THE
R e Be E U S IS
T
he Triangle’s beer scene grew up fast in the decade after Pop the Cap. And while new breweries (and cideries) are still coming online, the oncerapid expansion has given way to a kind of maturity. We have established major players. We have funky experimenters. We have national award-winners. And we have places doing all of the above. Across the region, there are consistently good and sometimes excellent breweries cranking out consistently good and sometimes excellent beers, some of which rival the best offerings of Portland or San Diego. Which, when you’re putting together a Local Beer Issue, presents a dilemma: How do you do this scene justice in just a handful of pages? Our solution was to cast a wide net. By our count, there are 48 breweries in Wake, Durham, and Orange Counties, excluding the nanobreweries Dingo Dog and Regulator, as well as the excellent Asheville imports Hi-Wire and Burial. (Our apologies if we missed any.) We asked each which of their beers best represented their work—be it their most popular, their brewer’s favorite, or whatever criterion they wanted to be judged by—and dispatched our writers to go drink and write about it. So join us on this Triangle tour de beer. And then—shameless plug alert!—join us again on March 1 for the first INDYpendent Local Craft Beer Festival at Durty Bull Brewing Company in Durham, featuring 12 local breweries pouring their finest concoctions while you vote for your favorite. Tickets are available at INDYweek.com/upcoming-events/indy-week-events. Without further ado, from A to, well, Y, here are the 48 breweries we visited. —JCB
Ancillary* Fermentation Inside Out IPA (7% ABV) Ancillary is less a standalone brewery than the product of Whit Baker’s hyperactive mind and beer obsession. Two years ago, Baker, the co-owner and brewmaster of Bond Brothers (see below), and fellow Bond Brother Andy Schnitzer partnered with local beer friends, including the president and VP of Fortnight Brewing, to create Ancillary*, a side project that gave them the freedom to experiment. Ancillary*’s beers can be hard to find, as they’re small-batch and released primarily at pop-up events around the Triangle, though a few make their way to bars and bottle shops. Inside Out, a juicy IPA Ancillary* released at its 10th pop-up in December, is hazy and citrusy, packed with grapefruit notes, carries a hint of sweetness, and isn’t weighed down by hoppiness. A pint goes down faster than you’d expect. —JCB ancillaryfermentation.com
Aviator Brewing The Haze is Strong With This One (6.4% ABV) The Haze is a tasty New England IPA with a complex hop profile. The combination of five varieties of hops used in just the right fashion reflects head brewer Mark Doble’s engineering background (and the name is an indication of his love of sci-fi). It’s a fragrant brew—the aroma hits your senses before the glass reaches your lips—that’s immensely satisfying. —CF 209 Technology Park Lane, Fuquay-Varina 919-567-2337 | aviatorbrew.com Barrel Culture Brewing and Blending I Don’t Know if You Know This, But I’m Kind of a Savage (11.5% ABV) Savage is a blend of two braggots—a mead-beer hybrid, made with both honey and barley—fermented with microorganisms that create complexity and deliberate sourness, then refermented on strawberries, Madagascar vanilla, and Videri cocoa nibs. Pours still, a strawberry pink; tart, floral, strawberry jam aromas. On the tongue, the experimental ingredients meld into a tart, dry, lightly honeyed (not sweet), potent sipping beer with a ghost of chocolate and berry, and a finish sweetened by the vanilla. —JJ 4913 S. Alston Ave., Durham 919-908-9659 | barrelculture.com KeepItINDY.com
January 29, 2020
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