Monday, August 11, 2008

Things are Brewing in the High Country

Well, Brewgrass won't be the only beer festival in Western North Carolina this fall. Our friends in Boone are organizing the first annual High Country Beer Fest. It is actually two events in one day, the first being the traditional beer festival in Boone and the second being a beer and food event in Blowing Rock later that evening. The only downer is that unless you have a designated driver, it will be hard to attend both events. The festival itself will be held at the Broyhill Inn and Conference Center, which would be perfect for an overnight stay. The festivities begin at 1 p.m. on Saturday November 1st, and will include not only craft brews but also samples from local and regional home brew clubs (something I wish could be incorporated into Brewgrass).

Not only is Boone hosting a beer festival, they are also home to North Carolina's newest brewery, the Boone Brewing Company. BBC's first beer is the Blowing Rock Ale, a pale ale that is more English in style with the malt taste being more prominent than the hops. For now, the beer is being contract brewed by Lion Brewing in Wilkes-Barre, Pennslyvania, and you can read all about the new brewery here.

And last but not least, speaking of new breweries, the Ashvegas blog has uncovered a potential new brewery here in Asheville. TanBarkRidge Brewery LLC has been recently incorporated, and is headed by John Parks. I have not heard a thing about this new venture, so if anyone out there has any info, please send it my way. It does make you wonder at what point the Asheville beer scene will hit a saturation point.

4 comments:

  1. Anonymous1:47 PM

    Saturation point?! I don't believe it exists. There are endless variations available to a brewer (or 10). The craft beer culture is the main reason I'm excited to be moving to Asheville this winter. BEER ME!

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  2. Kilgore,
    I'm again writing the Brewgrass article for Mt. X. Do you know of anyone visiting from out of town specifically for Brewgrass? If so, would they be willing to talk to me for the article? E-mail me at edgymamaatedgymamadotcom if you can help!
    Thanks!!

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  3. Looking forward to stumbling around the Ashevegas beer scene with you and the little lady once again! Hit me up with a beermail at BA or a real email would ya?!

    Oh, and take the Friday before Brewgrass off so we can PLAY!

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  4. Hiya Beer Blogger,

    I'm making the rounds just in case you didn't get an email invitation. Our email database is spotty at best.

    The Extravablogiversapaloozathon 2008 is September 27th, and we're hoping every area blogger will come!

    Party Info here.

    BlogAsheville awards nomination thread here.

    RSVP thread here.

    ReplyDelete