ticket item with a wide board top of historic wood. The duo found more historic wood for sale online and they carved out their niche market.

“We fused our joy of working with old, unique objects and reclaimed wood,” Anselmi said. “Fortunately in Eastern North Carolina, there is a plethora of all those raw materials.”

When Capitol Broadcasting Co. started developing a new life for the historic Rocky Mount Mill, salvaging the materials that made the mill run for more than a century was a must and working with Red Oak Wood Shop was an obvious move.

“Everything on this site was built for the long term and has withstood the test of time,” said Capitol Development Manager Evan Covington Chavez. “That wood is something you don’t find as readily anymore, so bringing it back into the building has been phenomenal. Red Oak has been great because they’ve really grasped what we’re doing, and we’re just thrilled.”

Sweet Taters Brewmaster Erin Flora said the bar crafted by Red Oak Wood Shop is the centerpiece of the Sweet Taters restaurant and brewery, paying tribute to the past life of the historic mill house while embracing the future.

“Craft beer is all about giving back to Summer 2016

the community, not about getting drunk and chugging beer,” Flora said. “It is about connection with your family, your friends, and having comfortable furniture made of wood that has been around for centuries makes it feel like this place matters.”

While many of the pieces incorporated into the Rocky Mount Mills are custommade for the spaces, Red Oak Wood Shop also makes furniture inspired by the wood itself and available for sale at the Bel Air Artisan Center in downtown Rocky Mount, among other places.

“We approach each creation as a piece of art,” Sullivan-Volz said. “There is a deliberate process of finding the right marriage of metal and wood.”

After treating the wood for insects, the duo use oil and beeswax to bring out the wood’s natural coloring. Chavez said awe is the most common reaction when seeing decking from a mill warehouse salvaged for a coffee table or old floorboards transformed into a bar.

“I think our collaboration with the mill is particularly fulfilling because they were so interested in us maintaining the history,” Anselmi said. “Whether the wood is pulled from a house or an old barn, when this wood is gone, it is gone. You can’t run to Lowe’s and get more.

“It truly is history, which is evident in the grain, the joinery of the pieces. For those who appreciate that, it speaks volume in a piece of furniture.”

For more information, go to www.redoakwoodshop.com.

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The Inaugural Cape Fear Roller Girls Scavenger Hunt and Pub Crawl Come for the beer, stay for the shenanigans!

Contributed by Nicole Schmidt Photos contributed

On Feb. 28, the sun was shining, temperatures were above average, and the streets of Downtown Wilmington were calm and quiet. But that was all about to change when 150+ Cape Fear Roller Girls, their rowdy fans and friends met in Downtown Wilmington for one purpose: The Inaugural Cape Fear Roller Girls Scavenger Hunt and Pub Crawl.

The goal of the Roller Girls’ event was to pay back support to their generous downtown sponsors: Pour House, Cape Fear Wine and Beer, The Blind Elephant, The Husk, Hell’s Kitchen, and A Tasting Room. Prizes included gift card to participating locations, merchandise and season passes to watch CFRG in action, and gift certificates to Heritage Tattoo, also a Cape Fear sponsor.

The mission was simple: five hours to complete as many random, quirky tasks Downtown Wilmington has ever seen. Each team of 2-4 people was given a treasure map of tasks, some Cape Fear Roller Girls stickers, and the official beer stein of the Cape Fear Roller Girls. Each item was a crucial tool for scavenger hunt success. The beer stein was good for draft specials.

The sticker was to place somewhere that was untagged by the Cape Fear Roller Girls and also had the information for the Season Opener Bout on the back. The treasure map of tasks had items as simple as collecting a bottle cap and increased in point value up to the highest point value task: get a piercing at one of the downtown tattoo shops. Surprisingly, this was 46

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the most popular task and there were lines out the door to Glenn’s Tattoo Service, who had no idea what was happening until the event Coordinator from CFRG explained the task to them. Naturally, they were very pleased to be an unexpected key portion of the scavenger hunt and hope to work with the Roller Girls again in the future.

About a half hour before the time limit expired the exhausted, smiling faces of the participants returned to the “home base location” at the Pour House, some scrambling to complete last minute tasks down to the wire.

Prizes were to be awarded to the first and second place team. A special prize was given to the team with the best name voted by CFRG and the Pour House Staff. After the points were calculated by the highly trained Cape Fear Roller Girls staff the winners were announced. The overall victor went to team Tyranatharus Rexth’s. Coming in a close second was team MC Hammered. The Cape Fear Roller Girls were so pleased by the turn out of the event they added a last minute third place prize, which was awarded to team We Three Queens.

The Event Coordinator for the league hopes to hold an end of the year Scavenger Hunt at the conclusion of the Cape Fear Roller Girls Season. This time increasing the tasks to a whole new level of crazy…but then again, the Cape Fear Roller Girls are Wilmington’s only hard hitting, surly, girls on wheels.

