Brewgasm

Sexual Chocolate? Yes, please.

by brewgasm on January 31, 2011

So tomorrow night, Tuesday, Feb. 1, will be the WNC Sexual Chocolate Release Party at Barley’s Taproom starting at 6 p.m.

I was telling some colleagues this today at the Mountain Xpress office and one asked, “What’s Sexual Chocolate?” Another guy answered: “The best beer you’ve ever had.”

While I’m not sure I’m ready to commit to that level of love, I am pretty damn excited about this brew–as are folks all over N.C., and yes, even the entire U.S.

Sexual Chocolate, cocoa-flavored Russian Imperial Stout, is, without a doubt, Foothills Brewing’s most anticipated seasonal release each year. The ABV is around 9.75 percent–so it packs a wallop. But the alcohol is barely discernable under the smooth chocolate and coffee notes. I tasted the 2011 SC just last week–and it’s awesome.

Tomorrow night’s festivities will include a specially-flavored cask of the Sexual Chocolate (cayenne? cocoa nibs? coffee?), special giveaways, and live music by the Funktastics starting at 8 p.m.

See y’all there.

I know I’ve posted this photo before, but it makes me so happy. That’s me pouring Sexual Chocolate at the 2010 Brewgrass Festival. I’m a lot less blonde now. The beer color remains the same.

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Winter Warmer Beer Festival–soon

by brewgasm on January 22, 2011

Forgot to mention that I’ll be working at Asheville’s Winter Warmer Beer Festival today. If you don’t have tickets already, you’re probably out of luck. Though typically there are a few souls selling their tickets outside the venue the day of–which is TODAY!

Yep, Sat., Jan. 22 from 3:00 to 7:00 p.m. at the Asheville Civic Center’s Exhibition Hall.

I’ll mostly be wandering around taking photos and hanging at the Mountain Xpress table. I’ll be hosting special tastings of local brews at 4:00 and 5:00 at the MX table. Look for me in the purple dress and glasses. I decided that I’m tired of wearing my “Beer Goddess” tee to every single beer fest, so I’m mixing it up a bit. I’ll also be juggling a couple of pitchers and a Nikon.

Hope to see some of my local beer lovers there.

Brewers having fun at the 2010 Winter Warmer

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Charlie Papazian coming to Asheville and more

by brewgasm on January 21, 2011

Yes, the homebrew guru, Charlie Papazian, is coming to visit Asheville in February. Here are details we published in Mountain Xpress this week:

Even non-beer-geeks around here recognize the name Charlie Papazian — because he’s the guy who runs the Beer City, USA online poll, which Asheville tied with Portland, Ore., in 2009, and won in 2010. What you might not know, unless you’re a home brewer, is that Papazian is widely considered one of the founders and most tireless advocates of the modern homebrew movement. He’s also the author of The Complete Joy of Homebrewing and a number of other books on the subject. Papazian currently is president of the Brewers Association and beer columnist for examiner.com.

And he’s coming to visit Beer City, USA in February. He’ll be speaking at Highland Brewing Company on Wednesday, Feb. 23, on the topics of beer styles and his personal experiences with brewing-yeast. He’ll also present updates on governmental affairs and legislative developments in the beer industry. Two other speakers will precede Papazian’s presentation: Kevin Sudderth of Hach, who will be talking about oxygen testing, and HopUnion, LLC, who will offer an update on the hops market.

The event is free to members of the North Carolina Brewers Guild, who are cosponsoring the beer-y night with the Asheville Brewers Alliance. Nonmembers will need to pay $25, but the ticket comes with a barbecue feast and two drink tickets for Highland brews.

Mike Rangel, president of the ABA, will introduce Papazian. “2010 was such a great year for local beer and the ABA,” says Rangel. “2011 couldn’t start any better than having Charlie here. On a scale of one to 10, this is a 10-and-a-half.”

Xpress will have an interview with Charlie Papazian in mid-February and regular updates about this awesome event. Tickets are available at charlieinasheville.eventbrite.com. Join or learn more about the N.C. Brewers Guild at ncbeer.org.

Here’s the rest of this week’s WNC Brews News and a up-to-the-minute Beer Events Calendar.

Yours in good beer…

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Start early, train hard

by brewgasm on January 17, 2011

Asheville’s oldest and most famous beer festival, Brewgrass, isn’t on tap until the third Saturday in September. Even so, you can start training now.

Training, you ask? Yes, indeed. Because in order to taste around 200 beers in seven hours, you need to be in the best beer drinking shape possible. In order to help facilitate your future multiple beer quaffing success, the folks at Barley’s Taproom & Pizzeria will hold the first of what I hope will be several Brewgrass Training sessions.

