North Carolina Military Veterans Join the Ranks of the State’s Brewers

When North Carolina troops return from military deployments, they often crave the familiar flavors we take for granted. After an extended diet of ready-to-eat meals, few things taste better than a grilled burger dressed with Duke’s, a second serving of strawberry shortcake, and an ice-cold beer.

 

For a handful of enterprising veterans, beer has become more than a sip of freedom. It’s their livelihood, earning them opportunities to translate leadership skills gained through service to our country into the creation of quality craft brews.

 

Since April is North Carolina Beer Month, it’s good to note that at least six breweries owned or operated by veterans have opened in North Carolina in recent years.

 

Beer Army Combat Brewery is located in New Bern, just down the road from the Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point. Among its award-winning beers are Fire in the Hole, an Irish-style red ale, and Heroes Never Die!!!, an American-style IPA. At The Mash House Brewing Company in Fayetteville, a double IPA recently debuted with the name Intrepid, a salute to the courageous fighters at Fort Bragg.

 

Railhouse Brewery in Aberdeen has KA-BAR, a brown ale named for the combat knife adopted by the Marines during World War II. The brew won a gold medal at the 2013 International Craft Beer Awards. Sold across North and South Carolina, it’s also popular around Camp Mujuk in South Korea, one of the largest Marine Corps bases in the world, offering a taste of home.

 

These military brethren caught the craft-brewing bug the same way most of the state’s top brewers did: by making small-batch beer at home. But there is more that unites them.

 

“They all seem to agree that their military training gave them the know-how and confidence to become craft beer entrepreneurs,” says Margo Knight Metzger, executive director of the NC Craft Brewers Guild.

 

And they all observed a lack of local breweries in friendly territory near the state’s many military bases. Several veteran-led start-ups were in discussion when Railhouse led the charge and was established in December 2010. Not far from Fort Bragg and Fayetteville and near Aberdeen, Camp Mackall Army Base is where soldiers train to become members of the elite U.S. Army Special Forces.

 

Ratkowski's business partner is Brian Evitts, a former home brewer who served as a nuclear propulsion chemist in the Navy. “That’s why Brian is the CEO and brewmaster,” quips Ratkowski. “We figured if he could handle nuclear physics, making craft beer on a commercial scale should be a breeze.”

 

Ratkowski says the structure and rigor of military service develops job-ready skills that are essential to success in the public sector.

 

“None of us are afraid of getting our hands dirty,” agrees Vernardo “Tito” Simmons-Valenzuela, a former Army medic turned brewmaster at Dirtbag Ales in Hope Mills. “Everything at our brewery, except what we’ve needed commercial permits for, we’ve done ourselves. Lead-from-the-front and be-the-example definitely came into play,” he adds.

 

Micah Niebauer, co-founder and CEO of Southern Pines Brewing Co., says his partners have a clear sense of mission and experience that lets them “adjust on the fly as we operate the brewery.”

With support from a Patriot Express Loan available only to military veterans, Niebauer created the company with fellow Green Berets who served in his unit. “From our perspective,” he adds, “opening a business and becoming an entrepreneur is part of the American dream.”

 

Niebauer’s team calculated that the Sandhills could support two breweries. Southern Pines Brewing is located along the same rail line as Railhouse Brewery, even having used Railhouse’s equipment before acquiring its own gear. More comrades than competitors, the two recently collaborated on a black IPA called Ties That Bind.

 

Like members of the armed forces, microbrewers say that they are stronger when they pull together. “We’re all on the same team,” Ratkowski says. “Our goal is to share our passion for craft beer. We think it’s more important for people to know and buy from their local brewer than some big faceless corporation.”

 

Richard Young developed his brewing skills on the West Coast before landing at Fayetteville’s The Mash House last November. Once a member of the distinguished 7th Infantry Division at California’s Fort Ord, he has fond memories of time spent training at Fort Bragg with the 82nd Airborne.

 

“It makes sense to me do something I love in a community that I really appreciate,” says Young, who started brewing beer in junior officer quarters at Fort Ord. “Technically, it wasn’t quite legal,” he admits, “but let me say this: Up and down the halls, no one was complaining.”

 

Young is working on a new beer that will be sold to raise money for a nonprofit that assists members of the armed services. “We’re testing a few with our customers now,” says Young. “Once we settle on a winner, part of the proceeds will go straight to helping veterans.”

 

There’s little about the upscale taproom or list of classic Belgian-style ales at Charlotte’s Sugar Creek Brewing Company to suggest that it’s run by veterans. “We don’t market our military experience,” says CEO Joe Vogelbacher, a graduate of Kings Point Merchant Marine Academy and current member of the Naval Reserve. His partners include a Marine Corps infantry machine gunner who served in Iraq and Afghanistan, a Navy submarine electronics technician, and a former nuclear engineer with Newport News Shipbuilding.

