Crowd-sourced craft beer
FORAGER
Forager is a new series of draft and (sometimes) 750ml bottled beer, brewed with ingredients harvested by you, the community.
Too many trees go unpicked: persimmons, pears, figs, paw paws. Seeds mature into a resplendent harvest, only to go untouched until frost. We hear it all the time: “We have a persimmon tree…but the fruit just falls to the ground and makes a mess.” “Our pear tree produced more than we knew what to do with.”
We know what to do with it. Let’s make beer. Let’s ferment what we forage.
You can be a part of our amazing group of Foragers, simply by responding to our call for a harvest, which we announce on Facebook, Twitter, and in our newsletter.
Depending on how much usable ingredients you bring us, we will give you:
- the market price for your harvest (on a per-pound basis),
- a Forager hat that only fellow Foragers can own, and
- a pint or bottle of the beer when it’s ready.
Of course, the money and beer you receive is contingent on the quality and usability of the harvest. (In other words, a bushel of washed, ripe heirloom pears is worth more than a pail of half-rotten fruit).
Again, we pay for the harvest. If you choose not to take money, we will donate your proceeds to one of our favorite local charities, SEEDS.
 |
FIRST FROST winter persimmon alePersimmon (Diospyros Virginiana) — literally, “fruit of the gods.” Sweet and savory, with natural notes of cinnamon and apricot, the orange-globed persimmon fruit truly is heavenly. But it’s not until after the first frost that persimmon turns from astringent and bitter to a luscious fruit worthy of the gods. The 2011 wild persimmon harvest was amazing. The Forager community gathered over 400 pounds of native North Carolina persimmons, a harvest that began in October — well before the first frost. This bountiful yield produced a complex, fruit- forward winter ale. The beer’s notes of holiday spices come entirely from the native persimmon and the beer’s Belgian ale yeast. Availability: WINTER 2011-12. 9.1% ABV |
 |
PAW PAW Belgian-style golden alePaw Paw (Asimina triloba) is the largest edible tree fruit native to North America –but you may have never seen one before. The nondescript trees grow in wet, shady groves, often along the banks of rivers. Paw paws taste like mango-meets-butterscotch-meets-banana. In other words, they’re delicious. But the fruit’s notorious short shelf life keeps them from being commercially viable.We forage for wild paw paws around Jordan Lake, and a few North Carolina foragers who know the fruit bring us their harvest. Most of our paw paws come from the amazing Wynn Dinssen, owner of Full of Life Farms in Chatham County. He’s a modern Johnny Pawpawseed. In the summer of 2011, we collected 75 pounds of native paw paw. That October, we added the fruit to a Belgian-style Golden Ale. The sweet, tropical notes of the paw paw matched up wonderfully with the Belgian Golden’s notes of fruit and spice. Availability: FALL 2011, and again in 2012 if the paw paw harvest is successful. 8.1% ABV. |
 |
SURPRISE FIG BEER
Thanks to our local foragers, we collected over 300 pounds of figs in the summer and fall of 2011. We’re actually not going to brew a beer for this fall or winter; instead, we’re planning an oak-aged surprise for the following year. Stay tuned! |
[...] This super local brewery in Durham, NC makes beers from locally foraged fruits – like sweet potatoes and persimmons. I [...]
What an awesome idea. I love the idea of using foraged ingredients, and I also respect your integrity for being willing to pay for what people bring you. I just found out about you guys, but I’m gonna come down there and have a beer with ya! Rock on.
Enjoying the sparkling pear right now at Dos Perros. Delicious.
[...] Community-foraged beer [...]
[...] not to love about making beer from the otherwise-wasted abundance around us all? Fullsteam (brewery) makes me proud to live in [...]
[...] First Frost: shout out to Fullsteam, I had the First Frost last night in Saxapahaw, and it was the best tasting thing I’ve had this whole Christmas [...]
I found the 2010-11 persimmon ale last spring in Asheville at Bruisin’ Ales. It was so good and I am delighted to hear you’re doing it again. No spice! Yes!!
I was at Tasty Beverage Company Saturday January 14th and they had “First Frost” on draft. Having not tried it yet I ordered a pint….it was simply beertastic! Great aroma and extremely tasty. I will be purchasing more. Thank you for making such a wonderful beer.
Thank you all for the kind words!