Brewery Visit: Aviator Brewing Company

After sweating out a Wolfpack victory (in every sense of the word) on opening day at Carter-Finley stadium, it was time to cash in on last year’s Christmas gift.  My mother-in-law had gotten me a Groupon for a tour and a bunch of SWAG at Aviator Brewing Company in Fuquay Varina, NC.  In addition to the joys of visiting a brewery and getting a bunch of free stuff, Aviator was one of the stops on 2012’s Beerventure and I was excited to see how they had changed since last I visited. 

The beer goddess and I arrived a little after 6, and were informed that the next and final tour for the day would begin around 6:30.  Fantastic timing, if I do say so myself.  This gave us time to grab a pint and chat with the bartender for a bit.  We both settled on the Pumpkin Beast.  After crisping in the 95 degree sun at the end of August, it’s a little weird to grab a pumpkin beer, but I’ve given up fighting the seasonal creep.  When in Rome, right?  Nevertheless, I don’t know if I’m softening on my general aversion for pumpkin beer or if Aviator just did it right, but I quite enjoyed the balance of this one.

We finished the pumpkin, and right on cue it was time for the tour.  So we grabbed a refill--Saison de Aviator for Colby and Hog Wild IPA for me.  The tour started out very similar to how I remember the last one.  The brewhouse is the first stop when you enter the industrial part of the brewery.  They have a 30 BBL system, which I believe is the same as last time.  Our tour guide was very effective but also concise at communicating the history of the brewery, the day to day operations, and the overall process of brewing.

We then pressed on to the fermentor tanks.  The guide ran through the fermentation process and some of the mechanics of these large fermentors, and I tried to remember how many of them were new.  Suffice it to say, they have more.  Most of them now are 100 BBL, and require three brews on the 30 BBL system to fill.  I will say, one of my favorite sights is a row of shiny, stainless steel fermentors.

After the beer is fermented and ready to go, it’s on to the brite tank and canning line.  Aviator is very much on board with the wave of craft beer cans.  They used to have a small bottling line, but they’ve since gotten rid of that and exclusively can their beer.  So, as our guide said, if you see Aviator beer in a bottle, at least try to haggle down the price, because it’s not fresh. 

At this point, it was time for a pit stop.  They had a regular old refrigerator set up just past the canning line with two beers tapped to sample.  The selections were the Saison (which I was working on the last half of Colby’s by this point), and a 919 Pale Ale, brewed exclusively with ingredients from the 919 area code (Raleigh and surrounding areas).  We got a hearty pour of the 919 to split, and it was nothing short of excellent.

The “rehydration station” was located right next to what once was just a door out the back of the brewery.  Now, that door is an opening into another huge warehouse space.  They have a new cold room, which is at least double the size of the old, towers of cans stacked to the ceiling, a few rack of bourbon barrels for aging, and yet, between the old space and the new space, there was a ton of room.  Their facility has almost limitless growth potential.

A brief peek into the new cold room provided a nice relief from the 90+ degree warehouse, and after that it was out the back door.  But not just any back door, mind you.  This back door actually led into another taproom!  They had TVs, a bar, some games, tables, and a patio outside.  It was a very cool space, and a pleasant surprise.

We decided to hang out here for a bit, I got talked in to getting a pint of the Black Mamba Stout, and we eventually got our Groupon redeemed.  We were not alone in this either.  It seemed like everyone who had participated in the tour had the very same deal we had, but the bartenders were super cool about it and were happy to help.  They were even accommodating to all of my various ridiculous substitution requests. 

This ended up being a phenomenal Christmas gift.  We walked out with a growler filled with a seasonal beer (or in my case, the 919 Pale Ale because our bartender was awesome), two six packs, two coozies, a hat, and two pint glasses (one of which I traded in for an empty grunt--again, bartender = awesome).

Situated 20 minutes or so outside of Raleigh, Aviator is brewing great beer, has a very cool atmosphere, and is overall a great place to visit.  Whether it’s a stop on a tour of the area, or just a destination for an afternoon of beer-related fun, I certainly recommend stopping by!

Visit:  209 Technology Park Ln., Fuquay Varina, NC 27526

Website:  www.aviatorbrew.com

Beers Tasted

Pumpkin Beast (6.4% ABV, 14 SRM, 17 IBU): As noted above, I’m typically not a big pumpkin beer kind of guy.  But I did like this one.  It was sweet, but not too sweet and the pumpkin was there but it wasn't overstated.

Hog Wild IPA (6.7% ABV, 5 SRM, 100+ IBU): They cram hops in this thing like no one’s business.  It has the hops of a Double IPA, but not the body, so it’s a light drinker, and has a ton of hop flavor and aroma with a solid lingering bitterness.  I certainly enjoyed it, but if you’re just testing the waters with IPAs and bitterness, you might want to wait on this one.

Saison de Aviator (6.5% ABV, 8 SRM, 22 IBU): A nice crisp, refreshing beer with just a hint of that farmhouse funk.  I could have asked for a little more fruitiness in the finish, but it was still enjoyable and perfect for walking through a hot warehouse.

919 Pale Ale (7.2% ABV, 6 SRM, 60 IBU): I was very impressed with this pale.  Typically the pale ales don’t stand out to me that much, but this guy had a lot of flavor to it and was one of the better pale ales I’ve had in a while.  I imagine the lower bitterness keeps it away from IPA status, but it does certainly have a nice full body.

Black Mamba Oatmeal Stout (6.5% ABV, 40 SRM, 87 IBU): Smooth, silky, and crazy chocolaty.  Excellent companion for any occasion, I was just sad that they didn’t have the bourbon barrel aged version available.  Maybe next time!

Editor's Note: This post has been updated to reflect corrected volume numbers for Aviator's brewing equipment.