★

★

7/9

6/25

8/20

AWAY

AWAY

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ALL-STARS

ALL-STARS

ALL-STARS

MEMPHIS

ROGUE

SALISBURY

9/17

10/8

10/29

VS

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DOUBLEHEADER

ALL-STARS

VS

BLACKHEARTS

VS

GREENSBORO

AWAY

ALL-STARS

VS

CHARLOTTE

NEW RIVER KNOCKOUTS ALL-STARS

VS

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VS

BECKLEY

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&

Women Beer Contributed by Anita Riley

What images come to mind when you hear the word “Brewster”? If you’re like most of the population, the immediate response has something to do with a beard and overalls. This couldn’t be further from the truth! “Brewster” is the technical term for a woman brewer! In fact, making beer, until recent history was always done my women, never by men. Need to know more? Me too! So, I did a little research, and here are five fun facts that I can’t keep to myself: 5. The history of women making beer goes back as far as the first written records!

Yes, really! Cuniform tablets discovered in Sumeria that contain the story of Gilgamesh also contain stories of women brewers, recipes for various styles of beers, and prayers of thanks for the miracle of fermentation.

4. Women have more taste buds than men, giving us an unfair advantage when it comes to detecting the subtle characters of a finely crafted beverage or picking up on off flavors. Any brewery would be lucky to have (and many do have) at least one woman in their quality control department.

3. Beer is probably the reason civilization began, and women did the brewing!

The cultivation of grains for baking and brewing was the catalyst for ancient people to settle down in one spot. Women took sole responsibility for making sure there was enough sweet elixir for everyone.

2. Even in today in remote areas of Africa and some parts of the Amazon, a brow would be raised if men even attempted to brew. Making beer is still very much a woman’s job in these regions. So if you’re

Thompson-Allen INSU R ANC E AG ENCY “Tapping into the right Insurance”

www.thompsonallenins.com 336-599-2175 48

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a guy, the best advice is to sit back, relax, and enjoy a homebrew.

1. During the historical witch hunts, many Brewsters were accused of being a witch. Picture it, a boiling kettle, a broom, a cat, a pointed hat – all were used in the making of beer, and all are used in our cartoon representations of witches!

The cat protected the grains from wouldbe attackers like mice and beetles. The ale stake, which doubled as a broom, was a marker of a brewery before reading and writing were common place. When beer was ready to be sold, the Brewster would hang foliage on the ale stake. It was the predecessor of Krispy Kreme’s Hot Now neon light. But what about the pointy hats? Those were used in the market to stand out in the crowd! Amazing, right?!

Who knew?!

Greenville’s Growing Beer Gardens The days are getting long and the temperatures are rising which means one thing to craft lovers in Eastern Carolina: outdoor drinking. Whether you’re looking for a place to drink in the sun on your lunch break or a quiet spot for a Friday night flight, Greenville is stocked with some of the best patios and beer gardens in the east.

Greenville Girls Pint Out, an organization that builds a community of women who love craft beer, is a fixture of the growing beer scene around town and knows a thing or two about having a pint at Greenville bars. Here’s our list of the best places for outdoor drinking in G-Vegas: Best Place for a Flight with Friends: Tapped This bottle shop is a long-needed addition to the Greenville beer scene. With 20 rotating taps, you’re likely to find something (or four or five somethings) you want to try each time you go. Opt for a flight outside in the beer garden, surrounded by string lights and Greenville’s most avid craft beer lovers. Get takeout from nearby Fajitas, Wasabi 88, or Basil’s and make a night out of it with a few of your nearest and dearest...or whomever happens to be free for a beer. Or the person at the next table.

Whatever works.

Honorable Mention: Winslow’s Tavern Best Place for Day Drinking: Christy’s Europub The beer drinking spot for beer drinkers Uptown. You’ll always find someone on the patio enjoying a brew from Christy’s small but well-culled and ever-changing tap lineup. Wanna come at 3pm and hang out for a few hours? Hey, that’s cool. You’ll likely find others doing the same. Don’t be surprised if you bump into old friends or make new ones while you’re there.

Honorable Mention: Crossbones Tavern Best Place to Drink Local: Trollingwood Brewery & Taproom You can’t get more local than heading to the brewery itself. Greenville’s nanobrewery comes equipped with an outdoor space ideal for drinking in Uptown. Here, you can grab a pint of Skullville, their jalapeno pale ale, or Spazzfest Brown Ale and hang out at one of the picnic tables. Bonus: The brewery is next door to Dickinson Public House which offers fantastic food and has good beer on tap, as well.

Honorable Mention: Mother Earth Brewery, if you’re up for a short drive to Kinston Best Place for Large Groups: Mellow Mushroom You want to go out with a big group of friends? Have a beer or two over dinner with family? Take your dog and watch the game on TV? Head to Mellow Mushroom.

Their patio is huge (and heated on chilly nights) and they keep great beer on tap, including a few NC beers at all times. They have TVs, both small and large tables, as well as a long outdoor bar, and it’s dog-friendly. This combo makes Mellow a great place to hold a party, and they often host their own events on the patio as well.

