Take the best of the Triangle, Fullsteam and Bull City beers and mash them together. What do you get? The first-ever collaboration ale from Durham’s three craft breweries.

The trio came together on the unique project for N.C. Beer Month in April, said Seth Gross, owner of Bull City Burger and Brewery. The concept was simple: Take the signature grain, a specialty malt and the dominant hop from each brewery, at equal proportions, and make a beer. The end result is a hop-forward, copper-colored beer with roughly 6 percent alcohol. “It’s not any particular style,” said Gross, who is brewing the beer at his restaurant. “It’s representative of what the three brewers embody.”

The project also represents a movement gaining steam in the craft beer industry: the collaboration ale. The whole idea of multiple breweries putting their creative minds together to produce a single, often nouveau beer under a joint label sets the craft industry apart. It’s the tangible result of the camaraderie you hear so much about in the industry.

Gross said the Durham collaboration – which will debut April 3 at each brewery’s tasting room – is still a work in progress. Once the initial fermentation is completed, the brewers may add another twist – a dry hop or possibly a specialty ingredient, such as rosemary from the bush on the nearby street corner, Gross said.

In the meantime, the breweries are soliciting a name for the beer. The brewers will considered top five “liked” names submitted by March 31 on Bull City’s Facebook page. Read this week's Pintful column here.

The James Beard Foundation's list of restaurant and chef award semifinalists was just released and there was a strong showing from the Triangle and the entire state.

• Durham's Mateo Tapas is a semifinalist for Best New Restaurant.
• Phoebe Lawless of Scratch Bakery in Durham is a semifinalist for Outstanding Pastry Chef.
• Lantern Restaurant in Chapel Hill is a semifinalist for Outstanding Restaurant. (Owner and chef Andrea Reusing won a James Beard award for Best Chef Southeast in 2011.)
• Angus Barn in Raleigh is a semifinalist for Outstanding Wine Program.
• Sean Lilly Wilson of Durham's Fullsteam brewery and Eric Solomon of European Cellars in Charlotte are semifinalists for outstanding wine, spirits or beer professional.
• Katie Button of Curate in Asheville is a semifinalist for Rising Star Chef of the Year.
• The semifinalists for Best Chef Southeast are Ashley Christensen of Raleigh's Poole's Diner among other restaurants; Scott Crawford of Herons at the Umstead Hotel and Spa in Cary; Vivian Howard of Chef & the Farmer in Kinston; Scott Howell of Nana's in Durham, Elliot Moss of The Admiral in Asheville; and Aaron Vandemark of Panciuto in Hillsborough.

To see the list of all the semifinalist nominees, go to jamesbeard.org/awards

The semifinalist nominees will be narrowed to finalists and those will be announced March 18 at a press conference in Charleston, S.C. The winner will be announced May 6 at a gala reception in New York City.

This how the awards work: The foundation puts out a call for nominations in the fall and this year more than 44,000 entries were received. A committee narrows the entrees to a list of semifinalists in each category. Then more than 600 judges across the country -- regional restaurant critics, food and wine editors, culinary educators and past James Beard Foundation Restaurant and Chef Award winners -- vote for the five finalists and then choose a winner in each category.

The James Beard Foundation is a nonprofit that recognizes excellence in the culinary field from chefs and restaurants to journalists and cookbook authors. James Beard was a television personality and food writer who championed regional American cuisine. The foundation was created by his friends after his death in 1985.

Of the many ingredients in Page Skelton’s tangy Cackalacky Spice Sauce – including the secret ones – one is missing: ginger.

Skelton compensates in his newest venture, showcasing the spicy root in a unlikely but delectable collaboration with Fullsteam Brewing Company’s founder, Sean Lilly Wilson. Together, the longtime friends and beer lovers produced Cackalacky Ginger Pale Ale.

The copper-hued, malt-forward, subtly spiced GPA (as it is called) debuted Sunday at the brewery in Durham with a fanfare befitting the zest of the two local companies. The launch party celebrated National Kazoo Day-eve and included Cackalacky-spiced chicken wings.

“This takes our brand beyond just a spice item and into a lifestyle item,” Skelton said. “It’s a way to go beyond whatever we’re being defined as.”

Click "Read More" for the full column.

Four Triangle-based food and beverage companies were honored in the third annual Good Food Awards competition.

Durham's Fullsteam Brewery won for its first frost beer. Raleigh's Escazu Artisan Chocolates won in the confections contest with its dark chocolate basil ganache. Alamance County's Blessed Earth Farm won in the pickle category with its summer squash curry relish. And the Hillsborough-based Farmer's Daughter Brand won in the preserves contest with its rosey strawberry rhubarb preserves.

Congratulations to all the winners.

The Good Food Awards are an annual competition that recognizes tasty foods and beverages made by socially-responsible and sustainable food producers.

To see the complete list of winners announced last weekend, go to goodfoodawards.org.

A new dinner series has launched to help raise funds for beginner farmers and new food entrepreneurs in North Carolina.

