Triangle Craft Beer Alliance brings education, communication to local scene

Though the Triangle's craft beer industry has ballooned in the past few years to more than 100 breweries and bottle shops, it has been missing something found in other beer markets: an alliance.

So, in September 2017, Amy Hanson of Raleigh Brewing Company started one.

"There was a massive void in craft beer on how brewers were communicating, how they were getting education, how they were connecting with the (the North Carolina Craft Brewers) Guild and the other alliances around them," said Hanson, president of the Triangle Craft Beer Alliance. "So, the Triangle Craft Beer Alliance was created to provide member education and support for all these breweries that are in the Triangle."

Beer markets around North Carolina already had similar organizations in place — Asheville, Charlotte, the Triad and Cape Fear all have one — but the Triangle was missing a formal alliance. The TCBA fills in the gap for what is one of the most brewery-rich markets on the East Coast, Hanson said.

Wasmund, who works at Bond Brothers in Cary, said the alliance will host events to educate brewers (and bottle shops or bartenders) about off flavors or modern cleaning and sanitization processes, among other things.

"It was something we identified very early on, and we came together as a committee and said the first thing we were going to do is invite some specialists and experts out and put together a panel and try and go over some of these things," Wasmund said.

Of the 52 breweries in the Triangle, 44 are already members of the TCBA, Hanson said. But it's not just breweries.The alliance has three tiers of membership to include breweries and bottle shops, affiliates and ambassadors, which bring more non-brewery people and businesses into the fold.

Now, as the Triangle beer market grows, so will the TCBA.

"We have a lot of ideas and places we want to go with it," Wasmund said.