Outer Banks Tastes and Tales

09/17/2021

Archaeologists hope a new search will unearth clues about what happened to 117 men, women and children who vanished from a North Carolina settlement.

02/22/2021

Shortly after the Civil War began, Roanoke Island became known as a safe haven for African American slaves seeking freedom at the Freedmen's Colony. Learn more about the great strides the Freedmen made on our blog.

02/19/2021

The fate of Aaron Burr's daughter remains a topic of contention.

02/13/2021

It’s believed more than 2,000 ships went down in the Graveyard of the Atlantic.

02/02/2021

Lost Colony Brewery Beer School 101
Lesson #3
Malts and Toast

The last lesson was all about how malt is made. This is important since malt is the second largest ingredient after water.

If we brewers, all used the same malt how do we get from a light blonde ale to a dark stout. It is all about the toast!

The malt is not exactly toasted it is kilned. Heated to different temperatures and for varying lengths of time.

Think of a piece of wonder bread. You put it in the toaster (I hate people who do it in the ‘toaster oven’. It just feels wrong. Like microwaving your water for tea.) The longer you leave it in the toaster the darker it gets.

The flavors change with the toasting. A light toasting brings out sugary flavors. A little longer and a little browner and you may notice nutty flavors. If you burn even a small area on the corner the whole piece taste burnt.

This is how we get different styles of beer. We always start with a base of lightly kilned malt. We then add the special malts. These are the malts kilned to color. If we were to add just a small fraction of Black malt to a blonde ale it would become an Irish Red ale.

Stouts become stouts when we add roasted malts to the recipe. It does not take much. If we were to use fifteen hundred pounds of light malt for base, we may only need fifty pounds or less of dark roasted malt to make that beer a stout. Just like the burnt toast.

A great brown ale uses many different specialty malts to get a cascade of flavors in every sip, from start to finish.

Well, the toaster just popped, and the kettle is boiled so I say, Slainte to you all.

08/04/2020

Keeper Etheridge kept us safe through the winds of Isaias, but he also knew the dangers of the water. Here in Manteo, tropical storm winds are dying down, but floodwaters are rising quickly. Storm surge was forecast at 2-4 feet, and downtown streets, the marina docks & boardwalk, and adjacent areas are flooding already. Streets currently or predicted to be impacted include, but are not limited to, Queen Elizabeth, Fernando, Agona, Sir Walter Raleigh, Old Tom, Budleigh, Ananias Dare, and Croatan. Additional areas may be impacted, so please do not go around barricades. Please observe police direction where given. For your safety, DO NOT enter floodwaters, whether on foot or in a car.

Town staff from Public Works to Police to Water & Sewer continue to deliver services, and Public Works employees are picking up storm debris. Also, you will see staff from Planning and Administration who will be in all neighborhoods performing damage assessments today. If you have damage to report, please call Town Hall at 473-2133.

Please continue to be careful as we work together to recover from Isaias.

08/03/2020

https://islandlifenc.com/the-ghost-of-blackbeard/

On Ocracoke Island is a small channel of water known as Teach’s Hole. This inlet is reported to be the spot where the pirate Edward Teach, better known as Blackbeard, preferred to anchor his ship. It’s also said to be where he met his end, and some believe his ghost haunts the spot to this …

08/03/2020

Due to potential for significant flooding we are going to go ahead and cancel all tours scheduled for Tuesday night. Booked Guests will be given the option to move to another night later in the week or receive a refund. Tour offerings this week may be further impacted - we are going to wait & see....

Booked Guests who are now unable to come to OBX due to Hatteras or Ocracoke evacuations will receive full refunds. Please call and let us know if you have been impacted and need to cancel.

08/02/2020

Having a Kill Devil Rum toast for Black Tot Day! In honor of the last day British sailors received their daily ration of rum, July 31st 1970.