Here’s how it works. Trainees meet upstairs for orientation at 8 p.m. on Tuesday, Jan. 18. Trainees hand over $25 each. Trainees then receive a Brewgrass Training Team T-shirt, samples of any of the Taproom’s 60-odd taps, and lots of delicious housemade pizza.

Tom Godleski and Buncome Turnpike will play music, while trainees drink and eat.

This night will help prepare you for this day:

Sounds like a helluva deal and a whole lotta fun to me. Who wants to babysit my kids while I’m in training?

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Asheville Beer in 2011 and beer calendar

by brewgasm on January 5, 2011

I love January in Asheville–there aren’t many tourists around (not that I don’t appreciate the tourists) and there are beautiful crisp sunsets every night that it’s not cloudy. Now I have another reason to love January in Asheville–it’s a rocking local beer month. Actually, both Jan and Feb are chock-a-block with beery events.

Check it out:

2011 Brew Calendar (partial–mostly winter)

Wed., Jan. 5: Craggie Brewing at Thirsty Monk downtown with cask of Bourbon Chipotle Porter and more. 4:00 p.m.

Wed., Jan. 5: Asheville Beer Divas meet-up. 5:30 until. Burgermeister’s in West Asheville.

Thurs., Jan. 6: Craggie Brewing tasting at Bruisin’ Ales, 5:00-7:00 p.m. Free.

Thurs, Jan. 6: LAB will tap their first cask beer—a dry-hopped Oktoberfest. Cask beers will then become a regular LAB event, probably each Thursday. Next up will be their IPA.

Wed., Jan. 19: Larry Bell, founder of Bell’s Brewery in Kalamazoo, Mich., at tasting at Bruisin’ Ales from 5:00 to 7:00 p.m. followed by a Bell’s “tap takeover” at The Thirsty Monk downtown. Tasting free.

Thurs., Jan. 20: Duck Rabbit Pint Night with Porter firkin. Pack’s Tavern. 7 p.m.

Sat., Jan. 22: Winter Warmer Beer Festival, 3:00 to 7:00 p.m., Civic Center Exhibition Hall. Tickets $38, available at www.brewscruise.com/beerfest.

Sat., Jan. 29: Grand Opening Party for Highland Brewing’s Tasting Room from 4:00 to 8:00 p.m. Lee Brothers play. $10.

Tues., Feb. 1: Foothills Brewing Sexual Chocolate Stout release party at Barley’s Taproom and Pizza starting at 5:00 p.m. Music at 8:00 p.m. No cover.

Wed., Feb. 23: Asheville Beer Divas welcome New Belgium brewer Lauren Salazar to The Thirsty Monk. 5:30-8:30.

Late February: Beer guru Charlie Papazian to visit Asheville. Details to come.

Also starting in February, Highland Brewing will start opening their tasting room on Thursdays and Saturdays, in addition to Fridays. 4:00 to 8:00 p.m.

Most Wednesdays: Pint Night at both Thirsty Monk locations. Buy the beer draught special and keep the glass. 4:00 p.m. until.

Most Thursdays: Bruisin’ Ales tasting parties, 5:00 to 7:00 p.m. Free.

Most Thursdays: Asheville Brewing Company Infusor Nights at Coxe Avenue. 6:00 p.m. until.

Most Fridays: Hops & Vines tasting parties, 5:00-7:00 p.m., Free.

Further out, but calendar-worthy:

June 4: Second Beer City Festival.

Sept. 24: Fifteenth Brewgrass Festival.

Oct. 8: Third Asheville Oktoberfest.

I’m sure there’s more happening. Let me know if you know. Get ready to drink and talk beers, y’all.

Also, here’s my column on some of what is on local breweries’ agendas for 2011.

Big news teaser:

There’s been lots of growth and expansion in the WNC craft beer industry in 2010 — and you can expect more of the same in 2011. The residents of Beer City (and of the larger WNC region) routinely show their appreciation for both craft beer and buying local. It’s a perfect storm for our breweries.

Lexington Avenue Brewery to expand into bottling

“We want to play while the fish are biting,” says LAB Master Brewer Ben Pierson. Pierson says the 35,000-square-foot building at 37 N. Lexington Ave. next to the LAB has been gutted and is in the process of renovation. Two floors of the building will be dedicated to brewing and bottling the LAB’s beers, while the ground floor will become a tasting room and bar (one way to handle overflow from next door). The new brewery will contain a 20-barrel system, and Pierson hopes to produce up to 5,000 barrels in the first year, which will help keep all beers on tap at the LAB and give him surplus suds to bottle and keg. First up on the bottling line will be the LAB’s popular White Ale and Oktoberfest brews.

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2010 Beer Highlights (for WNC)

by brewgasm on January 3, 2011

Here’s last week’s column on my 2010 Beer Highlights for Western North Carolina. I also discussed the year in beer on Local Edge Radio last week.

