The chant echos in our virtual backgrounds…”almost here, almost here, almost here.” The mantra is deafening. The screams within reach! The official opening of BBC15 is in 28 hours. All shouting aside, BBC15 actually kicks off this afternoon for almost 30 conference goers who are going on the Pre-Conference Excursion with visitRaleigh today!
This part of the conference organizing team (Sarah) is eagerly anticipating a full day of tasting and touring with four of Raleigh’s beloved breweries. We head out of the Residence Inn Raleigh Midtown today, Thursday, at 1 pm and make our way, first, for Raleigh Brewing Company, the state’s first female owned brewery and one that houses a 20-barrel brewing facility with an attached home-brew supply shop and tap room. Second on the docket today = Lonerider Brewing Company (Ales for Outlaws!) which opened in 2009. Our third stop on the excursion (our dinner locale for the evening, too) is White Street Brewing in the historic, downtown Wake Forest district. Last but certainly not least is our final visit to Compass Rose Brewery, a globally inspired brewery.
I look forward to tweeting about all our visits during today’s pre-conference excursion with visitRaleigh! We will overnight in Raleigh before hopping on the bus tomorrow, Friday, to make our trek down to Asheville. We will swoop into town around 11 am and in plenty of time to collect our official BBC15 conference badges and listen to Julia Herz kick off the festivities at 1 pm.
A bit more about who we are visiting today (and their twitter handles, too):
Raleigh Brewing Company: This brewery was founded by home brewers who wanted to give craft beer back to the community that they hold dear. They produce six year-round brews, four seasonal beers and countless experimental batches, all available at their taproom and around Raleigh. Raleigh Brewing Company is the state’s first female owned brewery.
Lonerider Brewing Company: Opened its doors in Raleigh on Jan. 23, 2009, with a beer and a dream. With an eye for quality, Lonerider crafts each of its beers with the highest quality ingredients. As a result, Lonerider has a portfolio of award-winning beers, including honors from national contests such as GABF and the U.S. Beer Open Championship. @loneriderbeer 
@whitestreetbrew