 

“When people learn our story, they come and introduce themselves,” adds Vogelbacher, whose brewery is not far from the Air National Guard 145th Airlift Wing. “Birds of a feather, right? We all want to see people who served their country succeed when they get back home.”

 

With a logo that depicts an American eagle with a wild-eyed Devil Dog on its chest, there is no mistaking Beer Army Combat Brewery’s pedigree. The image combines the motivational nickname for the Marines with the look of Beer Army founder and “General” Dustin Canestorp’s beloved late Doberman. He says it’s a constant reminder that making and selling beer is a means to doing good in his community.

 

“Philanthropy is the reason I started this,” says Canestorp, a retired Marine who has directed more than $90,000 to local charities through his nonprofit, Beer Army Foundation. “We are part of the fabric of our community. Our mission is to help.”

 

Canestorp was inspired to create the brewery and the foundation following the combat death of a close friend. This year, he will expand the foundation’s reach by providing small scholarships through events proceeds and sales of logo goods. For a college student in need, it’s an entirely different way to think about “beer money.”

 

“I believe education is key to solving a lot of our country’s problems,” says Canestorp, who put himself through college by joining the Marines. “If our foundation can help a kid get ahead, become successful, and give back to their community, I’ll be very happy.”

 

Application information will be posted on the foundation’s website, BeerArmy.org.

Military branding also plays a big role at another veteran-owned and operated brewery. Being called a “dirtbag” might not strike you as a compliment, but Simmons-Valenzuela says fans of Dirtbag Ales recognize the intended fellowship.

 

“We call people dirtbags when they’ve kicked around” various deployments, explains Simmons-Valenzuela, who met his business partner and fellow Army medic Gerald Montero while they were assigned to a small hospital in Baghdad, Iraq.

 

Dirtbag also brewed beer at Railhouse before opening its own production site. Railhouse’s Ratkowski says Dirtbag is making one of the best Kölsch beers in the state. It’s on tap at super chef Ashley Christensen’s popular Beasley’s Chicken + Honey in Raleigh.

 

Simmons-Valenzeula credits an unused gift for Dirtbag’s success. He and Montero returned to North Carolina after their deployment, buying houses next door to one another. He gave Montero and his bride a beer-making kit as a wedding gift, but a year later, it was still in the package.

 

“I took it back, and I guess the rest is history,” Simmons-Valenzuela says. “There’s just no reason to let good beer go to waste.”

 

This story first posted in Our State Magazine.
NOTE: The Sun Journal of New Bern reported that Beer Army has closed. Founder Dustin Canestrop says he hopes to continue the work of the Beer Army Foundation.

 

On Cinco de Mayo, declare your independence from Margaritas with a beer-based cocktail

House-made sangrita gives the Michelada
a special kick at Dos Perros in Durham.

For many Americans, Cinco de Mayo is celebrated as an annual excuse to drink to excess, generally by means of machine-dispensed frozen Margaritas that look like neon-hued slushies. Even if you opt to go on the rocks, there's generally little opportunity to go au naturale in busy bars that rely on  commercial mixers.

There are plenty of places in the Triangle where one can procure a truly fine hand-crafted Margarita made with fresh fruit, herbed infusions and and top-shelf tequila. But this weekend, undoubtedly one of the most profitable for tavern owners, what some gringo celebrants will find in their disposable cups is a rough mix of cheap tequila tempered by the cloying sweetness of a mass-produced mixer.

There's no rule that one must swill tequila to commemorate Mexico's unlikely victory over the French at the Battle of Puebla in 1862. Indeed, one imagines that hot and tired soliders were glad to revive their spirits much as thirsty modern Mexicans do -- with an ice-cold beer brightened by a generous squeeze of fresh lime juice.

Across Mexico, you are about as likely to be served a beer with lime juice as you are to receive a sweet pour if you request iced tea in the American South.  But why stop there? Creative Mexican bartenders make all sorts of cocktails using beer, the most famous of which surely is the Michelada.

The Michelada is a cousin to the Bloody Mary, but with beer in place of vodka. There are about as many variations on the general theme as there are la barras in the distinct regions of Mexico, and across the U.S., where the drink is especially popular in border states -- and others, like North Carolina, with rapidly growing Latino communities. The Michelada's robust flavor can vary significantly, starting with pale or dark beer. Options include tomato juice or Clamato; hot sauce or a blend of select chiles; Worcester, soy or savory MSG-rich Maggi sauce -- or all three, depending on whose recipe you follow.