A teaser:

Highland Brewing opens new tasting room
Highland (finally) joined the other Asheville-based breweries and opened a tasting room. The new tasting room is something to behold — spacious, funky and well lit, with a locally harvested wood bar and a stage for live music sets. Highland also added a three-barrel experimental brew room — where the brewers can do their own playing. These small-batch beers are available on tap in the tasting room. As if we needed any icing on this cake, Highland recently announced that starting in Feb., the tasting room will be open Thursday through Saturday, from 4 until 8 p.m., instead of only Fridays. Yay!

Read the rest here.

In other news, I’ve quaffed some stellar craft brews over the holidays: Mother Earth Brewing’s Silent Night, Unibroue’s La Fin du Monde, Smisje Grande Reserva, New Holland Brewing’s Cabin Fever, Terrapin Brewing’s Moo-Hoo, Eel River Brewing’s Raven’s Eye, and lots of local porters and stouts. As far as I can remember.

Happy New Year, y’all. Cheers.

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Beer bucket list: SweetWater Festive Ale

by brewgasm on December 15, 2010

Hey beer lovers. So I met this cute young beer blogger when I was out in Boulder, Co., for the first Beer Bloggers Conference who has an awesome blog called BillyBrew. One cool thing he does is called The Beer Bucket List, where he has beer writers from around the country review the 50 beers you should taste before you die. If you subscribe to the Beer Bucket List, you get a new beer review emailed to you every Monday. Billy asked me to be one of his reviewers, and I wrote my first one this week, on Atlanta-based SweetWater Brewing’s Festive Ale. Billy told me I could post the review here, though if you want to read the other Beer Bucket reviews, you should subscribe to the List. Check it.

SweetWater Festive Ale

Brewery: SweetWater Brewing Company
Location: Atlanta, GA
Style: Strong Spiced Ale (Seasonal)
ABV: 8.5%

I was born, raised and have lived much of my life in the South, yet I recognize that my native region falls behind the national curve in several areas–one of which has been the craft beer industry. Luckily, we’re catching up with the rest of y’all–in part thanks to breweries such as SweetWater Brewing Company. This western-style craft brewery opened its doors for business in Hotlanta back in 1997 and has been brewing stellar beers every since.

Thank goodness for the schweet team that brews SweetWater Festive Ale every holiday season (at least since the beer’s 2004 debut–in comments former brewer Dave Roberts says the brew debuted in 1997). This malty strong ale offers hints of cinnamon and mace in near perfect proportions. While the recipe has changed slightly over the years to balance the spices, it’s fairly consistent from winter to winter, says SweetWater parole officer Dave Guender (that’s sweet talk for sales director, I think). This makes me happy as I recently found a 2007 bottle of Festive in my cellar that had been stored on its side and had leaked (it must’ve fallen over, because I know better). Dave suggested I do not drink what remains. So this holiday season, I’ll just quaff the 2010 Festive.

When I tasted this year’s ale the other night with Guender (he was in Asheville for an event), here’s what I experienced on draught: a sweetish bite of cinnamon on the front, a smooth roasty middle, and nutty mace on the finish, which dampens the sweet without chalkiness. I tried the brew from the bottle the next night and got a bit more sweetness, but still not too much, especially for a holiday seasonal.

Mace isn’t a spice I keep in my kitchen, so I was intrigued to learn more about it. Mace basically is the same fruit as nutmeg, but it’s the delicate reddish covering of the nutmeat. More importantly, Arab traders first introduced the spice to Europeans in the eleventh century to flavor beer. So us Southerners aren’t too far behind the cool curve.

SweetWater should produce about 76,000 barrels this year, though the brewery recently has expanded and has capacity to brew up to 100,000 barrels. Sales of their flagship beer, 420 Pale Ale, are up by 15 percent this year, says Dave. The brewery currently distributes in six Southeastern states, though you can mail order the Festive from your favorite Southeastern beer retailer (I recommend Bruisin’ Ales at bruisinales.com).

Food Pairing Suggestion:
Because the Festive is a spiced, slightly sweet, ale, I suggest pairing it with savory holiday dishes such as turkey, ham or tofurky. It also would rock a good cheeseburger–use cheddar or Swiss–or a salty, tangy chevre–on your cow. Drink this ale from a pint glass or a snifter.

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Big beer week ahead plus

by brewgasm on December 1, 2010

Hey y’all,

Damn, the holidays keep coming faster every year, don’t they?

Here’s some North Carolina Brews News: beer lover gatherings plus some seasonal and holiday releases.

Me hanging in the Foothills Brewing tent at the 2010 Brewgrass Festival. Why this photo? Read on for some Asheville beer dinner news.

