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.
