New Holland Mad Hatter IPA

I found this Michigan beer at Whole Foods in Mount Pleasant, SC. It reminded me of Shiva from Asheville Brewing, but it was slightly less hoppy.

The beer poured nicely into a pint glass, with moderate head and good carbonation. A hoppy blast on the nose paved the way for more hoppiness both up front and on the finish. In other words, a perfect beer for me. The color was medium amber. Mouthfeel was medium. Overal, it was an excellent example of an American IPA. I look forward to trying other beers from this brewery.

I'm back

I can't believe I last posted something on March 20. My bad. It's been extremely busy on all fronts (home, work, and beer) but I'll try to post at least once a week.

I attended the Classic City Brew Fest in Athens, Georgia on April 1. It was a great time and I was able to sample some new beers I hadn't had the opportunity to try before now. If you have the chance to hit this event next year, go! It's just three hours away, and the new four-lane highway between I-85 at Commerce and Athens is now open, except for a short stretch that looks to be about finished.

There's a lot of rumor on the Asheville scene about new breweries and brewpubs. Here's what I've been busy gathering instead of blogging:

• Carl Melissas, formerly head brewer at Green Man, is reportedly involved in a new brewpub to be located in the Riverlink Arts District. We'll stay alert for more info on this one.
• As previously reported, another brewpub is planned for the old TJ Morrison building on Lexington Ave. The partners are lining up the details and this should be up and running in a year or so.
• A new brewpub is rumored for Haywood Road in West Asheville, across the street from the Westville Pub. We haven't gleaned anything more so far.
• Root Bar #2 is planned for Haywood Road, across from the Ingles.
• An Irish-themed bar is planned for the old Ideal Market on Haywood Road.

If all three West Asheville bars open as rumored, that neighborhood will rival downtown as the place to go for beer.

Last night, I attended the monthly MALT Pint Night at the Mellow Mushroom. They had some excellent beers on tap, including Rye Ale from Terrapin, Duck Rabbit Milk Stout, Great Divide Titan IPA, and another IPA from Avery. The pizza was pretty good too, along with the company. Thanks, Kelly, for pulling this together. I'm already looking forward to next month.

Tasting at Bruisin' Ales

Thanks to Screwie for bringing this to our attention. I'm on the Bruisin' Ales mailing list but I don't always get the announcements in time to post them here.

LINK: "March 22, 2007 4:00 pm to 6:00 pm Free beer at Bruisin’ Ales, tasting thanks to Newcross Distributing! Stop by and sample these fine gems:

EKU Pilsner (Germany)
Gavroche (French red farmhouse ale)
Wee Beast (Scotch ale, Scotland)
Goliath (Tripel, Belgium). "

I hope to see some of you there.

The Lucky Otter

The wife and I sometimes catch a quick bite at the Lucky Otter, located at 630 Haywood Road in West Asheville. On our most recent visit earlier this week, I was much impressed by the beer choices which seem to have grown recently. There are now 8 taps, pouring such excellent brews as 420 Pale and Storm King from Sweetwater Brewing Company, 13 Rebels from French Broad, and Highland Gaelic. About 30 bottle choices featured several beers each from Sam Smith's and Flying Dog.

The Otter is really a restaurant, but I'll be adding it to my pub crawl site as the beer selection is excellent. Staff members I spoke with said it would be OK if someone sat in the bar area and had only a beer, but I recommend you have some food as well. The burritos are excellent.

Incidently, many people aren't aware that the owners have a sister restaurant in Boone called The Black Cat. I eat lunch there regularly. Same menu as in Asheville with some good beers as well.

Troeg's Nugget Nectar Ale

I got this one courtesy of Deuane and Caroline of Pubcrawlin' when they visited a couple of weeks back. Troeg's Brewery is in Harrisburg, PA, and their beers aren't available in western NC. Having enjoyed some of these brews while passing through Pennsylvania, I was eager to try this one.

The beer poured nicely into an imperial pint glass and had a moderate head. The color was an attractive amber and the beer had good carbonation. The nose was pure hops, grapefruit-like and flowery. I set the glass on my couch-side table and continued to get whiffs of hops with the glass two feet away. The initial sip was smooth-bodied, mildly malty, and with a moderately-high hop finish that lingered on the tongue. I let the beer warm up awhile and it was even better at about 60 degrees.

According to the brewer's web site, the beer is made with Nugget, Warrior and Tomahawk hops and is brewed to maximize the malt and hop character of the finished product. The beer is well-balanced and is a classic example of an American IPA. If this beer was available in Asheville I'd buy it often.

