BIG BOSS BREWING
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[/ezcol_2third] [ezcol_1third_end]Big Boss honestly deserves a trip of its own. The brewery sits down a side road in an industrial park just north of downtown Raleigh beneath a huge warehouse roof. On the left was a giant garage door flung open showing a glimpse of the giant brew tanks, fermenters, and kettles tucked inside in shining stainless steel. To the right was the taproom lined with corrugated metal walls, a small patio, and raised beds with hop vines growing out. The brewery, although open wide, wasn’t available to be toured but the taproom was wide open.[/ezcol_1third_end]
Everything about Big Boss is big and imposing. The taproom doors are huge solid wooden monsters with sledgehammers for handles. Inside is dark and the walls are lined with retro aviation art and airplane sheet metal painted with the logos of their beers. The taproom is also fully equipped with pingpong, shuffleboard, and other bar games and various rooms and couches for socializing. We bellied up to the bar and tried to take in their giant beer menu.
The beer selection is hands down the best we had seen yet. Twelve beers, half seasonals, were lined up all with their ABVs, styles, and IBUs in one of those perfect chalkboard charts that all the best breweries have. They sold their beer in flights or pints, growlers, or bottles. They also had some great merchandise which we of course gobbled up. We also gobbled up a few pints. I had a Monkey Bizz-ness and my brother, by this time still not full grown into his big-boy-beer-pants, drank an Angry Angel kolsch.
The Beers
[ezcol_2third]The Monkey Bizz-ness was a Farmhouse Ale that weighed in at a hefty 9.0% ABV, just the thing I needed for a mid-afternoon beer. It was a dark burnt orange color and had a sweet yeasty flavor. It was strong. The glass was small but the beer was not. Jon’s beer, the Angry Angel Kolsch was a light gold color with a typical white head. It was a light flavored bear with just a hint of light hops. It was a good beer with enough body to get my brother’s beer drinking shoes on a little tighter. A few more pints, a few spurious merchandise purchases, and with our wallets lighter we reluctantly left Raleigh.Next: Part II – Charlotte, Durham
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