Tri Beer, You'll Like it

It's 2:47 a.m. in Atlanta, where I had a great Sweetwater I.P.A. to go with my pimento cheddar cheese sandwich with bacon at the Brick Store Pub in Decatur earlier, and I know I should be asleep, but I gotta post how great the event was last night at Tyler's Taproom in Durham, NC.

After another long drive, this one from DC through Virginia and half of North Carolina, I showed up at Tyler's to a good crowd and a well-stocked and displayed table of books, thanks to Bill and the good folks at the Regulator. I'd say one of my biggest regrets is never having time to make it into the local indie bookstores who've been helping me at all of my events, and they have all done such a killer job.
My only other visit to N. Carolina, I was only 22, but I'd noticed that the folks here were as nice as could be. They still are. I mean, if nice was hops, these folks would be a double IPA. To introduce some of the people I met, I'll start by asking if you know about meetup.com? Who needs social networking sights when you can network, socially? A popular group is the beer meetup group, and NC's Triangle has one of the best in "Tri Beer," thanks to a great guy named Steve. I also got to do an interview for a future podcast, courtesy of Thomas who recently moved to the Triangle from Arizona. And then there were the Bradfords, Julie and Daniel, the powerhouse duo behind All About Beer magazine. Tip for anyone passing through Durham with a thirst: make friends with Daniel at his home away from home. And what a home. Tyler's has dozens of great beers on tap (as soon as I showed up, I was offered a Triangle Pale Ale) and they offer various flights, from darks to hops to "local," which is naturally what I got, including offerings from Duck-Rabbit, French Broad, Carolina, and Big Boss. Incidentally, more than one bottle of Duck-Rabbit's Milk Stout is making the trip home with me.