Mother Earth Brewing

We were travelling to the southern Outer Banks in North Carolina on a recent vacation and wanted to stop at a brewery during the trip.  A quick check of the North Carolina Brewers Guild reveals that, while the center and western part of the state are loaded with breweries, the coast is rather empty.  The I-95 cooridor features two breweries, Mother Earth Brewing Company and Duck-Rabbit Craft Brewery.  We were driving right through Kinston, center of an old tobacco-growing region, and decided to stop at Mother Earth.

Mother Earth Brewing is the dream-child of Stephen Hill and Trent Mooring, two guys from Kinston.  Both developed a love of hand-crafted beer and when Trent married Stephen's daughter, their shared passion led to the idea of forming a brewery.  The goal was to create world-class beers, but keep the process as local as possible.  Both men grew up and went to school in Kinston, a little city of under 25,000, and owned small businesses there.  By keeping the brewery local, Mother Earth could help the local economy and satisfy the local thirst for beer at the same time.

One of the facets of Mother Earth Brewing, which is named after an old Nitty Gritty Dirt Band song, that interested me is their commitment to environmental sustainability.  The owners renovated an old downtown Kinston building to provide a home for the brewery, making substantial investments in energy efficiency technologies and green building materials.  Mother Earth also has a 6 kilowatt solar array installed on the roof that helps offset electrical demand (the energy generated from the array even appears as a counter on the tap room's television set).

While there, we were able to try the following Mother Earth beers:

• Second Wind Pale Ale
• Dark Cloud Munich-Style Dunkel Lager
• Sisters of the Moon IPA
• Endless River Kolsch
• Weeping Willow Wit

The kolsch was probably our favorite, as it was smooth, clean, and easy drinking.  It matched the hot weather outside and would be easy to finish off several pints.  The Munich dunkel was also very good, with rich bready malt character and a nice dry finish.  The wit was a bit of a disappointment, as it came across the palate with a spicy, black pepper character, that did not balance with the rest of the beer.

If you are driving through North Carolina on I-95, consider a diversion to Mother Earth Brewing.  Their brewery and tap room are worth the trip.

Cheers,

TW

Wild Wolf Brewing Company Tour

As reported in a previous post, my homebrewing club, the Charlottesville Area Masters of Real Ale (CAMRA), organized a tour of a couple of local brewing companies.  The second stop on the tour was the Wild Wolf Brewing Company.  Lug Wrench interviewed Wild Wolf late last year, as part of our nanobrewery series.

Wild Wolf is currently brewing out of a store-front in Nellysford, VA.  They utilize a large customized homebrewing-scaled system, that features three stainless steel vessels (I believe they were 55-gallon vessels, but I could be wrong).  The vessels are located in a single tier, so they use impeller pumps to move brewing liquor and wort around.  Beer undergoes primary fermentation in food-grade plastic fermenters, which are stored in large chest freezers for temperature control.  After finishing primary fermentation, the beer is pumped into stainless bright tanks in a cold room for aging and conditioning.  Finished beer is available for tasting at the front of the building and is sold in growlers.  In addition to selling beer, Wild Wolf also operates a homebrewing supply business and has a large supply of items for sale in their store.

Wild Wolf is currently finalizing plans to open a commercial-scale brewery and restaurant in a location nearby.  They hope to have the new location open in the next year or two.

Thanks to Wild Wolf for the tour and tasting.  It was inspiring to see how innovative nanobreweries can be to get their operations up and running.  I wish them success in their future endeavours and look forward to hearing what is in store for them next.

Cheers,

TW

Pictures from the event are below.  I apologize for their quality, as I only had my cell phone on hand to take them.

 Wild Wolf taps and tasting area

Wild Wolf brew house, which utilizes large Blichmann stainless vessels

Wild Wolf fermenters that use chest freezers for temperature control

Cold room for bright tanks and conditioning, which is powered by an air conditioner 

Devils Backbone Brewing Company Tour

My homebrewing club, Charlottesville Area Masters of Real Ale (CAMRA), organized tours of two local brewing companies this past weekend.  The first stop was Devils Backbone Brewing Company (DBBC), which is located  at the foot of Wintergreen Mountain, near Nellysford, VA.  DBBC gained national recognition last year when they the 2010 World Beer Cup Champion Brewery and Brewmaster Small Brewpub award for wining the most medals in their size category at the World Beer Cup.  The brewery started making beer in 2008 and has done well enough for themselves that they are opening a bottling facility to take their beer to a larger market.

