Breweries are pulling out of the Funkatorium Invitational left and right (7 total right now...would expect to see more). Other popular breweries are also saying they will no longer collaborate with them. Hopefully it's just the beginning.
5/4/2017 10:41:30 AM
^interesting
5/4/2017 10:47:31 AM
Yea "high profile" can mean a few things. It's obvious that WW was my favorite NC brewery and what I think most outsiders view as the best.Goose Island beers are trash to me. I do like Matilda but their base line, especially the soapy IPA are no gos. I wonder if it was this way before or after their purchase. After they were bought, their beers just starting showing up everywhere for obvious reasons. People drank them and some determined they were good because it was different or some shit. I think sours do have potential to become even more popular. Also, when are they going to stop strategically buying medium sized craft operations? I assume this will keep going until they have most of the craft market share and intend to push out larger craft breweries like Sierra Nevada by pushing their local take overs.I really need to try Haw River, it's right down the road![Edited on May 4, 2017 at 10:50 AM. Reason : .]
5/4/2017 10:48:16 AM
^^ They started off being very good at one niche...but they've been more than that for a few years now. They've put out some very popular stouts (Dark Arts, Dark Age, Milk and Cookies, Paraiso, etc) and some very good IPAs/PAs as well (Pernicious and Freak of Nature are highly sought after).I'd also say it might be tough to be a connoisseur if you don't like two of the major styles of beer. You can't just drink stouts and lagers and say you're an expert.[Edited on May 4, 2017 at 10:54 AM. Reason : .]
5/4/2017 10:53:56 AM
I think if I redid my list to include other styles WW would still be up there for the reasons you mentioned. They make some really balanced pales/IPA where other breweries are stuck on the "let's throw as much hops as we fucking can into this shit" mentality. Deep River and Foothills have great takes on the more traditional styles. Brewery Bhavana has done some really unique Belgian-influenced stuff for such a new place. I still think Haw River and Steel String are still up there too. I guess you could throw in Trophy - but I think their one-off's are where they really shine (Monkey Way was incredible).
5/4/2017 11:10:06 AM
Ouch...the Rare Barrel with the dramatic facebook post in relation to WW selling out:Other good ones from yesterday:[Edited on May 4, 2017 at 12:28 PM. Reason : .]
5/4/2017 12:24:46 PM
5/4/2017 12:28:28 PM
5/4/2017 12:32:01 PM
Because I said so!
5/4/2017 12:32:52 PM
5/4/2017 12:34:08 PM
There are way too many good local breweries for me to give a shit about this particular one selling out
5/4/2017 3:09:04 PM
This thread makes me happy I don't live in NC anymore.
5/4/2017 3:26:56 PM
^^
5/4/2017 3:29:55 PM
^^^
5/4/2017 4:07:52 PM
this story didn't surprise me in the least.
5/4/2017 4:13:33 PM
y'all motherfuckers are really going to post up in this thread, acting like you weren't pounding Milwaukee's Best to the face last weekend? ]
5/4/2017 5:07:45 PM
Bruh, those were barrel-aged lime-a-ritas.
5/4/2017 5:44:32 PM
5/4/2017 6:02:41 PM
I usually drink bud light if I'm tailgating or whatever, drinking a lot for a long period or time. I don't like really hoppy bitter beers so the one time I tried a few WW beers I didn't like them, but it's probably good this happened. Otherwise, I don't know that I'd ever know ABs whole scheme and pressure they put on places to take so many taps and whatever. I'm going to try to stop buying anything from them, I guess, was the point of this post..
5/4/2017 6:30:43 PM
Fonta Flora has way too many earthy beers for my taste. Absolutely creative but not my favorite. Actually think Catawba puts out more quality small batches..[Edited on May 4, 2017 at 7:30 PM. Reason : X]
5/4/2017 7:30:15 PM
5/4/2017 8:29:48 PM
5/4/2017 8:47:06 PM
Natty Greene's is indeed the worst, relatively speaking
5/4/2017 9:03:06 PM
I find Mother Earth to be the best brewery in the state. Got many different styles that are absolute quality.
5/4/2017 11:35:31 PM
Red Oak gets props for being among the first, but that's about it. there is nothing special about their beer.CBC has run laps around them for a decade plus.
5/4/2017 11:40:58 PM
Red Oak is manna from heaven! For what it's worth, I figure that Red Oak Bavarian Lager and OMB Copper is pretty much singlehandedly responsible for their brewery's meeting their production caps. They're just so easy drinking that it's an easy choice for restaurants to carry them. I guess if I was supporting local, I'd take it over a Yuengling.
5/4/2017 11:46:03 PM
Red Oak is an ok starter beer, but compared to what our state has to offer??man.
