Author: Amy

Boo to you!  We’re so excited to share one of our favorite times of the year with you, our wonderful loyal customers. We are super excited to host a Halloween Party to thank you for making our first quarter in business a success. We’ve got our favorite music duo, the Back Taps, playing at 6:30, there will be some awesome seasonal beers on tap, and there will be food! But no food trucks this time… this time we figured we’d try something new. We’re cooking up a batch of smoked maple bourbon chili to share along with some other treats… and we encourage anyone else who also enjoys bringing a smile to others through food to bring some to the party! Doesn’t matter what it is just make it good 🙂 Either way we’ll have enough for everyone at about 5pm as long as it lasts. Costumes are definitely encouraged and we plan on rewarding those who partake. We’ll have a pet costume contest at about 3pm (because everyone deserves a fair chance, even our four legged customers) and everyone else will be judged at around 8.  Winners get bragging rights, fame, a $25 gift certificate, and a Bottles & Cans growler in the size of their choice, because everyone needs a growler. Please join us for an intimate Halloween evening with friends, whether you’ve been here before or not, come find out why some consider us a second home.

Somehow the stars have aligned so September is shaping up to be a month of beer!  We’re planning tap events with Mother Earth, Bells, and Great Lakes (and Stone in October so keep an eye out) and working on details.  We’re most looking forward to September 16th though when we celebrate the opening ceremonies of Oktoberfest in Munich!  They’ll be tapping their first keg at noon on Sat, Sept 16th, and so will we.  We’ll have at least 4 German biers on tap for opening weekend, live music, a few events and contests and will maintain Oktoberfest Marzen throughout the festival and the rest of October.  Now for an answer to everyone’s biggest question…

Why is Oktoberfest called “Oktoberfest” when it actually begins in September?

The historical background: the first Oktoberfest was held in the year 1810 in honor of the Bavarian Crown Prince Ludwig’s marriage to Princess Therese von Sachsen-Hildburghausen. The festivities began on October 12, 1810 and ended on October 17th with a horse race. In the following years, the celebrations were repeated and, later, the festival was prolonged and moved forward into September.

By moving the festivities up, it allowed for better weather conditions. Because the September nights were warmer, the visitors were able to enjoy the gardens outside the tents and the stroll over “die Wiesen” or the fields much longer without feeling chilly. Historically, the last Oktoberfest weekend was in October and this tradition continues into present times.

We are very excited to invite everyone to our grand opening celebration on Saturday, July 15th, 2017.  We have been working with some amazing North Carolina breweries to identify their rarest and most delicious kegs of craft beer for us to share with the public.

1. Fullsteam Humidity Pale Ale ON NITRO!!!

2. HiWire Aerialist Summer Lager

3. Foothills Hop Job Session IPA

4. Brueprint Double Dribbrue Double IPA

5. Bull City Ciderworks Cherry Tart

6. Wicked Weed Lost Toys #1

7. Bombshell Blackberry Shandy

8. Sierra Nevada Ovila Abbey White Ale

9. Lonerider Magnificent 77 IPA

10. D9 Brown Sugar Brown Cow

11. Unknown Raisin the Roof

12. Olde Hickory Lindley Park Bourbon Barrel Aged Stout

13. Fortnight Malternative Facts Scotch Ale

Wait… 13?  We’ve only got 12 beer taps, how does that work?!?!  One of these puppies is a cask, you’ll have to show up to find out!  (Hint, it’s probably not the nitro.)

Additionally we have Baozi coming in the evening to augment the food options we have next door, and we’ve got Ari Pappalardo with his guitar scheduled to play some amazing live music for us through the evening hours.  Lots of local breweries will be sending reps with swag galore so if you’ve been looking for that one last sticker/coozie/glass come on over and visit!

 

We’re ready for this one, only a few days and counting, but we’ve locked in River Rat Brewing for a visit from their brew truck Saturday July 1, from 3-6pm. We’ll have taps inside and taps outside, should be a great Saturday afternoon…  And for those of you with a penchant for grapes, Gayle Schiffer will be sharing various wines from a tasty Argentinian winery we’ve just discovered, Zorzal.  Here’s a little background on both…

Gualtallary, where Zorzal wines come from, is in one of Argentina’s most outstanding vine-growing valleys, the Uco Valley.

Gualtallary is situated at 1,350 metres above sea-level in the highest vine-growing zone in the Province of Mendoza, at the foot of Tupungato volcano, one of the highest peaks in the Andes. This zone is characterized by its combination of altitude, alluvial soils, sunny days, low rainfall and wide temperature range. The combination of cool climate and chalky soils gives us wines with great structure and delicious acidity.