It is called Funds to Farms
and here is how it works: diners pay $15 at the door for a buffet meal and listen to presentations from five people seeking funding for their farm or food business. The diners will vote on which person should get a micro-grant. That person will take home the money raised from ticket sales and donations at the door.

These dinners are a collaboration between The Abundance Foundation, Carolina Farm Stewardship Association and Slow Money NC.

The first dinner will be 7-9 p.m. Jan. 27 at Fullsteam Brewery, featuring soup and salad from Vin Rouge Bistro and Piedmont Restaurant and bread from Ninth Street Bakery. Plus, Fullsteam will be donating $2 for each pint sold of their new beer, Cackalacky Ginger Pale Ale, at its launch party from 3-5 p.m. Jan. 27.

And if you would like to be one of the five applying for a micro-grant, applications are due Jan. 16.

For tickets or information, go to fundstofarms.com.

The annual Good Food Awards honoring artisan food and beverage producers has named a handful of North Carolina companies among its finalists:

• Alamance County's Blessed Earth Farm won in the preserves category with its Summer Squash Curry Relish and Chapel Hill's Farmer's Daughter Brand won for its Rosey Strawberry Rhubarb Preserves.
• In the beer contest, Fullsteam Brewery in Durham won for its First Frost brew.
• In the confections category, Raleigh's Escazú Artisan Chocolates won with its Dark Chocolate Basil Ganache and Asheville's Looking Glass Creamery won for its Caramelita.

To see a complete list, go HERE.

The winners will be announced Jan. 8.

Durham baker Katie Meddis has organized a Sweet Relief Bake Sale to help victims of Hurricane Sandy in New Jersey.

Meddis, who with her husband plan to open Rose's Meat Market and Sweet Shop in Durham, has recruited home and professional bakers and restaurant chefs to donate baked goods. The sale will be 12:30 to 4:30 p.m. Sunday at Durham's Fullsteam Brewery.

Among those donating goods are Rue Cler, Toast, Scratch, Guglhupf, Berenbaum's and The Cupcake Bar.

All the proceeds will go to the Food Bank of Monmouth and Ocean Counties in New Jersey to feed the thousands of people living in shelters.

Here's more information about the bake sale: https://www.facebook.com/events/478474022175823/

Durham's Rockfish Seafood Grill is hosting a "Cask Ales for Tails" event from 6:30 to 9 p.m. Wednesday (10/24) to benefit Second Chance Adoption.

Six Triangle breweries are bringing cask conditioned beers for sampling. A $10 cash donation at the door gets you in to taste the beer and enjoy light appetizers. Plus, bring extra cash to buy raffle tickets for prizes. All money collected will be donated to the charity.

The breweries include Haw River Farmhouse Ales of Saxapahaw, Deep River Brewing Co. of Clayton, Steel String Craft Brewery and Four Saints Brewing Co. in Asheboro. Plus, this event will be the Triangle debut of two breweries: Raleigh Brewing Co. and Crank Arm Brewing.

Here's a LINK to the event's Facebook page.

While I have beer drinkers' attention, you may want to mark this event on your calendar:

Hillsborough's Wooden Nickel Pub is hosting a cask beer fest from noon to 11 p.m. Nov. 3. Forty dollars gets you a souvenir glass and a taste of cask-conditioned brews from Fullsteam, Big Boss Brewing Co., Aviator Brewing Co., Haw River Farmhouse Ales, Mother Earth Brewing and several other breweries.

For more information, check out the Wooden Nickel's Facebook page. Tickets will be sold at the door.
 

(If you hadn't heard of some of these breweries, check out my post in June about the breweries on the horizon in the Triangle. I can't believe we have 2 more since that time.)

It seems every time there's a food truck rodeo at Durham Central Park, it is the largest one ever. And they've done it again.

More than 50 trucks will gather from 12:30 p.m.-4:30 p.m. Sunday for the Triangle's largest food truck gathering to date. The trucks gather in downtown Durham at the intersection Foster and Hunt streets where the farmers market pavilion is located.

Brian Bottger with Only Burger just confirmed that this event will include beer. Fullsteam Brewery will be selling beer to go with the food on these trucks and many more: Pie Pushers, Stoke & Smoke BBQ, Boxcarr Farms, Big City Sandwiches, Porchetta and Blue Ribbon Delights.

To see the complete list of trucks, go to durhamcentralpark.org/events/food-truck-rodeo/

Local food blogger Matt Lardie, author of greeneatsblog, has organized the Second Annual Triangle Canning Swap for Aug. 19.

If you start now, you have plenty of time to can some goodies to swap with your fellow canners at Durham's Fullsteam Brewery next month. Here's how it works: bring five jars of homemade jam, jelly, chutney, salsa, preserves or pickles. Bring copies of your recipes to share if you like. Names will be dropped in a hat and chosen at random, and the swaps will occur until everyone has their five jars. The fun starts at 3 p.m.

To sign up, go to the Facebook page for the Second Annual Triangle Canning Swap.

For more information, go to greeneatsblog.com/2012/07/second-annual-triangle-canning-swap/.

I canned 20+ jars of old-fashioned pickles this weekend so I'm all set and ready to swap. (See photo above.) See you there.