Growler Grlz 4810 Hope Valley Road, Suite 110 Durham 919-809-5390 growlergrlz.com You never know where or when inspiration is going to hit you. For Karen Poulsen, it was over a meal. She was living in Oregon and having lunch with a friend when she commented on the abundance of growler-filling stations in Bend. It was […]
Greg Barbera
Bio: Greg Barbera is a freelance writer living in Chapel Hill. He writes about automobiles for Chevy Culture, food for Chapelboro.com, and contributed to the upcoming second edition pressing of 1001 Beers You Must Taste Before You Die.Link: http://www.thechestpains.blogspot.comTwitter: http://twitter.com/gregeboy
Posted inFood & Drink
With Sam’s Bottle Shop, South Durham gets its beer due
Sam’s Quik Shop, once known as Sam’s Blue Light, has been a fixture on the Durham scene for decades. It’s been a gas station, restaurant, convenience store and bottle shop. “I’ve worked there my whole life,” said John Boy, Jr. of the family-owned business. “I grew up in it.” We sat at Mattie B’s Public […]
Posted inFood & Drink
Meet Audra Gaiziunas of Brewed For Her Ledger
Growing up the daughter of Lithuanian parents, Audra Gaiziunas became introduced to the world of beer via imports. Pilsners were the beverage of choice in her household. But she still remembers her first craft beer. “It was a Dixie Voodoo Lager,” she said. It was sometime around 1998, and she had been visiting friends in […]
Posted inFood & Drink
Meet Scott Mizerak of Foothills Brewing
On a recent Tuesday evening, a group of employees gathered around a table at Tyler’s Taproom in Carrboro. Several pitchers of beer sat before them. They listened intently as Scott Mizerak, Foothills Brewing’s Triangle area sales manager, explained the profile and flavor bill of the beers. It was a crash course to educate those who […]
Posted inFood & Drink
Adam Eckhardt, Crank Arm Brewery
It’s pretty simple,” explained Crank Arm Brewery’s 37-year-old assistant brewer, Adam Eckhardt. “We like to brew beer that people will like and that we like ourselves.” He adjusted his Crank Arm baseball cap, stroked his beard and then continued. “Beers with a culinary twist but ones that have to be palatable.” I had nothing more […]
Posted inFood & Drink
Southern I am; Southern I have become
I have lived in the South for almost 20 years, but it wasn’t until recently that I finally considered myself Southern. In 1995, I made a cross-country exodus to North Carolina from an economically depressed Los Angeles. The hopes and dreams I wanted to find in LA were burned by riots, crushed by earthquakes and […]
Posted inFood & Drink
Meet homebrewer, cheesemonger Matt Hart
Cheesemonger and former trainhopper Matt Hart and I sat in the sparse, dark confines of Bar Lusconi, a non-descript speakeasy-style joint on East Main Street in Durham. Hart is also a homebrewer, and we shared a Belgian West Coast IPA he recently made. It featured a yeasty backbone and a huge, citrusy hop nose. Prickly […]
Posted inFood & Drink
Triangle Brewing’s Rick Tufts and Andy Miller ready Pint & Plate
Rick Tufts, co-owner and brewer for Triangle Brewing Company, welcomed me into his place of business with a “What are you drinking?” and then gestured to several tap handles. I chose a wet hop IPA that was made with a Cascade/Northern Brewer cross of varietals. Slightly grassy notes hide beneath the citrusy Cascade and moderately […]
Posted inFilm & Television
Notes from the Raleigh set of Bad Grandpa
Like Fight Club, the first rule of this movie was not to talk about the movie. So when Bad Grandpa came to North Carolina, it was as an unnamed entity in order to fly under the radar. Because the film was to be a hidden-camera comedy, it was crucial to keep the public in the […]
Posted inFood & Drink
Pale ale and small talk with Erin Nellen Jobe, Carrboro Farmers’ Market manager
“I started drinking wheat beers a few years ago,” said Erin Nellen Jobe, the 26-year-old market manager for the Carrboro Farmers’ Market. “But I don’t have a favorite style. Just like I don’t have a favorite style of music. It all depends on the mood and where I am and what I am doing.” Sitting […]