Michelada, Eating My Words-style, with
tomato juice, Worcester and Tiger Sauce.

You can choose from hundreds of Michelada recipes posted online, including ones by chef Rick Bayless, who tirelessly promotes authentic regional Mexican foods in his books and cooking shows. The flavor profile has become so internationally renown that chef Marcus Samuelsson, born in Ethiopia and raised in Sweden, confidently titles his version The Perfect Michelada Recipe. It was the starting point for several we made last night -- and one more today, so far -- strictly for the purpose of research.

Chef Bill Smith of Crook's Corner, who travels extensively in Mexico, believes that two area bars do an especially good job with beer-based cocktails. One is the Michelda at Dos Perros in Durham; the other is the Tiger Mojito at the recently opened Lucha Tigre in Chapel Hill. Both restaurants graciously shared their recipes.

So, if you're out and about celebrating Cinco de Mayo this weekend, leave the Margaritas for the first-timers and try a Michelada or other beer-based specialty. And if your friends call the next day in a post-tequila fog, be an amigo and invite them over. After all, among the magical Michelada's claims to fame is its acknowledged status as a hangover remedy.

Dos Perros Michelada

Rim a pint glass with a mix of salt, toasted chipotle peppers, Spanish paprika and cayenne pepper. Fill glass halfway with ice.

Prepare a shot of sangrita, which Dos Perros makes from the "juice" of its pico de gallo -- you can substitute the juice of homemade or store-bought pico -- Valentina hot sauce and a splash of orange and lime juices.

Serve components separately (see photo at beginning). Pour sangrita over ice then top with a Modelo Especial.

Lucha Tigre Tiger Mojito
Muddle a healthy pinch of mint, about 8-10 leaves, at the bottom of a pint glass. Add 2 teaspoons of sugar and fill the glass with ice.
Pour in 1/4 oz. fresh lime juice and 1/4 oz. light rum. Fill with Tiger Beer.
Stir with bar spoon until sugar is incorporated. Garnish with mint, lime wedge and sugar cane.

A toast to non-traditional preserves

Paul Virant has a message for home preservers: He wants you to see an empty canning jar as more than a mere vessel for sweet spreads. And he wants you to get out of the box.

“Too many people think they’ve got to buy those boxes of pectin to make jams and jellies, but they don’t,” said Virant, author of The Preservation Kitchen: The Craft of Making and Cooking with Pickles, Preserves, and Aigre-doux (Ten Speed Press) and chef at Chicago’s Vie Restaurant. Substitute patience and great ingredients, he said, and the results will be delicious.

If you don't have a dehydrator, slow roast
strawberries to intensify their flavor

Virant is not overly concerned about creating fruity slathers for toast, though he does offer a number of deeply flavored jams – such as the intense Dehydrated Strawberry, which brings undeniable luster to bread and muffins. Most of his preserving recipes come with tips for how to apply them to everything from cocktails to main courses. His Beer Jam, for example, made with stout and spices (see recipe below), results in a loose jelly that he uses to both punch up a Manhattan and glaze tender beef cheeks.

A batch made with North Carolina’s Duck-Rabbit Milk Stout produced a heady brew that that turned a basic grilled burger into a burnished specialty you’d pay way too much for at a restaurant. It also was great on roast chicken and added an appealing varnish to grilled tofu. Rhubarb Beer jam, which I made with Blue Moon, is an ideal accompaniment to a cheese and charcuterie plate. Virant uses it to jazz up a Normandy, a cocktail featuring Calvados.

Grilled burger glazed with Beer Jam and
topped with gorgonzola and balsamic onions

Using preserved foods in new ways is the main takeaway Virant wants readers to experience. “My style has developed over time to a point where preserves are really incorporated into the food, into sauces, reductions, gastriques, glazes. It’s a major part of the dish, not an accompaniment.”

If you prefer the reliability of added pectin, Virant doesn’t mind. He sometimes adds an all-natural dried apple powder made by Patisfrance, and similar products are available online and at natural food markets. He also provides directions for homemade pectin, which is essentially a lightly-set apple jelly. He uses this in several recipes, but most rely on a long rolling boil and a candy thermometer to establish the desired degree of jelling. 

This is especially true of the recipes that start with a slow maceration, a minimum of overnight or up to a week. This allows busy canners to set fruit in sugar at its peak, condense it for easy refrigerator storage and finish the processing later.

“The nice thing about the maceration method is that you’re actually preserving the fruit before you can,” Virant explained. “For example, you have these incredible ripe blackberries that could spoil before you have time to make jam. It’s an easy thing to bring it to a boil and then refrigerate. You preserve the integrity of the freshness and instead of waiting a few days as it decomposes.”

