Over the past few weeks, we've teased about the awesome beer line-up we're going to have for our opening week, but we haven't really told you much about it. So, let's pull back the curtain a bit and let you know what we've been up to. One of the things that is really important to us is supporting and promoting the fantastic beer that is being brewed right here in North Carolina. We have several events in the works that will help us do this over time. But we really wanted to do something special for the grand opening.
So, to do that, we decided to work with several of the local breweries to procure some of their best work - beers that are unique, special, limited, and most of all, delicious. In doing so, we realized what would make it even more fun is if we could get together with some of these breweries and brew a batch of beer together with them - learning about their process and getting to know the people behind the beer a little better.
So, I've somehow convinced a few suckers to let me come brew with them. The first group of suckers was Mystery Brewing Company, which is right down the road in Hillsborough, NC. If you haven't had a chance to drive out to Hillsborough, you should do that soon. They have an excellent pub that brings in some great live music performances on a regular basis, and they are right next door to Hillsborough BBQ Company, which cooks some of the best pig I've ever eaten.
The beer that we brewed over at Mystery was actually a re-make of a beer collaboration that I was a part of previously. Last spring, Chris Shields (Brewer at Mystery), Dave Haydysch (former Production Manager at Fullsteam Brewery in Durham), and I brewed this beer for a homebrew festival in Durham. The beer was a Belgian Tripel with ginger added. Seeing as it was brewed by three "gingers," the beer was aptly referred to as the Triple Ginger Tripel, or "The Beer With No Soul."
When we started talking about doing a collaboration again, we decided that we just had to brew the ginger Tripel again. So, I emailed Dave and Chris, got sign-off from Mystery to brew at their facility, and put the brew day on the calendar.
And last Friday, the three of us gingers spent the day brewing beer...well, a good bit of the day was spent chopping up ginger because it takes a lot more ginger in a 7-barrel batch than it did in our original homebrew recipe. Five pounds of ginger was added, split between the mash, the boil, and the whirlpool.
I had a great time and really appreciate Mystery Brewing Company giving us this opportunity and being so supportive of what we are doing. We hope the beer turns out well and we will gladly pour you a pint of it or fill up a growler for you when it hits the taps in a few weeks!