 

Where the Saluda and Broad Rivers merge, they form the mighty Congaree in ColaTown, SC! Named for the three rivers that run through our city and the working-class men who labored on the canal here more than a century ago, River Rat Brewery was founded in 2013. The rivers tell us old stories and history of our state and our capital Columbia, SC as they were the supplying highways of times long ago. The Congaree, Broad, and Saluda rivers contribute miles of riverfront for South Carolina’s capitol and had a role in Columbia’s landscape history. In their honor, we set out to create craft beers that would satisfy anyone’s thirst after a long day’s work. We use only the best ingredients, and we tested and refined in order to develop complex flavors. What we wound up with was the best damn beer we’ve ever tasted —perfectly balanced, refreshingly bold, and deliciously drinkable. If you really want to get to know us, you need

Kat from Founders will be with us on June 22 from 5:30-7:30 to share the amazing flavor of Rubaeus  and Sumatra Mountain Brown on Nitro.  Come join us to taste delicious beverages and maybe score some swag.

 

We’ll also have a wine tasting so those with more inclination to drink fine wines can partake in some unique vintages!  Come on down and bring your friends, there will be something for everyone!

Join us for a wine tasting with Lucia Minoggio, wine maker for Danzante Italian Wines.

 

Danzante wines are the third collaboration created by the joint venture between the Robert Mondavi family of Napa Valley and the Marchesi de’ Frescobaldi family of Tuscany, Italy. Danzante, Italian for “dancing,” encourages the everyday, energetic celebration of la dolce vita.

The Mondavi — Frescobaldi partnership was formed in 1995 in part because Robert Mondavi’s family wanted to return to their Italian roots. This was the first joint venture in Italy between two internationally distinguished wine producers using their combined resources and winemaking expertise to create Italian wine of superior quality and elegance. Danzante was introduced in 1999 with the 1997 vintage of Danzante Sangiovese and the 1998 vintage of Danzante Pinot Grigio.

The Frescobaldi family name has a long history in Italy, going back 700 years. For centuries, farming and wine growing have been a tradition in the Frescobaldi family. Marchesi de’ Frescobaldi SpA was established in 1980 and is wholly owned by the five Frescobaldi siblings: Dino, Vittorio, Maria, Ferdinando and Leonardo. The company’s headquarters are in Florence and its nine estates are scattered throughout the Tuscan countryside.

Lucia Minoggio

Lucia’s family has a history that has always been linked to wine, her mom and grandfather and even before her great grandfather were wine-growers in Piedmont. Nevertheless, since she was very young she developed a passion for dance. She won a scholarship at Balletto di Toscana in 2003 and she moved to Tuscany to improve her ballet technique. In Forence she danced for five years, working with Balletto di Firenze and the Contro VersoDanza dance Ccompany. In teh meantime, she started studying winemaking hearing her family traditions calling. Wine and dance as art expressions, need dedication, love and time.

In 2008 Lucia left her ballerina career, to pursue the winemaking dream. Lucia’s first encounter with wine, after her graduation at Univesita degli studi di Firenze in 2011, was in the heart of Chicanti Classico where she worked for two years in many different sectors of production throughout the cellar and the lab. Dealing mainly with red wines, she was introduced to the wine industry under the guidance of Franco Bernabei.

In 2013 she left her native country to travel and learn more about wines around the world. Working abroad helped her improving significantly her winemaking skills and wine knowledge. She gained experience processing cool climate varieties at Saint Claire family Estate in New Zealand, where she worked in harvest 2013. That same year she moved to Napa, California to learn about top quality sparking wine production, being part of Schramsberg vineyards team for one year. In 2014 she was back in Europe, processing grapes for rose wine at Chateau du Galoupet in the south of France.

She spend another year, 2015, at Schramsberg assuming the role of lab technician and assistant winemaker for the sparkling wine program. Although she found great satisfaction working abroad, she felt the need to move back to Italy, to implement her skills there. She started working as winemaker for Frescobaldi Group at the beginning of 2016.

Thank you to everyone for your presence and

patience during our official opening day. It’s really a relief to be up and running and so nice to have the place filled with happy people (and some great 4 legged friends)!  We look forward to many years of delicious drinks and amazing company.

 

Final Inspection? Why yes, it is…  Let’s get some ABC permits now, only about 400 small steps to go.

Permits have cleared, we’re starting construction!  We’re looking at opening in April.  Can’t wait to see you!

Welcome to Bottles&Cans.  Construction will be starting soon, keep an eye out for updates on opening day!