Odds and Suds

Wow, its already the middle of August. Time has been flying by this summer. Just wanted to post a quick writeup of the area beer happenings.

First up, a new watering hole is on the horizon. Work will soon begin on what will be called Pack's Tavern in the old Hayes and Hopson building located on Spruce Street adjacent to Pack Square. They plan on featuring over 80 taps, which should make it the largest selection in the city. Folks here in Asheville have been following the controversy surronding the development around Pack Square for the past couple of years, and at one point the Hayes and Hopson building was scheduled to be demolished. Thankfully, they have found a reason to keep the historic building, and politics aside, I hope to see the building remain and be put to good use. Tentative plans are for the pub to be open in early 2010.

Speaking of other pubs, lots of work is being done to the Universal Joint, located across from the Bledsoe Building in West Asheville. I'm not sure if it will be a beer destination, but any new place on the west side is good news to me. No word yet on when the opening date will be.

I also happened to walk by the Lexington Avenue Brewery the other day to see how far they are coming along. Needless to say, previous estimates of their grand opening have been premature, but that is par for the course with all the work that is involved in building a new place. I will say the interior is starting to come together, and the beautiful curved bar practically begs you to take a seat. My guess is that they will not be open until sometime in the fall. I'll be sure to pass along any info I get.

Tired of hearing about new bars? Sorry, I have one more to tell you about. The Thirsty Monk is opening a location in Arden for all those folks who hate to drive downtown. The new bar will be located in Gerber village, and will have a nice outdoor patio for the warmer months. The bar will be a mixture of local, national and Belgian ales. Plans are for the Thirsty Monk South to be open by the end of the month.

If you missed out on Brewgrass, tickets are still available for the Asheville Tourist's Baseball and Beer festival coming up on August 22nd. Over thirty breweries will be represented, along with music and food.

Thats it for now. There are lots of exciting things happening over the couple of months, and I hope to keep you informed.

Odds and Suds

Some news of interest.

A once beloved beer from the now defunct Heavyweight Brewing Company is making a return. Perkuno's Hammer is a highly regarded Baltic Porter, which is sort of a hybrid between an Imperial Stout and a Dopplebock. Naturally, this style emerged in the Baltic region of Europe in the 18th century, and traditionally uses a lager yeast instead of an ale yeast, which is what gives it the dopplebock-like characteristics. The Hammer is being reborn as the Victory Baltic Thunder, and was brewed back in May. I got word from Victory that we may see this beer here in North Carolina in the early part of next year. If you don't want to wait this long, you can try the Okocim Porter, which is a geographically true Baltic since it is brewed in Poland. I have seen these at the European Market on Patton Avenue.

Bruisin' Ales announced today a special beer tasting this Tuesday evening. Adam Avery, brewer and President of Avery Brewing Company, will be on hand to sample a wide variety of his bigger beers. Adam is highly regarded in the craft brew world, and it is a testament to the beer culture in Asheville that he is paying us a visit. The tasting is free, and you will get a chance to meet one of the preeminent brewers in the country. You don't want to miss it. They also are the only North Carolina beer store that is carrying the Sweetwater Donkey Punch Barleywine (cringe), so you might want to pick up a bottle while you are there.

As already covered in the Mountain Express and Citizen Times, Hops and Vines has recently opened in West Asheville on Haywood Road across from Digable Pizza. They carry a variety of craft beers as well as Pabst Blue Ribbon for your non-craft drinking friends. In addition, they also stock a nice variety of wines, and have hired a part time wine consultant who will assist in stocking the store, wine tastings, and is available for creating your own wine event (hmm.... beer consultant has a nice ring to it.) Owner Alex Buerckholtz's true love is homebrewing, and he has everything you need to get you started. He plans on having beer brewing classes, where for a fee you can learn to brew beer with a small group and then get to take home the finished product. Hops and Vines is having their official Grand Opening on November 3rd from 2-8. Their will be beer tastings from Highland and Pisgah, wine tastings, and a homebrewing demonstration.

And finally, for you science geeks, I was sent a link to a podcast by my good friend. The Naked Scientists explore several different aspects of brewing (sorry, they aren't really naked). The podcast itself covers several subjects, but there are direct links to the interviews on the lower right hand side of the page. I thought the Natural History of Beer was quite interesting.

Odds and Suds

Just a quick roundup of beer tidbits.

Pisgah Brewing had three beers featured in the Beer Review section of Beer Advocate magazine this month. I was disappointed to see that the Baptista scored a C+, even though the review itself had very little negative to say about the beer. It is one of my favorite beers brewed in North Carolina and stands up to many of the best from across the country. Pisgah also received a B+ for their Cosmos and an A- for their Vortex II. A sample from the Vortex II review reads, "The rolling smoothness from its deep crisp carbonation is unlike any beer we've ever tried". I do hope that Pisgah considers brewing this again. Pisgah was also featured in the most recent edition of Southern Brew News with an article written by our own Tony Kiss. You can check these magazines out at Bruisin' Ales, Barleys, and a few other locations in town.

In an update of a previous blog entry, to no one's surprise, the half million dollar bid on an 1852 bottle of Allsopp's Arctic ale fizzled. The bottle is now sitting in a safety deposit box and it has yet to go back on sale. While the seller claims that the bidder retracted his bid and he may 'donate the bottle to charity', I suspect that he was in on the shenanigans to begin with. Another buyer helped to drive up the cost, and if it was worth so much he would have surely sold it the next highest bidder. Anything for a little bit of publicity I guess.

If you didn't get a chance to pick up some Highland Imperial Kashmir IPA at the brewery a couple of weeks ago, you now have a second chance. Bruisin' Ales should be have some available today. I have already had 2 of my allotment, and while it is a fantastic beer, I think it will be even better in about 3-6 months of being in the bottle. Again, this beer is limited, so don't wait too long to buy some.

I failed to mention in my post about fresh hop ales that Barleys in SOUTH CAROLINA is having a Hop Harvest celebration on the 24th, featuring the Sierra Nevada Harvest Ale, Great Divide Fresh Hop Pale Ale, Rogue Hop Heaven, and Victory Hop Whallop (this one is not a true harvest ale). I'm happy for the folks in Greenville, but why in the heck is this not happening here in Asheville? Do I have to issue another challenge to our local beer bars?

Rumor has it that the Thirsty Monk, Asheville's first Belgian beer bar will be opening in the next few weeks. Anybody with any additional information on this, please shoot me an email. I would love to be there for opening day.

And last but not least, tomorrow I am heading for Durham to attend the World Beer Festival. This is heralded as the premier Beer Festival in the Southeast, and it will be the first time I have attended. I am especially looking forward to the Cask and Barrel tent, which I am proud to say will feature two Asheville brews on cask, the Highland Gaelic Ale and the French Broad Wee Heavier (kudos to Green Man's John Stuart for loaning the cask equipment to French Broad, you gotta love the cooperative spirit of our local brewers).