You may have heard that April is officially #ncbeermonth but I think you can celebrate year round with all of these amazing NC breweries. You can also celebrate by supporting the locally owned restaurants/pubs that proudly serve NC beer.

If you haven’t been to ncbeer.org you are missing out on a comprehensive list of all the best beer that North Carolina has to offer. Their brewery map will make you a devotee of day trips. I really love that they list all of the social networks of the breweries too. If you’ve never heard of them before ‘The North Carolina Brewers Guild is a not-for-profit 501(c)6 tax-exempt trade organization comprised of brewers, vendors and craft beer’.

There are a couple of folks you’ll want to get to know in addition to the breweries are the NC Beer Guys. They drink and promote NC beer and have a damn fine NC craft beer directory of their own.

If you are looking for events for NC Beer Month go ahead and bookmark ncbeermonth.com’s event page. You will be using this a lot this month. Don’t forget to get your beer venue or event listed!

12 ways to celebrate #NCBeerMonth year round

1. Make a pilgrimage to Bestway Grocery on Walker Ave. in Greensboro. You won’t find a bigger or better selection of NC Beer than at this family owned mecca.
2. Make your favorite dish using NC Beer. A recipe that my husband and I love to make is Swedish Sailors Stew. It is easy to make and fun to test with different beers. (Share your favorite recipe, that includes beer, in the comments below!)
3. Attend the 10th ANNUAL WORLD BEER FESTIVAL in RALEIGH April 11, 2015
4. Buy some good old fashioned Beer Soap handcrafted from North Carolina’s best craft beers. Raleigh Soapery makes badass soap for badass people. #WASHYOURSELF 
5. Taste and rate every beer on RateBeer’s Guide to the Best Beer in North Carolina, USA by hosting a regular beer tasting party. Ask your guests to bring their favorite NC beer and a dish to pass.
6. Save all of your bottle labels from #ncbeermonth and make your own craft beer label table or craft beer label coasters.
7.  Share this brewery map or this NC craft beer directory to help your family, friends and followers discover more about the beers of North Carolina!
8. Plan to visit the mountains of North Carolina for your very own Downtown Asheville Pub Crawl. Less than a mile from start to finish, this pub crawl has earned the people’s choice title of Beer City USA four years in a row.
9. Tune to The Less Desirables. They share the brews you want to try and news you want to know.
10. Make time to take a tour of your favorite NC breweries. Enjoy the “brewtopia” that is North Carolina with these favorite tours.
11. Make it a point to visit family owned restaurants that feature NC Beers. Write about your trip and help spread the good word about NC Beer and locally own businesses that serve them. Trio Restaurant and Bar in the Main Oak Emporium in Downtown Mt. Airy is on my list to visit this year. Owner Chris Wishart shared: “We are doing the Duck Rabbit (Farmville, NC) seasonal Imperial Porter. All of our taps are NC breweries but that is our seasonal. We also have Skull Camp (Elkin) Mother Earth (Rocky Mount)” With a line up like that, it’s no wonder that Chris and his staff were the winner of the Greater Mount Airy Chamber of Commerce Travel and Tourism Award!
12. Save your favorite NC Craft Beer bottles and make drinking glasses to give as gifts or use for your next backyard barbeque.

Don’t forget to share your love of North Carolina craft beer, year round, by tagging your photos online using the #nccraftbeer and #NCBeer hashtags. During the month of April, don’t forget to use the #NCBeerMonth hashtag.

Oh, and take a few minutes to watch this trailer from the upcoming documentary Brewconomy which will highlight the positive impacts of the craft brewing industry on North Carolina. Cheers! 

We all have our favorites when if comes to NC craft beer, but the fact that there are over 100 craft breweries and brew pubs in NC means that our list of favorites will constantly be growing.  (did I miss anything? Is there a favorite way you like to celebrate NC Craft Beer month? Leave a comment below and share your favorite NC Beer!)