SATURDAY: KENTUCKY DERBY MEETS DIRTY DURHAM
(let us know if you’ll be there on Facebook!)

WOW! We launched a year ago! Let’s celebrate this Saturday in high fashion…Derm style!

While we open at noon on Saturday, the party officially runs from 4pm to 8pm.

Don your Southern finery. Wear a gaudy hat. Or bring a hat and make it gaudy…The Scrap Exchange will be here to help you accessorize. We’ll hand out prize packs for the day’s “Most Southernly” and “Best Hat!”

We’ll swing open the barrel door to connect the tavern with the fellowship hall. This means it’ll be a bit warm, so dress accordingly. We’ll have the portable eight-foot-tall Airgo to keep the air moving.

Because the celebration is too big to contain, we’re closing down Rigsbee Avenue! Don’t worry…it’ll re-open!

Food vendors:

• Farmhand Foods’ Sausage Wagon
• Backyard BBQ Pit
• Chirba Chirba Dumplings
• Klausie’s Pizza
• The Parlour
• Cocoa Cinnamon/bike COFFEE

It’s a Fullsteam tap take-over!! Be there at 4pm for the best selection!!

STANDARDS

• Fullsteam
• Carver
• El Toro
• Rocket Science
• Summer Basil

SURPRISES! (very limited quantities)

• Hogwash
• 2010 First Frost
• Bourbon-Barrel-Aged Fullsteam
• Traction Engine (45% Virginia Rye, our most local beer to date)
• Cask ale of Rocket Science with brewery-grown Cascade hops
• Imperial Stout (the base for Wanderlust, sans cherries)

More details:

We have leased a building!

Our new home is in the heart of the Central Park warehouse district, at the corner of Geer and Rigsbee. 726 Rigsbee (see it on Google Maps) has just about everything we were looking for:

• 8,000 square feet of open warehouse space
• high ceilings and concrete floors
• great location in a up-and-coming area of town
• affordable — breweries need a lot of space at warehouse prices!
• zoned industrial, so we can focus on brewing
• a bit o’ history
• room to expand, if our concept of “Southern experimental beers” proves successful over time

As Kevin mentions over at Bull City Rising, it was a heckuva long search for a home. But I’d like to think that the in this year-long process, we learned a heckuva lot about 1) what we want to do, 2) what Durhamites wanted, and 3) what makes us different.

1) What we want to do. We want to run a brewery and tavern. In that order. 32 and I love brewpubs (restaurant/breweries), but the key takeaway here is that brewpubs are restaurants first, breweries second. With ten years in the restaurant biz — including 2.5 at Durham’s Magnolia Grill — I know just how demanding and tough the restaurant world is. More importantly, we looked around at all the great restaurants in the Triangle area and realized that we’d much rather serve these establishments than compete with them.

That said, we’re very excited about the plans for our on-premises tavern, which we’re calling Fullsteam R&D. Equal parts mad science lab, steampunk bar, and event space, we hope R&D will quickly evolve into a comfortable and affordable “regular.” And who knows how Fullsteam will change over time.

Which brings us to…

2) What Durhamites wanted. Over the year-long search, we did a lot of listening — both in-person and online. It become pretty clear that, these days, Durhamites seemed much more interested in a brewery-and-tavern than a restaurant/brewpub. That an affordable place to grab a pint and a pie was resonating more than a sit-down restaurant that specialized in great food matched with great beer. That’s not to take anything away from the “gastropub” concept; in fact, it’s more a testament to the fact that there are already great places like this out there. But a hometown brewery with a comfortable, lively on-site tavern was clearly more appealing to you, our customer base.

3) What makes us different. This time of planning and preparation has allowed 32 and me to nail down Fullsteam’s  ”plow-to-pint” concept. We’re super-excited to create experimental “Southern ag” beers. To develop a distinctly Southern beer style using local farmed ingredients and heirloom grains. And to support local farmers in our beer-making venture. Over the past year, we’ve vetted concepts, tested out beers, and held a dozen or so tastings. We’re discovering what our big sellers might be (Hogwash, Common, Sweet Potato, Scuppernong) and what might not sell so well (concepts unnamed to protect our innocence). Those of you who’ve tried out our beers: thank you for your feedback and insights. You may think you’re just getting free beer, but you’re really helping Fullsteam grow into a successful venture. Thank you so much…and be on the lookout for more tasting/volunteering opportunities in the weeks ahead.

We’ll have an official press release tomorrow (Monday, June 15th) to announce our location. Keep in mind that we’ve got a long road ahead, full of potential pitfalls and blunders. But finding a space is often the hardest part of making a brewery succesful. The next huge challenge is bringing it in on-time and within budget!

We’re excited to join the diverse community of successful ventures in Durham’s most electic district, Central Park. We’re proud that we’re already working with several businesses in the district, including Ellen Cassilly Architect and Dave Wofford, resident genius at Horse & Buggy Press.