The brew pub building is has a very rustic style to it, one that fits well with its mountainous surroundings.  The main part of the pub has vaulted ceilings and walls that are adorned with various mounted animals, making the pub seem like a hunting lodge.  The wall behind the bar has glass windows that looks in on the brewhouse, which is of German design, but was manufactured in Japan (the instructions around the switch board are still in Japanese).  The DBBC brewmaster, Jason Oliver, gave us a tour, which was very informative.  After it was over, we all sat down to have a nice lunch on the DBBC deck, which overlooks the beautiful countryside.

Stay tuned for the second stop on the trip, Wild Wolf Brewing Company.

It was a great day,

Tom

Pictures from the event are below.  I apologize for their quality, as I only had my cell phone on hand to take them.

Mounted big horn sheep adorn the walls of the brew pub

The DBBC copper brew kettle

The DBBC brewhouse switch board, where the labels are written in Japanese

An tank holding aging beer on brettanomyces, with a picture of Bret from Flight of the Concords stuck on it

DBBC cold-conditioning room 

Lunch included a wonderful German bratwurst served on a spent-grain roll, German potato salad, pickle and a few pints of DBBC beer (Maibock and Reilly's Rye Ale)

Visit to Baying Hound Aleworks

Last week I had the opportunity to meet someone I first interacted with on this blog.  This is the first time my "blogging life" has intersected with my real life.  I was visiting family near Silver Spring, MD who live a short drive away from Baying Hound Aleworks, who we recently interviewed as part of our nanobrewery series.  I contacted Paul Rinehart and he graciously agreed to let my family and I visit his brewery.

My immediate observation upon seeing the brewery is how small nanobrewing can be.  This is something I understood intellectually, but it did not fully dawn on me until we walked around Paul's brewery.  The brew house features two 55-gallon Blichmann stainless pots, one acting as the mash tun and the other as the kettle, with two 42-gallon Blichmann conical fermenters and a plastic fermenter.  While bigger than many homebrewer breweries, it is not that much larger (they use the same size propane burner as Jeff does at home).  The other observation that stuck me is the obvious enjoyment that Paul and his assistant brewer, Hank Miller, take in their jobs.  This was apparent in their interest in discussing brewing processes with me, their excitement in tasting and analyzing the Baying Hound ales, and their excitement over Paul's plans for the future.  Their good-natured humor is best captured through the following "Brewery Rules," which were posted on the wall:

1. Must consume [beer] at least once during bottling and/or brewing.
2. No burping unless you can't help it.
3. When in doubt, have a beer.
4. It is encouraged to break into song, especially when you have a beer in your hand.
5. The beer you drink at the brewery is only rented.
6. The toilet [seat] may be left up if no ladies are present.

Here are some of the pictures I took at the brewery.

Baying Hound Blichmann pots and burners, which is the same burner Jeff uses at home

Baying Hound Blichmann fermenters - they use the plastic one for test batches

Baying Hound Pale Ale labels, which were just redesigned, the new one is on the left

Thanks to Paul and Hank for sharing their beer and stories with me.  The visit was definitely a highlight of my holiday travels.

Sincerely,

TW

Custom BrewCrafters - Honeoye Falls, NY

A few weeks back while Jeff and I were visiting family in Upstate New York, the two of us took the opportunity to visit one of the local breweries: Custom BrewCrafters (CBC)  in Honeoye Falls, NY (just outside of Rochester).   Custom BrewCrafters is a unique brewing business in that it focuses almost solely on contract brewing.  The business, founded by Mike and Luanne Alcorn in 1997, took advantage of the opportunity Alcorn saw in crafting specialty beers for Western New York restaurants.  The company’s value proposition was to help create and brew “house” beers for customers’ establishments.  Alternatively, CBC also offered a stable of their own beers/recipes, many of them award winning, including a two time GABF medal winner.  CBC’s customers accept the beer under specific contract conditions, along with their own label, and serve the beer directly on draft in their restaurants.

