Every Sunday mid-afternoon, we bring you a little Southern-Fried Sunday: beer from us! Eastern-style barbecue…this week, by Mama Jeans BBQ Shack! And bluegrass … today we welcome back The Free States, a Carrboro-based bluegrass quintet, mixing “singer/songwriter heritage with traditional bluegrass sensibilities.”

And because “beer, barbecue, and bluegrass” is a little too alliterative, this week we bring you…yogurt! That’s right…LoYo Frozen Yogurt returns to Fullsteam this afternoon. Perhaps if we usher in enough summer elements (frozen yogurt, Summer Basil farmhouse ale), the universe will realize that May temperatures shouldn’t hover in the 50s and 60s in this part of North Carolina!

Here’s a recap, in bullet point format!

• We open at noon. Free parking today in the Motorco lot.
• LoYo Frozen Yogurt will be on-site from around 2pm until the evening.
• Mama Jeans BBQ serve up ‘cue, ribs, and much much more from 3pm to 6pm!
• Music by The Free State kicks off at 5pm and runs until around 7pm.
• You know we’re open until midnight everyday except Saturdays and Sundays, when we close at 2am? 

We update our beer list daily, usually just before we open. Keep this page handy for a daily snapshot of our beers, activities, and the food vendors we’re hosting that day.

I’m headed up to New York City to serve our beer for a James Beard after-party. I’ll be cheering on Beer, Wine, and Spirits finalists Sam Calagione of Dogfish Head and Garrett Oliver of Brooklyn Brewery.  This is craft beer’s year to be recognized at the James Beard Awards, and I can’t think of two better finalists!

Cheers!
Sean

Justin and Katie are two awesome people. You may recall that Katie helped organize a very successful bake sale for victims of Hurricane Sandy. This radiant, creative couple has taken Durham by storm, much like another couple we know.

Today from 3:30 to 4:45, they’ll be at Fullsteam, giving out samples of beer sausage and Cack-a-lacky™ car-a-mels made with our ginger pale ale and lard. Yea, beer and lard caramels. You know they will be awesome.

Rose’s Meat Market and Sweet Shop is 80% of the way toward their Kickstarter goal. We just contributed $250 to their efforts (backer #300!), because we want them to be successful in Durham…and because I personally want to have a local butcher in town. And bakery. As every good town once had, and should have.

• Support Rose’s Meat Market & Sweet Shop’s Kickstarter campaign

The heat came on this morning. In early May.

Even worse, it felt good when it came on. It’s one thing to mosey on up to the thermostat as you’re waking up and turn off the heat. It’s another to lay in bed on May 3rd, grateful for the blast of warmth.

We all know summer is coming. Soon we’ll look back at this cold spring with wistful memories. And perhaps the first sign that warm weather will eventually appear? The debut of our Summer Basil farmhouse ale.

Cathy can put her diet cola and straw away, because today we’re selling Summer Basil mason jars (along with a pint of the beer) for $6.50. The jars and the beer normally sell for$5 each, so that’s a darn good deal. Even if it’s only going to reach 70 degrees today!

If you’re not able to make it to our tavern, we’re starting to distribute Summer Basil to accounts throughout the Triangle. It’ll be on-tap until early Fall, and hopefully in 22oz bottles in a few months!

Fullsteam, Highland Brewing, Mother Earth Brewing, and NoDa Brewing Company are excited to be a part of the Craft Beer and Wine Showcase Table at tomorrow’s “One In Four” Safe Alliance Benefit in Concord, North Carolina. Safe Alliance specializes in counseling for individuals, couples, and families struggling with trauma or emotional crisis, with a special emphasis on assisting victims of sexual assault, child abuse, and domestic violence.

We’re proud to give back to an organization that helps the surrounding Cabarrus community, and excited to join three other North Carolina breweries in financially sponsoring this wonderful non-profit. This is a big event, highlighted by a return home of sorts for native sons The Avett Brothers, who will cap off the evening of great food and drink with an acoustic set.  The event is sold out. If you were lucky enough to secure a ticket, look for our new sales guy Lloyd, who will be pouring our all-N.C. grain El Toro cream ale and our new Cackalacky Ginger Pale Ale!

Many thanks to Ford Craven and Safe Alliance Cabarrus for organizing this important fundraiser, and for caring enough to include North Carolina beer. It’s wonderful that four North Carolina breweries are able to financially commit to a donation supporting the good work of Safe Alliance. We’re honored to be one of them, and we’re looking forward to the performance and sharing our story with the 400 other people lucky enough to secure a ticket.

What are you doing this afternoon?

If you’re in the Chapel Hill area, join us in celebration of Cackalacky’s 12th anniversary and the return of spring weather at Weathervane’s first ever Sunday Beer Garden!

This is a rain-or-shine event, and there ain’t no rain happening today.

It’s Beer Garden Weather if ever there was one. It’s 65 degrees right now and will hit 72 this afternoon. I know I sound like my dad (pretty much everyone’s dad) talking about the weather (OH HAI DAD) but how great is that? After how gross this winter and spring have been?

Tickets are $35 per person, and  covers Fullsteam beer (including Cackalacky and a special Cackalacky cask), Cackalacky-themed small plates, and music by Big Fat Gap and the Rickety Crickets. Plus, every ticket holder will receive very special 16oz. jar of Cackalacky’s Limited Edition Twelfth Anniversary Bourbon-Barrel-Aged Spice Sauce! It’s really delicious, and worth $35 in and of itself. The fact that you get to meet Mr. Cackalacky is a huge bonus.

Plus, there will be a really big surprise.

Gosh, just come on over to the Weathervane today!

Cackalacky small plate Selections:

• Black-eyed pea hummus | Cackalacky peanuts (vegetarian)
• Cackalacky meatloaf sliders | bacon marmalade
• Smoked Cackalacky chicken wings | Fullsteam honey glaze
• Bacon-wrapped fresno chilies| Cackalacky goat cheese
• Buttermilk Cackalacky cup cakes | Fullsteam dark chocolate frosting

Fullsteam beer:

• Cackalacky Ginger Pale Ale
• Cackalacky cask ale: ginger cooked in The Kraken spiced rum
• Carver sweet potato lager
• Working Man’s Lunch

See you at Southern Season’s famed restaurant, Weathervane! And stay tuned…we have even more #NCBeerMonth events planned and not yet announced!