5/4/2017 11:54:02 PM
we're in agreement that this is clearly the best, right?
5/5/2017 1:42:36 AM
Come to find out, Wicked Weed was bankrolled by one of the founder's parents. The Dad is one of the founders of Guthy-Renker which owns Proactiv Solution. And now it's sad to now know that it didn't have to go down like this. It's not like Wicked Weed wasn't already making money as a business but it does shed some light into how they were to grow the business the way they have in the past four years. And with the financial support they had they could have actually done a lot of good in working with the the industry in fighting the "self distribution" legislation and companies like AB InBev trying to push out the independent small time craft breweries. But now knowing where they came from, this should have been seen coming from a mile away...[Edited on May 5, 2017 at 1:56 AM. Reason : Daddy needed to see return on his investments!!!]
5/5/2017 1:43:23 AM
I'd have to put Foothills on any of my top 5 NC lists. The Jade IPA is delicious (Hoppyum is also solid), People's Porter is great and the Sexual Chocolate is top-notch.
5/5/2017 6:51:43 AM
^agreed, Foothills is probably my current favorite from NC. For any IPA fans, they've been putting out a 12-pack called the Hop-Box, which has Jade, Hoppyum, Seeing Double, and a seasonal which has been the Pilot Mountain recently, it's fantastic. Apparently it's the only way to get Seeing Double in a 12 oz bottle, and the packaging is really cool looking too
5/5/2017 7:04:29 AM
Foothills is #1. Fo sho.
5/5/2017 7:40:24 AM
5/5/2017 8:34:30 AM
5/5/2017 8:35:53 AM
Not a huge fan of Foothills but I feel like you could ask any Craft Beer drinker in NC and probably get a different top 5, everyone has their own preferences. I also feel like my top 5 is always changing based on recent releases and what my current mood is. I really wish One World out of Asheville would bottle/can some of their stuff, probably right behind Burial for me when it comes to my top Asheville breweries but can't get any of their stuff around here. Also, Natty Greene's is still better than Aviator.[Edited on May 5, 2017 at 8:39 AM. Reason : .]
5/5/2017 8:38:48 AM
everything is better than Aviator
5/5/2017 8:45:36 AM
They lost me when they were selling a single 22oz bottle for $45.
5/5/2017 12:16:47 PM
1. Trophy2. Foothills3. Ponysaurus4. High Wire5. Bond Bros.
5/5/2017 1:52:43 PM
lol at this thread. every one of those breweries talking shit would sell their shit if a big enough check was given to them.
5/7/2017 8:51:19 AM
5/7/2017 12:37:18 PM
So over 50+ of 70 breweries have pulled out of the WW Funkatorium Invitational Charity event and word on the webs is that there is alternative event being planned the same day. Should be intetesting to watch the craft beer community nationwide pull together for this and watch WW end up having to cancel due to participation.
5/7/2017 11:09:24 PM
5/7/2017 11:13:12 PM
^^The Annual Virgina Craft Brewers Festival was held at Devils Backbone for five years. After InBev bought them out they only had a couple months so they had to still hold it at Devils Backbone Basecamp but DB was not able to participate. Lulzhttps://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/food/amid-deal-with-anheuser-busch-craft-brewery-gets-kicked-out-of-its-own-festival/2016/08/12/afcfcc84-5fec-11e6-8e45-477372e89d78_story.html?utm_term=.dbd5f53c7700They moved it to Charlottesville after that.[Edited on May 8, 2017 at 11:02 AM. Reason : ]
5/8/2017 11:02:13 AM
5/8/2017 5:40:26 PM
5/8/2017 10:41:53 PM
Sad!
5/8/2017 10:59:21 PM
^^I know it's an offshoot but I think their shit is great and anything they bottle flies off the shelf. Their brewmaster/owner guy is a chemist (hydrologist?) and actually spends a lot of time altering the water they brew with to make it chemically identical to German/Belgian towns. Not sure if it helps, but it's unique.What else is good for sour/wild/cask/barrel-aged in Wilmington - I'd love to try more stuff around there. [Edited on May 9, 2017 at 12:16 AM. Reason : trimmed the novel]
5/9/2017 12:14:12 AM
So when Goose Island was bought out, a lot of the brewers left to start their own craft breweries so I hope we will be seeing some new ones popping up around Asheville. First former employee to speak out, albeit it was before the buyout...https://www.wickedweedsoldout.com/ (I wish I would have thought to buy that web address damnit! Maybe AB Inbev would have bought it from me)
5/9/2017 12:49:52 AM
fuckin millennialsyou worked for a beer company, not a damn world hunger organization[Edited on May 9, 2017 at 12:56 AM. Reason : .]
5/9/2017 12:55:05 AM
corporations are people too
5/9/2017 6:31:39 AM