All the Custom Brewcrafter beers are brewed within the company’s new brewery location outside of the town of Honeoye Falls.  The facility also operates a tasting room like those found at small wineries.  It has a bar with approximately 20 taps, where people pay a nominal fee (~$3) and get six small tastings.  The tasting room staff is on hand to answer questions, offer tours, and sell growlers pulled fresh from the taps.  Additionally, kegs, 12-ounce, and 22-ounce bottles of several of the beer varieties are also sold on site.  Operating the tasting room, as well as tours of the brewery, seem to generate buzz for the breweries brands, as well as finding homes for any kegs that may not be moving as quickly as otherwise optimal.

Jeff and I found the Custom BrewCrafters business model to be very novel.  It does not follow either the traditional brew pub model or the small/regional craft brewery model.  The company exists to supply local restaurants with local beer; beer that those restaurant owners help to develop.

For many years, contract brewing carried with it a negative stigma in the craft brewing industry.  This negative connotation began when the industry was undergoing massive growth and everyone wanted a piece of the pie.  The results from this period of contract brewing were poor quality beer that were marketed under many names and labels.  It is refreshing to see that contract brewing, as done at Custom BrewCrafters, is shaking the negative stigma.  The beer that Jeff and I sampled was interesting, varied, and of quality.  If establishments like Custom BrewCrafters can continue to prove that contract brewed beer is worthy of the label of craft beer, than that is better for all of us, because it allows more brands with innovative ideas to enter the marketplace.

If any of our readers find themselves in the Rochester, New York area (specifically near Honeoye Falls), I highly encourage you to stop by for a visit.  You will not regret it.

Cheers,

TW

Coastal Extreme Brewing Co.’s New Brewery

“Drink Local”. I feel like I could easily slip into a soapbox rant on this one if I’m not careful, but hopefully those whose eyes are reading this post already know and appreciate the concept. Support your regional breweries. Take advantage and patron the beer establishments around you while you have the opportunity – if you don’t, they may not be around the next time you get the itch.

In the same vein of Tom’s prior visit to the brewery formerly known as Clipper City Brewing Co. , I recently had the opportunity to visit the brand new home of the Coastal Extreme Brewing Company (CEBC), makers of Newport Storm Beer and distillers of Thomas Tew Rum in Newport, RI. Newport Storm has been in Rhode Island since ’99 and has branded itself ‘RI’s only Microbrewery’ (which is true if the brewpubs are discounted). In the latter part of 2009, the CEBC closed the doors of its old brewing facility and prepared for its expansion into a newly constructed building that will house the brewery going forward. While construction and relocation were delayed for a few months due to a series of contractor disputes, the brewery is now in its ‘soft’ opening with beer being brewed on facility.

CEBC decided to open its doors to the community while the finishing touches were still being made.The tasting room/visiting center itself is still a bit of a work-in-progress, with the stained hardwood bar installed but the carpeting, shelving, and displays still unassembled.  Flights of beer or rum are available to visitors at a cost of $7 and $9 respectively (which includes the branded glassware).  While a guided tour is only given once a day, the new building features an observation deck above the tasting room overlooking the entire brewery. Being open at all times the tasting room is open, the deck provides the public with a way to experience the whole facility without letting people run free on the brewery’s main floor.

The view from the observation deck

With the brewing operations active again onsite, the ECBC brewhouse is active 1-2 days a week to keep up with the current demand, leaving plenty of room for expansion.

The 30 bbl (I believe) brewhouse

The oversized fermentors were chugging away during our visit.

As part of Newport Storm’s expansion, the company was able to bring in a full bottling line onsite. At their prior facility, only kegged beer was produced at the brewery, with all the Newport Storm bottles being brewed offsite by a contract brewery about 45 minutes away in Connecticut (at Cottrell Brewing Co., for those keeping score at home.) With the new warehouse facility complete, all the ‘Storm beer is produced under one roof.

Bottled exiting the bottle washer heading toward the fillers.

In addition to producing the line of Newport Storm beers, ECBC is also Rhode Island’s only micro-distillery producing Thomas Tew Rum. Interestingly enough, ECBC was the first company to receive a distillery license within the state in over 125 years. Taking its name from the 17th century “Rhode Island Pirate”, Thomas Tew Rum is a throwback to the golden years of the sugar trade. During this time, Newport, RI was considered the “rum capital of the world” with over 20 distilleries within the city proper. Using blackstrap molasses, ECBC’s Thomas Tew Rum is the result of two distillations, after which the liquor is aged in American oak barrels for 1 to 2 years.