Honorable Mention: The upstairs patio at Ale House Best Place for Date Night: Basil’s With a beautiful patio space conveniently located on Firetower Road, Basil’s offers great Italian food and focuses on local craft beer. They have constantly rotating taps of NC beer, and a selection of bottles, too. Opt for a Monday date and you’ll get your NC draft for $3.

Honorable Mention: Villedge Wood Fired Kitchen Summer 2016

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The Pinup Bartender

Beauty is in the Eye of the Beer Holder:

Proper Glassware & Service for Beer

Y

ou sit at the bar, eagerly anticipating your refreshment with great excitement. You place your order after some perusal of the beer selection. And the bartender serves it to you in a coffee mug. What is your reaction?

I doubt such an occasion will arise, but being in the business of beer service glassware is something I think about all the time when on the clock. I recently came across a quandary that my coworkers and I discussed.

In what type of glass would one serve a winter white ale that describes itself as a wheat beer? This type of question is obviously a point in the finer minutiae of beer service, but glassware is often complimentary to the type or style of beer being served.

The appropriate glass will showcase the beer in all types of ways.

A proper glass is visually appealing. For example, a pilsner glass. In case you have never seen one, or did not realize what you were looking at, picture a martini glass. It is a fairly recognizable shape. Now, remove the stem from your visualization and elongate the glass. Before you panic about stability, widen the bottom of that glass and give it a

Jenna Bailey, The Pin Up Bartender

sturdy base. That is essentially a pilsner glass.

Back to aesthetics. The pilsner’s wide mouth allows the head to foam freely and trap all the goodness of the beer. (This is the purpose of a proper amount of “head” on any beer!) The long shaft of the glass showcases the effervescence of the pilsner as well as the striking color; usually pale blonde, gold, to straw.

The opening of a glass is also an important component of the proper glassware equation. Beer glassware will often have a fairly large mouth. Think of your standard tumbler pint or beer mug. However, too large and the aroma can be lost. On the flip side, if the opening is too narrow, the nose of the beer can be too biting. Think of when you smell whiskey or any other liquor. The sharp, burning feeling you get in the top of your nose? Serving beer that has a higher ABV (Alcohol by Volume) in a glass that has too narrow of an opening can have that same effect.

In short, beer can be served in a variety of glasses but a great beer bar will have a variety of glasses to best showcase all the unique styles of beer they have to offer. Beer is multi faceted and complex, which is why we love it and glassware is just another interesting piece of its great appeal.

Contributed Image - TalesOfFroth

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Parting Gifts

Recipe from

Wilmington Homebrew Supply INGREDIENTS: • Malt Extracts • Steeping Grains • Hops • Liquid Yeast *all-grain recipes also avaliable Step 1:

If you are using a 3-5 gallon kettle, add 2 - 3.5 gallons of water to your kettle and leaving about a third space from water level to top of kettle. If using a 7.5 or larger kettle, add 6 gallons of water to your kettle. Put the kettle on a propane burner or stove top and turn on the heat.

Step 2:

Step 7:

Add the rest of your hops according to your recipe.

Step 8:

Once 60 minute boil is complete with all of the hops put in the wort it is time to cool.

Create a bath of ice and water in a sink or large tub. Cover kettle with lid or aluminum foil during cooling.

Once the temperature of the water Step 9: reaches 150-158 degrees add your grain Once the wort has cooled to 65-75 bag. Steep bag for 45 minutes. During steep- degrees it is time to pour it into your steriling keep temperature in the ideal range by ized fermenter (remember that anything turning on and off heat source while stirring. that touches the wort after it’s cooled has Step 3: to be sterilized) either by use of a funnel or After steeping is done, pull grain bag out directly pouring it into the bucket. Pour vigorand let drain into kettle for a few seconds. ously in order to oxygenate wort for happy Once drained continue to heat water to boil. yeast growth.

Step 4:

Once water comes to boil, turn heat source off, in order to prevent scorching, and add malt extract. Stir in until thoroughly mixed.

Step 5:

Turn heat source back on and bring to boil. Keep eye out foam rising in kettle! When wort (malt extract and water) starts to boil the heat has to regulated in order to prevent boil over. Once the foam drops, turn heat up and create a rolling boil.

Step 6:

Step 10:

If using a 3-5 gallon kettle you will need to add water to fill up your fermenter to the 5 gallon mark. You can either add bottled water from the store or you can add tap water.

Depending on your tap water there might be a small amount of bacteria that can alter the flavor of the finished beer. Your choice but if you are using city water you should be fine.

Step 11:

Pour in your yeast directly into the wort that is in the fermenter.

Step 12:

Add your bittering hops directly into the boiling wort and start your 60 minute boil from this point.

Seal up the fermenter with sterilized airlock and place in a cool dark place for 2-3 weeks.

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