We have received your payment for the West Coast beer tasting. Tickets will be available at the door — please bring your PayPal receipt as proof of payment.

Your transaction ID is 867-5309.

Just kidding — that’s the same code everyone got. I just wanted you to have that song stuck in your head. 867530nieeineeee!

If you have any questions, please email Sean of PTC. Thank you for your support!

*** IF YOU PURCHASED GAME TICKETS, WE’LL HAVE THEM FOR YOU AT THE EVENT *** 

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North Carolina’s beer cap is now 15 percent alcohol by volume. Below is a quick history on how Pop The Cap, an all-volunteer grassroots group, lobbied for three years to help raise the limit from 6 to 15 percent.

To learn more about why North Carolina still imposes an artificial cap on beer, please read the “What’s with the 15 percent cap?” page.

Pop The Cap is no longer a going concern. The information on this web site is archived for history’s sake (and nostalgia).

***

We called. We wrote. We conquered.

In February 2003, a motley group of thirty-five beer lovers gathered at the All About Beer office to discuss one issue: how to lift North Carolina’s 6% alcohol by volume cap on beer. For seventy years, North Carolina had imposed a 6% ABV restriction on beer sold and brewed within the state. At the time, the Old North State was one of five states with a severe limitation.

The thirty-five of us were fed up. This relic of Prohibition made it illegal to brew or sell one-third of the world’s beer styles, including gourmet Belgian ales, hoppy IPAs, and intensely malty dopplebocks. Beers meant for sipping and savoring…nothing like the American light lagers that dominate North Carolina’s storeshelves.

For two-and-a-half years, this group of thirty-five no-nothings (yes, yours truly included!) grew into a grassroots movement of thousands of North Carolinians. We hired a lobbyist, the amazing Theresa Kostrzewa. In our first legislative push, the Pop The Cap bill passed two House committees, two Senate committees, the House floor, and the Senate floor.

Such progress is almost unheard of, especially with such a potentially volatile issue as raising an alcohol cap. We overcame intense resistance from old-line distributors and neo-Prohibitionist interest groups. We battled Senator John “Drinking straight vodka” Kerr and Senator “this law will lead to more unwanted pregnancies and academic suicides” Jacumin.

On August 13, 2005, Governor Mike Easley signed House Bill 392 into law, lifting the 6% ABV cap to a more-reasonable 15%. We called, we wrote, we conquered. We popped the cap.

UPDATE: Four years later, and the ABV laws in South are falling like a deck of cards. Only ONE state has a severe ABV restriction:

• Mississippi

Let’s support Mississippi’s Raise Your Pints and RID OUR NATION of these restrictive caps!

Lastly, are you angry that we still have a cap, even if it’s 15%? Do you feel slighted that you still can’t get ten or so beers here in North Carolina? Relax, have a beer, and learn more here.

To learn more about how to be a beer activist — or to keep up with some of the hot issues around the nation — please visit SupportYourLocalBrewery.org.

It was an honor to serve you.

Cheers,
Sean Lilly Wilson

Past President, Pop The Cap

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This from the good folks at The Duck-Rabbit Craft Brewery in Farmville:

“The Duck-Rabbit Barley Wine is on the way!

You are invited to our Holiday Open House/Barley Wine Pre-Release Party. Come check out the brewery, enjoy some munchies and seize the opportunity for that first taste of The Duck-Rabbit’s next seasonal specialty. Our American Barley Wine is big and hoppy, and weighs in at 11% abv. We think you’ll like it as much as we do.

Location:
The Duck-Rabbit Craft Brewery
4519 West Pine Street
Farmville, NC 27828

Date: Saturday, December 9, 2006
Time: 3pm-?

Where’s Farmville? Click here for help.

We look forward to seeing you there.”

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We’d love to hear from you, especially as we transition from a grassroots lobbying organization to a North Carolina beer appreciation society. We respond to all non-SPAM inquiries.  It’s in our blood.
Thank you so much!

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Four hundred new beers on the shelves. Seasonal and specialty releases from North Carolina breweries. New beer bars, brewpubs, and retail stores….from Asheville to Kill Devil Hills. It’s a good time to be a craft beer lover in North Carolina.

Pop The Cap celebrates all the people who took time to get involved in the legislative process of lifting North Carolina’s 6% alcohol by volume cap on beer. We mean this sincerely…it wasn’t us, it was you. And now that a year has passed since Governor Mike Easley signed HB392 into law, we’ve launched Pop The Cap version 2.

Our new goal: to celebrate beer culture in North Carolina. How? By hosting beer dinners pairing great beer with great food. Showcasing North Carolina’s amazing selection of specialty beers. And promoting the great beer scene and breweries here in North Carolina…the State of Southern Beer.

Our mission is to be a resource for North Carolina craft beer lovers, both online and as a real-world community. If you have any ideas or recommendations, we’d love to hear from you. As it was with changing the 6% law, it’s all about you, the craft beer enthusiast.

Check out the events we’ve led since lifting the 6% cap.

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We’re celebrating the one-year lifting of the cap throughout August. Here’s what we have lined up FOR SURE.

AUGUST 12th

• Tyler’s Taproom in CARRBORO: celebrate broader beer selection with French Broad Brewing Company!