ECBC’s pot still (looking a little lonely)

Thomas Tew Rum aging in the corner of the brewery, waiting for its day.

If you’re a local New Englander or just happen to be in our section of the map, make the trip over to the new brewery and distillery. And if you reside in other parts of the globe, get out there and support your local brewing establishments instead.

Slainte!

-JW


“Beer isn’t just beer…beer needs a home”
-Stephen Beaumont

Clipper City Brewing Tour - Baltimore, MD

Given the number of small breweries and brewpubs that span the United States, there are a great number of them that Lug Wrench readers have previously not encountered.  To help explore some of these breweries and draw attention to the myriad of beers they make, Lug Wrench would like to introduce an series of posts on local breweries, ones that Jeff and I have the opportunity to explore and report on.  The posts will focus on the individual brewery, its beers, and any themes that define the brewery and set it apart.  The posts may include follow on interviews with the brewers, where we can get that information.  Clipper City Brewing Company, from Baltimore, MD, will start the series off.

My wife surprised me with a beer-related day of activities for my birthday this year.  The day included lunch at Du Claw Brewing Company and dinner at the Dogfish Head Ale House in Gaithersburg, MD.  Sandwiched in-between these two wonderful culinary experiences, was a tour of Clipper City Brewing Company, which is located on the southern side of Baltimore.  Clipper City beer has been a staple at my household for a couple of years now, since my wife discovered Loose Cannon, which has become her all time favorite beer.  Thus, we had a great deal of excitement upon discovering that Clipper City gave tours, just a few short hours away from home.

Clipper City Brewing Company was founded in 1994 by Hugh J. Sisson.  Hugh is a sixth generation Baltimoriean and has been involved in the city's brewing industry since the mid-1980s.  In 1987, Hugh and others lobbied the Maryland General Assembly to pass legislation that made brew pubs legal in the state.  He first worked in Sisson's, located in Federal Hill, which he left in 1994 to found Clipper City Brewing Company.  Clipper City's beers are marketed under the Heavy Seas label, which includes its 4 to 6% ABV ales - the Clipper Fleet, its stronger 7 to 8% ales - the Pyrate Fleet, and its strongest ales (greater than 8%) - the Mutiny Fleet.  Heavy Seas beers are distributed in bottle and draft across the Eastern third of the country.  Besides Hugh, Clipper City employs, Ernesto Ingot, Brewmaster, and Kurt Krol and Chris Mallon as brewers.

The tour began with Hugh providing a theatrical reading of slightly-modified version of the Lord's Prayer, where beer plays a very prominent role (something akin to the text found here).  As it turns out, Hugh has a masters degree in theater from the University of Virginia.  He also outlined the beers produced under the Heavy Seas line and provided a history of the brewery.  The tour itself covered all aspects of brewing operations and lasted for over an hour and a half.  There are pictures at the bottom of the post.

There were a couple of notable things we learned about Clipper City, while there.  First was that they provide a wonderful and informative tour.  Hugh detailed all parts of the brewing process, including ingredient selection by actually handing out hops and grain.  It is amazing what one one can learn by tasting and smelling raw ingredients.  He explained how the actual brew day progresses with understandable analogies that the non-beer geek could understand.  He discussed packaging and why no one should ever drink beer directly from the bottle (basically the bit of oxidized foam on the rim of the bottle, underneath the cap, tastes horrid).  Hugh's persona and what could be best called stage-presence, made it all entertaining and highly informative.

The other take home message was the importance of the Baltimore community to the brewery.  Clipper City is named after the clipper class of ships, which was invented in Baltimore.  The brewery hosts the local homeberwing club and an annual homebrewing competition, called The Letter of Marque.  Hugh hosts a weekly radio program about beer on the local radio station WYPR, and has been active on many brewing and other fronts in his community.  The brewery's community and local brewery focus was extremely apparent throughout the tour.

If you ever find yourself near Baltimore, I highly recommend a trip to Clipper City for an entertaining tour and tasting some quality beer.

Cheers,

TW

Hugh describing different types of malt, and passing out samples

The Clipper City brew deck

A VERY healthy fermentation . . .

The Clipper City bottle filler

The end result, great bottled beer (pictured here is Loose Cannon)

And . . . the medals to show they are good at what they do (including medals from the Governor's Cup, the Great American Beer Festival, and the World Beer Cup)