In the months and years ahead, we pledge to continue to solicit your insights to help make Fullsteam — the brewery and the tavern — a peerless mix of our ideas and your interests.

726 Rigsbee Avenue! Target opening date: late 2009!

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]]> http://www.fullsteam.ag/blog/2009/06/726-rigsbee/feed/ 11 http://www.fullsteam.ag/blog/2009/04/the-other-99/ http://www.fullsteam.ag/blog/2009/04/the-other-99/#comments Tue, 07 Apr 2009 06:01:17 +0000 Sean http://www.fullsteam.ag/?p=716  

When discussing the Fullsteam market opportunity, I’m often asked if there’s room for another North Carolina brewery. 

Of course there is.

There’s room for probably 100 more.

It’s time for our state — scratch that, our society — to get beyond the mindset that an occasional nod to local beer is sufficient representation. The breweries and brewpubs of North Carolina make quality beer. Fresh beer. Beer made by your neighbor.

In this era of Know Local, we endlessly sing the praises of local cheese. Fresh baked bread. Farmer’s markets and seasonal produce. Local pies, cookies, and cupcakes. NC Wine. Local artisan chocolate. All for good reason: it tastes great. We know and care about the farmer, the vintner, the baker, the roaster. And there’s a feeling of pride that something THIS good came from OUR state. Our soil. Our neighbors. Our land.

Yet there’s this odd exception to the Know Local movement — a hall pass for America’s Last Great Commodity: anonymous industrial beer.

This is pure speculation, but I believe that industrial beer is a way for many people to let their guard down — lest too many things in life become, well, too precious. As denizens of Concerned America, we’re constantly lectured about what we should and shouldn’t eat and what we can and can’t do. And you know what? It gets tiring. A simple beer is a welcome break from the myriad of choices, ethical and environmental dilemmas, social norms, and Nanny Voices.

For others, the equation is a lot simpler. Beer = cheap.

And, of course, most people buy industrial beer because they like it.

Nothing wrong with any of this. We don’t begrudge anyone their choices.

But here’s the thing. Most people — whether they’re predisposed to like craft beer or not — really like our beer. There’s such a wide range of flavor profiles and styles out there, at least one or two are bound to resonate. There’s nothing better than giving a sample of a Sour Rhubarb Ale to someone who “doesn’t like beer” and to hear them say those magically intoxicating words,

“Oh! I really like that!”

And if you don’t find a Fullsteam beer you like, I’m sure you’ll like a beer made from our neighbors: Triangle, Foothills, Big Boss, Carolina Brewery, Carolina Brewing Company, to name a few. The forty-or-so North Carolina breweries produce an amazing range of beers — many of them beer styles you might never have heard of before.

When Fullsteam launches later this year, we are not interested in competing against our brethren in the North Carolina brewing community. We like their beers. A lot. We like them as people. A lot. And, perhaps most importantly, we believe that beer culture thrives when there’s a wide range of excellent choices.

Look at it this way: craft beer has around a 4 percent market share in North Carolina. I’ve asked around, and I think it’s fair to say that only around one-quarter of all craft beer consumed in-state is brewed in North Carolina.  That means for every 100 beers consumed in North Carolina, only 1 in 100 is a North Carolina craft beer. 

Why go after that one beer drinker? It’s the other 99 we’re focused on.

The foodie who boasts about eating local, but has a soft spot for,  I don’t know, Iron City. The wine guy who knows all about Puligny-Montrachet’s chalky soil but drinks Amstel Light out of habit. The busy and overwhelmed grocery shopper who buys whatever is on sale.

That’s our market. THAT’S the opportunity.

It’s not about that 1 percent who know and love North Carolina beer. It’s about the other 99.

But when the right person comes along, it’s important to roll with it. No pun intended! 

Here’s a video of our baker in action.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a9O2ZTDbJNo

I’m leaving in just a few minutes for the show, but if you’d like to nominate a special word or phrase for me to sneak into my ramblings (“broccoli,” “Wilfred,” “Boom goes the dynamite“) — please post it in the comments. 

I have confirmed that today’s subject matter is not, in fact, “drinking loco.” That would be 30 minutes of on-air fun!

Can We Interest You in a Local Beverage? The Triangle’s robust eat-local scene with its markets, grocers and farm-to-table restaurants means thoughtful consumers can know where their food is coming from. But what about their drinks? Is it possible to “sip local” when you’re enjoying coffee, wine, tea or beer? Host Frank Stasio talks to Lex Alexander, founder of Wellspring Grocery and owner of 3Cups, about the past and future of the local-food movement in the Triangle. We’ll also meet Dorian Bolden, a young, Durham-based coffee shop entrepreneur; Margo Knight-Metzger, head of the N.C. Wine and Grape Council; and Sean Wilson, who successfully led the Pop the Cap movement to loosen state laws regulating beer. He has a new North Carolina-themed brewery in the works. (32:00)