A couple things I left out (though I mentioned them on Local Edge Radio yesterday afternoon):

Pisgah Brewing‘s Valdez, coffee stout, has been re-released. It’s currently on tap in their tasting room in Black Mountain. This is the marriage of two of my favorite beverages and a local double whammy as the Pisgah brewers use coffee from Black Mountain-based Dynamite Roasting Company to create Valdez.

Also, just got an update from Jack of the Wood chef, Jason Brian, about the December 7 Foothills Brewing/Jack of the Wood beer dinner (anyone else notice that have the guys in Asheville’s restaurant industry seem to be named Jason or Justin? If I can’t remember your name, I’m just gonna call you Jason, OK?)

Here are the dets for this lovely dinner from Chef Jason (I’m hoping to attend, depending on sitter arrangements):

“This will be a four-course plus dessert dinner featuring Foothills Pilot Pale Ale, Seeing Double IPA, Torch Pilsener, India Brown Ale, and a yet-to-be-determined dessert beer. The food will all be sourced from local farms, including Everett Farms, East Fork Farm, Imladris Farm, Laughing Seed Farm, and Hickory Nut Gap Farm. Cost is $30 per person, plus tax and gratuity. Space is limited so reservations are recommended.

Here is a close-to-final version of the menu:

Grilled, hop-scented Everett Farm skirt steak served with chopped romaine tossed in a smoked tomato dressing and garnished with roasted garlic, candied bacon, fried onions, and bleu cheese. Served with Pilot Pale Ale.

Coconut milk soaked East Fork Farm lamb kebab with red and green pepeprs, onion, and Laughing Seed Farm butternut squash over cucumber salad. Served with Torch Pilsener.

Two-week brined, slow cooked, Hickory Nut Gap pulled pork taco with house pickled L.S. Farm jalapenos, sharp cheddar, marinated tomatoes, shredded lettuce, cilantro sour cream, and house made hot sauce. Served with Seeing Double IPA.

Imladris Farms rabbit ragout with a broth of smoked onions and mushrooms, Foothills India Brown Ale, tomato, herbs, and Irish rashers served over a N.C. grits and smoked gouda cake.

Dessert will be a brownie ice cream sandwich with housemade ice cream.”

OK, I’m salivating. Call Jack of the Wood at (828) 252-5445 for reservations.

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Brews News, BBC10, and more

by brewgasm on November 20, 2010

Here’s your WNC Brews News for this week: Green Man Brewing expansion, casks at the Thirsty Monk, and Nantahala Brewing update. I also hear that Wedge Brewing will be fencing in part of their railroad-side parking area to provide more beer-swigging space (and seating). Hurrah.

Fermenting tank being trucked into Green Man Brewery last Friday

Also, the Beer Bloggers Conference in Boulder was pure awesome. Bunches of others have recapped the weekend. My highlights were visiting Avery Brewing, Oskar Blues Brewery, and Boulder Brewing (twice). Also, the live beer blogging event, where 12 brewers spent five minutes with each table of bloggers pouring a beer and talking about, was boozy good fun (see below). So the next con will be in the late spring or summer in Portland, Ore. I’m looking forward to that one. If you’re a craft beer lover and like writing about beer, you should look into it as well. I’ll keep y’all posted as details are available.

Fellow North Carolinian and beer blogger Lauren after the live beer blogging event.

California craft beer granddaddy, Sierra Nevada, celebrated a 30^th birthday this week. The Thirsty Monk in downtown Asheville threw a party. The sheet cake featured a copy of a Sierra Nevada label, and was amazing (Ingles Groceries made it, says monk pub GM, Caroline). There were also a number of SN beers on tap, including four kegs of the anniversary beers, each of which was named in honor of a craft beer master.

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More live blogging (kind of) drunken blogging at BBC10

by brewgasm on November 6, 2010

Full Suit Belgian-style Brown Ale from Karl Straus Brewing Company. Nice seasonal. 6.3% ABV. Just released on Nov. 1. Ryan Ross, the marketing director is kind of adorable. Clearly, I’m decompensating.

Isn’t he cute?

Alright. someone opened the door in here. Thank Ninkasi.

Hellz yeah! It’s the Widmer Bourbon-Barrel Aged something. God damn, pass the bottle. OK. Brothers Reserve Red Ale. Could you people be a little less geeky? This is Rob Widmer, one of the bros, in a backlit shot.

I love beer geeks, really.

Yay! Sebbie here with Rogue Chocolate Stout. Pair with beer or desserts. I think I love her. Pair with chevre. OK. Where’s the goat? There is a cheddar cheese made with this beer in it. OMG! Here’s Sebbie with the bottle with her picture on it. How cool is that?