By Emily Buehler, Weaver Street Market Website Coordinator; originally published on June 23, 2015
The thought of authentic English-inspired ales motivated me to drive out to Cary to visit newcomer Fortnight Brewing. Founded and run by a team that includes English natives and North Carolinians, the brewery uses English ingredients to brew beers like the ones the expatriots remember from home.
A white-painted brick warehouse houses the brewery near the downtown center of Cary. Inside, a group was gathering in the tasting room for the first afternoon tour, led by Andrew, one of the sales reps. Andrew walked us through the beer-making process, from the roasted malted barley to the mill to the vast kettles and vats for boiling, soaking, and fermenting. The English malt that Fortnight uses is expensive but produces the “richer maltier flavor” of an English beer. We saw the canning line, which fills 35 cans per minute, and Andrew explained the benefits of cans: relative to glass bottles, cans are less breakable, cheaper, easier and more efficient to handle and stack, easier to recycle, and better for the beer because they are better-sealed and offer light protection. (Cans have a stigma to overcome because many associate them with cheap, bad-tasting beer!) We saw a cask that’s used to make cask ale, a traditional fermentation process from the UK (they’re metal, not wood), and the towering stacks of six-packs waiting to ship. The brewery is large by craft brewery standards; each batch produces about 7700 pints.
How local is a brewery that’s importing ingredients across the ocean? Colin Spark, the team’s Account Manager, explained that while they import English malt, hops, and yeast, each beer uses some combination of English and American ingredients. For example, the English malt pairs well with American hops in the XPat IPA. Ingredients such as coffee and chocolate that flavor the beers are sourced locally. The brewery also brings in food and food trucks that support local producers, such as Trali Irish Pub, whose seasonal menu of pub food features local produce like Heritage Farms pork and Holly Grove Farms chevre. In addition, the brewery merch (pint glasses and tees) are from local companies.
Before we left, we had a flight of the current beers on tap. I’m not a beer tasting expert, but I generally prefer the darker ones. So it was a pleasant surprise to find that the Blonde Ale, which Weaver Street Market carries, had no bitterness to it at all. The official description includes”easy drinking,” “fruity and floral notes,” and “a clean finish.” We also carry the ESB (Extra Special Bitter), which Fortnight’s website describes as “English Ale’s big brother. With a copper color this English specialty is the real deal. With notes of figs and sweet raisins, it’s countered by a healthy dose of East Kent Golding hops to give it a balance.” (My notes just say “deep.”) And finally we carry the XPat IPA, which tasted like grapefruit juice, only better, and the Double IPA.
Fortnight six-packs are on sale this week, so be sure to give them a try. Fortnight’s tasting room is open every day, and they give free tours every weekend if you’d like to drive out for a visit. Learn more at http://fortnightbrewing.com/.