A great combination of Asheville music and Asheville beer: Asheville’s French Broad Brewery will offer draft beer specials, and is bringing along two great bands from the area.

Pop The Cap celebration at 7:30pm at the bar.
Music at the Speakeasy starts at 8pm; $4 cover.

• Cape Fear Wine and Beer in WILMINGTON: all day beer specials!

In the works, possibly later in the month:

• Foothills Brewing and Mellow Mushroom in Winston Salem
• Events in Asheville and Charlotte

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Oh yeah! We’ve had great success with our Beer 201: Craft Beer Appreciation Class. We don’t follow any strict guidelines — to us, craft beer appreciation can range from a simple beer tasting to an extravagant dinner or party. Our specialty is promoting North Carolina beer for parties of 50 to 500.

We’ll work with you to come up with a great event. Check out our past successes!

Events Pop The Cap has led since lifting the cap include:

• NC in NYC (January 2008). Sponsored by the North Carolina Tourism Department, this event targeted media professionals based in New York. Pop The Cap led a beer tasting and promoted North Carolina beer to over 100 travel and food media professionals.
• Black Friday Beer Festival (the day after Thanksgiving 2007). Featuring dark beers, poker, food, and Guitar Hero on the big screen. Much better than the mall! $1,500 raised for Toys for Tots and nearly 200 gifts donated for needy children.
• Cask and Barrel tent at the World Beer Festival in Durham, NC (2003-07). Pop The Cap has served as the non-profit sponsor of the World Beer Festival for the past five years. Our most recent tent took the theme of cask ale a bit further to include vintage, barrel-aged, and cask ale from all over the East Coast. Over 1,000 people paid to sample beers from the tent.
• Taste of the State — Southern Season, Chapel Hill. Promoting North Carolina craft beer for around 500 attendees at Southern Season’s first-ever “Taste of the State.”
• Saxapahaw Oktoberfest. Pop The Cap has represented and promoted North Carolina beer at the last two Saxapahaw Oktoberfests. Around 2,000 people attend this roots music festival.
• Beer Education Class for Duke Seniors. Educational course (yes, educational!) for over 400 Duke University Seniors on the importance of drinking local and quality over quantity.
• Countless beer dinners throughout the state, including eastern Carolina, Charlotte, the Triad, Asheville, and the Triangle. Our specialty? Pairing great food with great beer.

Our Promises:

1. There will be no droning on about beer. We don’t know enough to talk that long anyway.
2. Beer education will be fun.
3. All beer samples will taste really, really good.
4. Some of the attendees will disagree with Promise #3, but trust us, the beer tastes really really good. We’ll taste it for you if you’d like.
5. 99 out of 100 people who think they don’t like beer will find a beer they like at Beer 201.
6. Beer 201 is a great way to bring people to your club, organization or gathering!

Contact us today! We’re ready to spread the word about better beer. Email Sean Wilson at sean@popthecap.org for more information.

Breweries that have provided beer for the new PTCv2 mission include:

– North Carolina –
Highland Brewing Company, Asheville, NC
French Broad Brewing Company, Asheville NC
Foothills Brewing Company, Winston-Salem, NC
Natty Greene’s Pub & Brewing, Greensboro, NC
Liberty Steakhouse and Brewery, High Point, NC
Triangle Brewing Company, Durham, NC
Top of the Hill Restaurant and Brewery, Chapel Hill, NC
Carolina Brewery, Chapel Hill and Pittsboro, NC
Big Boss Brewing, Raleigh, NC
Cottonwood / Carolina Beer and Beverage, Mooresville, NC
The Duck-Rabbit Craft Brewery, Farmville, NC
Ham’s Brewhouse, Greenville, NC
Weeping Radish Eco Farm and Brewery, Jarvisburg, NC

– Not North Carolina, but dang good –
Bell’s Brewery, Kalamazoo, MI
Clipper City Brewing Company, Baltimore, MD
Ommegang and Duvel USA, Cooperstown, NY
Dogfish Head Craft Brewery, Milton, DE
Anderson Valley Brewing Company, Boonville, CA
Rogue Ales, Newport, OR
Allagash Brewing Company, Portland, ME
Oskar Blues Brewery, Lyons, CO
Stone Brewing Company, Escondido, CA
Victory Brewing Company, Downingtown, PA
Brasserie Dupont, Belgium
Brasserie Dubuisson Freres, Belgium

And thanks to these distributors & importers!
All Good Brands
Vanberg and Dewulf
Tryon Distribution
Long Beverage

(who did I miss? Go on..tell me! I’ll add it to the list!)

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The poster celebrating the lifting of the cap

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Pop The Cap News is a once-a-month-or-so HTML newsletter with the latest beer news, events, and opinions about craft beer. Archiving ain’t as easy (or cheap) as it used to be, so we’re not archiving like we used to.

Over 1,500 North Carolinians subscribe to PTC News. Do you?

Sign on up!

(more…)

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Panzanella, Carrboro’s community-owned Italian eatery, is celebrating North Carolina beer and food with a Monday night dinner.

The cost of this event is $40/person; space is limited, so reserve early. Please pay in advance and pick up a ticket for this tasting at either Panzanella or the Customer Service Desk at Weaver Street Market in Carrboro.

You can find additional discussion around the dinner on the Beerinator website.

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