While his methods and recipes may seem novel, Virant got into canning the way many people do – by cooking with his grandmothers.

“It’s a life’s passion. I have more memories of making pies and cakes, but my grandmother on my mother’s side was really involved in canning,” he said. “For me, the appeal is a lot like making bread or beer. You’re dealing with a living microbe. There’s that element of transforming ingredients and waiting to see what it will be like. Finally opening a pickle or a jar of jam, it’s rewarding.”

Virant’s interest in canning and preserving has an important place in his overall culinary expression. Indeed, it’s proved especially valuable at the restaurant, where preserving excess produce both reduces waste and brings a dash of depth or acidity to balance a dish.

“I’ve always had the problem of going to a farmer’s market and buying more than I need,” he confessed with a laugh. “It’s like the old saying: ‘Eat what you can, and can what you can’t.’”

Golden wheat beer tints savory Rhubarb Beer Jam 

Currently, Virant is obsessed with spring onions, which are just arriving at Chicago farmer’s markets. “There’s a recipe in the book for Smoked and Pickled Spring Onions that I really like. It’s a bit labor intensive, but it’s really worth it.” His also notes how to add the mix into a relish he uses to top chicken-fried steak.

Virant also is on a mission to master pickled okra. “We used a lot of smoked okra, but pickling it is not easy,” he said. “I’ve done it for years but I don’t feel like I’m quite there yet.”

The arrival of spring gives virtually everything in Virant’s gaze potential for preserving and repurposing in the restaurant. He wants home cooks to feel the same way.

“We’re using a lot of rhubarb now, and ramps,” Virant said. “It’s important to build experience before you experiment. If you follow recipes from good sources, you’ll learn pretty quickly how things should look and react. It’s usually pretty obvious if something doesn’t work.”

If you open a canning jar and detect an off odor, or anything about the product looks odd, Virant advised, pitch it. It’s far better to lose a batch than risk making anyone sick.

That said, he added that creative canners should not let such fears hold them back. “Coming up with something new is fun and satisfying,” he said. “You just never know where it will take you.”

Below find a corrected version of the Beer Jam recipe included in The Preservation Kitchen. The first-edition publication inadvertently omitted when to add pectin in the directions (highlighted below). I skipped the star anise as it’s my Voldemort of spices. The result was a bold and full-bodied glaze.

Beer Jam
Reprinted with permission from The Preservation Kitchen: The Craft of Making and Cooking with Pickles, Preserves, and Aigre-doux by Paul Virant with Kate Leahy, copyright © 2012. Published by Ten Speed Press, a division of Random House, Inc.

Yield: 6 half-pint jars, plus 1 (4-ounce) jar

Ingredient	Volume	Ounces	Grams	Percent
Stout beer	4 (12-ounce) bottles	3 pounds 3 ounces	1,361 grams	55%
Sugar	4 2/3 cups	2 pounds	907 grams	345%
Lemon, juiced	1	1 ounce	28 grams	1%
Vanilla beans, split	2	–	–	–
Allspice berries	10	–	–	–
Cloves	3	–	–	–
Star anise	2	–	–	–
Orange zest	1 large strip	–	–	–
Pectin (page 000)	1 cup	8 ounces	227 grams	9%

1. In a large, heavy-bottomed pot over high heat, bring the beer, sugar, lemon juice, vanilla beans, allspice berries, cloves, star anise, and orange juice to a boil. Remove from the heat, transfer to a storage container, and refrigerate overnight or up to 5 days.

2. Strain the liquid and save the vanilla beans for another use. Pour into a large, wide pot, stir in the pectin, and bring to a boil over high heat—be careful that the beer doesn’t boil over. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the mixture reaches about 215˚F and has the texture of light syrup, 25-35 minutes.

3. Scald 6 half-pint jars and one (4-ounce) jar. (To scald, using tongs put the jars into a large pot of simmering water fitted with a rack—you will use this pot to process the jars.) Meanwhile, soak the lids in a pan of hot water to soften the rubber seal. Right before filling, put the jars on the counter.

4. Transfer the jam to a heat-proof pitcher and pour into the jars, leaving a ½-inch space from the rim. (Depending on how much you reduced the jam, you may not need the small jar.) Wipe the rims with a clean towel, seal with the lids, then screw on the bands until snug but not tight.

5. Place the jars in the pot with the rack and add enough water to cover the jars by about 1 inch. Bring the water to a boil and process the jars for 10 minutes (start the timer when the water reaches a boil). Remove the jars from the water and cool completely.