Craft beer–you know it when you drink it, or maybe I should say you know when you’re not drinking it. If your favorite beer company buys ad space during national sporting events, let me whisper softly in your ear, That’s not craft beer. If your favorite beer features how many calories it contains prominently in its name or on its label,That’s not craft beer, and if you drink anything that has its caloric content in its name we need to have a conversation about a whole lotta stuff. According to the Brewers’ Association, the Colorado-based nonprofit behind craftbeer.com, an American Craft brewer can pretty much be summed up in three adjectives: small, independent, and traditional. Click here to read more about their definition.
Today begins American Craft Beer Week. This is the sixth year that folks across the country have been celebrating American Craft Beer Week, but 2011 is special because this is the first time that “American Craft Beer Week will see official events hosted in all 50 states, making it the largest-ever celebration of U.S. craft brewers.”
The good news is that Chapelboro friends don’t need to leave the city limits to celebrate American Craft Beer Week with the proper small, indie, traditionally brewed pint. Plenty of locations around Chapel Hill and Carrboro will unofficially celebrate excellence in the craft beer being served and brewed all over the Triangle. A little inspiration can be found at the following locations:
- Brixx Pizza, Meadowmont, Chapel Hill – I’ve come to the surprising conclusion that this regional pizza chain also has one of the best selections of craft beer on tap in Chapel Hill. On top of that, almost all draught beers at Brixx are $1.95 on Mondays. Every Monday! Currently at least two dozen are available on draught, call (919) 929-1942 to hear the lineup. Be prepared to enjoy favorites like Rogue, Heavy Seas, and SweetWater. They almost always have at least one beer from Winston-Salem’s Foothills and Durham’s Triangle beer on tap as well.
- Carolina Brewery and Triangle Brewing Company team up for a joint beer dinner at Carolina Brewery’s West Franklin Street location on Tuesday, May 17th. Each of the four courses will be paired with a beer from these breweries, and the fun starts at 6:30 with a brewer’s reception. Call (919) 942-1800 for reservations (required). $35 per person plus tax and gratuity. Click here to read the info from their web site.
- TJ’s Beverage and Tobacco in Carrboro (across from the snuggly Belgian beer bar Milltown) might look like a nondescript mini-mall stop for smokes, but this is one of the best places in Orange County to purchase some very hard to find North Carolina-brewed craft beer. Case in point: They are one of two places in the Triangle where beer heads can buy growlers of Pisgah (Black Mountain, NC), and they are the only place in the Triangle where you can purchase a sample from Morganton’s Catawba Valley Brewing Company portfolio that includes Hyper Monkey Coffee Stout, Berliner Weisse, and of course an IPA, Firewater Indian Pale Ale.
Take a minute to leave a comment for chapelboro.com readers about how you plan to celebrate American Craft Beer Week. Cheers!
