This post is by John Frank, our craft beer columnist:

WINSTON-SALEM Evan Ruff traveled three hours from South Carolina to sleep on the sidewalk outside Foothills Brewing on one of the coldest nights of the year.

Behind him , Chris Ransom of Boone huddled close to a camping stove, stirring hash browns and sausage for shivering friends from Tennessee and Alabama.

And toward the back, where the line stretched about 200 people long, Jason Wirgas and Ashley Duman stood bundled in 20-degree temperatures after driving 11 hours straight through the night from Tampa, Fla.

All for one thing: Sexual Chocolate.

The provocatively named, award-winning Imperial Stout from Foothills is one of the most coveted beers made in North Carolina.

Hundreds of craft beer enthusiasts pilgrimaged from across the Southeast Saturday for the beer's once-a-year bottle release at the brewpub in downtown Winston-Salem. The 22-ounce bottles cost $15 and typically sell out in hours. The Internet re-sale value tops $60.

One of the most sought-after beers brewed in North Carolina debuts Friday at Foothills Brewing in Winston-Salem. 

The first keg of Sexual Chocolate, a rich Russian Imperial Stout, is tapped at 5 p.m. at the brewery's pub downtown and once the bar closes at 2 a.m. the diehards begin camping out overnight to buy 22 ounce bottles that go on sale at 10 a.m. Saturday.

The beer won silver at the World Beer Cup in 2010 and its sister, Bourbon Barrel Aged Sexual Chocolate, took gold the same year at the Great American Beer Festival.

The bottles are $15 a piece and limited to four per person. They sell out within a couple hours.

Technology company Inmar announced Thursday that it will invest $24.5 million in its Winston-Salem corporate headquarters and create 212 jobs over the next five years.

Inmar offers consulting and software services for clients in retail, pharmaceutical, manufacturing and other industries. The company already employs more than 640 people in Winston-Salem and in Forsyth and Mecklenburg counties.

The company will receive incentives worth more than $4.1 million if it meets investment and hiring goals.

The new jobs will pay an average annual wage of $72,83, plus benefits. The Forsyth County average is $41,912.

Today is National Signing Day, when high school athletes from fall sports make their official commitments to college teams.

While several high school seniors who play Olympic sports are signing as well, much of the emphasis for many schools is placed on football programs.

Locally, offensive lineman William Heine of East Chapel Hill has committed to Georgetown and Chapel Hill's R.J. Quick has signed on for Winston-Salem State.

Heine, a 6-5, 280-pound senior played at right tackle for East, helping to protect record-setting QB Drew Davis in coach  Bill Renner's "five-wide" offense. Heine will be joining his brother James at Georgetown, who's a pitcher for the Hoyas' baseball team.

Quick, not the biggest Tiger at  5-11, 180 pounds, was still one of the biggest guns as a top receiver for coach Issac Marsh as CHHS went 10-3 last season. He was also one of the quickest, no pun intended, with 4.5 speed.

The University of North Carolina is announcing its commitments — including Phil Williamson of Jordan — from the Class of 2012 this afternoon. See UNC Now (http://blogs.newsobserver.com/uncnow) for the latest on Carolina's recruits, and ACC Now (http://blogs.newsobserver.com/accnow/home) for updates on Duke and N.C. State.

Raleigh-based Highwoods Properties announced today that is has sold an office building and an adjacent piece of land in Winston-Salem for $15 million.

The 135,000 building is located at 150 South Stratford Road. The transaction valued the building, which is 80 percent leased, at $13.7 million and a three-acre piece of land at $1.3 million.

Highwoods also sold its 10 percent equity stake in a building in Charlotte that it developed in a joint venture with USAA Real Estate. USAA paid $6.5 million for the remaining interest.

The 171,000-square-foot building was constructed for the FBI.

Cash Michaels is standing behind "the good old days days of WCPSS high achievement" under former Wake County Superintendent Bill McNeal.

In a blog post Friday, Michaels, editor of The Carolinian, takes on critics who downplay the high scores that Wake enjoyed in the early-to-mid 2000s when the district's passing rate on state end-of-grade reading exams was more than 90 percent overall and more than 80 percent for black students.

Critics of the old diversity policy have argued that the tests were easy and that large gains were also made statewide. But Michaels shoots back that Wake was still doing better than the rest of the state and with less money

Caterpillar reported stronger fourth-quarter profit and sales, as global economic recovery helps the world's largest maker of mining and construction equipment gain ground.

The results beat Wall Street expectations and Caterpillar officials predict that 2011 also will exceed analysts' projections.

The company's shares, up nearly 80 percent in the past year, rose 53 cents to $96.29 in morning trading.

With its improving fortunes, Caterpillar also is expanding production and hiring more workers. The Illinois company cut thousands of employees worldwide during the recession, including hundreds in the Triangle.

But last year Caterpillar announced plans to build a new factory in Winston-Salem and expand its Sanford operations. The company already employs more than 1,000 workers in North Carolina, mostly at operations in Clayton, Cary and Sanford, and plans to add hundreds more.

WINSTON-SALEM -- Senior quarterback Vad Lee happily danced while waving a towel. Coach Antonio King was drenched in Gatorade. Running back Jamaal Williams had a huge grin on his face. The defense had just stopped the opponent inside the 5-yard line as all the time slowly ticked off the fourth-quarter clock.

Durham Hillside had just won the state championship in dominating fashion.

Lee capped off his high school career by throwing 264 yards and three touchdowns, while Williams ran for 83 yards and two scores as the Hornets left no questions about who was the best 4-A team, blanking Davie County 40-0 and completing their mission of a perfect 16-0 season.

Dell is done in Winston-Salem.

The company on Sunday finally stopped production at its factory that made desktop computers and opened with great fanfare in 2005.

Any further activity at the 750,000-square-foot plant would be “part of the exiting and shut-down work required,” Dell spokesman David Frink told the Winston-Salem Journal. He would not give a final closing date.

Dell first announced a year ago that it planned to shut the plant but repeatedly delayed the move to meet increasing demand. Dell announced on Sept. 10 that it would close the plant this month.

Pepsi Beverages, the soda brand born in New Bern, plans to add 195 jobs over three years as it expands a customer-service center in Winston-Salem.

The new jobs will pay average annual salaries of $36,077, Gov. Bev Perdue's office announced this morning. That's less than the $40,352 Forsyth County average.

The company will receive state and local incentives worth up to $800,000, including a $400,000 state grant, if it meets hiring targets. Pepsi Beverages, a division of New York-based PepsiCo, also will have to retain the 870 people it already employs at the Winston-Salem call center.