Raleigh World Beer Fest party

Here's a great idea for those of you who just can't wait for the annual Brewgrass festival next fall. Asheville's own Brews Cruise is running a van to the World Beer Festival in Raleigh on April 28. If you've never been to a WBF you are really missing out. Sponsored by the folks who publish All About Beer magazine, the festival takes place twice a year, in Raleigh in the spring and in Durham in the fall. It's at least twice the size of Brewgrass. It usually has beers not commonly available in western North Carolina along with special cask ale tastings, speakers, and workshops, and some great live music.

According to Mark Lyons at the Brews Cruise, this is what you'll get:

• Roundtrip transportion from Asheville to Raleigh
• One night stay at the Sheraton in downtown Raleigh (2 blocks from festival)
• Festival pass for day event 12-4 pm
• World Beer Festival Pint Glass
• Brews Cruise T-shirt/ Brews Cruise tote bag
• Bagels/ coffee upon departure
• Snacks and water for the ride (roundtrip)
• Brewery tour/ sampling at Catawba Valley Brewing Company enroute back to Asheville
• GOOD TIMES

The rates for this package are $225 per person (based on double occupancy),
or $410 per couple (any two people booking together are eligible for the couples rate) We have blocked 8 doubles and 4 kings and will be booked on a first come, first served basis. Come and Play!
http://www.brewscruise.com/

I've been to both the spring and fall WBF several times. An added feature Mark doesn't mention is that the Sheraton Raleigh is within walking distance of several good beer bars, so you can keep having fun all evening and not have to worry about getting back. You even get a stop at Catawba Brewing for some "hair of the dog" party flu cure on Sunday.

This is a great deal. I strongly encourage you to call and sign up NOW!

Sam Adams LongShot Old Ale

The beer poured with a creamy head and was reddish brown in color. The nose was malty, with hints of caramel, cherries and chocolate. The initial impression on the tongue was malt with butterscotch, quite nice and smooth on the palate. The finish was tinged with a slight alcoholic bite but nothing like you'd expect from a beer of over 10% ABV. The head was still slightly present by the end and left a slight Scottish lace in the glass. This is by far the best of the beers from the series and is most enjoyable. It's another fireside beer and one to make me slightly regret the arrival of warmer weather.

On the road

I'm sorry I haven't been posting more often. It seems like I've been running 16 hours a day for the last week or so between one thing and another. All work and no play (well, at least not a lot) makes for a dull blog. Right now I'm in Athens, GA attending a conference. Some of us hit Copper Creek Brewing and the Globe to sample the beer at these fine establishments.

Last Saturday we spent a fine evening with Deuane and Caroline of Harrisburg, PA who write and maintain the Pubcrawlin' blog. Check out their Asheville trip reports. They write a great beer blog.

FUBARed!

I haven't been too pleased with the new blog format being pushed by Google since they took over Blogger. My inital mistake was taking the bait to change to the new format. Then today I made the cardinal mistake of clicking on one of the blog administrator links under the guise of "I wonder what this does?"

What it did was f*** up my blog template beyond all repair. I finally had to reselect the template which wiped out all my customization, hence all of my links to breweries and other blogs are gone. I'll get them back on here as soon as I can.

Craft beer enjoys double-digit gain in 2006

BOULDER, Colo.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The continuing growth of craft beer entered double-digit territory in 2006, with sales by craft brewers up 11.7% by volume for the year. This comes on top of strong growth in each of the prior three years and illustrates the ongoing surge of consumer interest in craft beers.

“American tastes are clearly changing thus the demand for more flavorful and diverse beers is exploding,” said Paul Gatza, Director of the Brewers Association, which tabulates industry growth data.

The Brewers Association estimates 2006 sales by craft brewers at over 6,600,000 barrels (one barrel equals 31 U.S. gallons), up from an adjusted total of just under 6,000,000 barrels in 2005. The increase totals over 690,000 barrels or 9.5 million case-equivalents. For 2006, craft beer posted a retail sales figure of $4.2 billion.

----snip-----

Read the rest of the article here.

Courtesy of Ash, posted at BlogAsheville:

Ashvegas City Council tonight will vote on the following resolution. This is why it's important to keep abreast of your local government:

Resolutions making provisions for the possession and consumption of malt beverages and/or unfortified wine at the following 2007 Special Events:

-Mountain Sports Festival on May 4-6

-Asheville Downtown Association’s Downtown After 5 events on May 18, June 15, July 20, August 17, and September 14

-Fourth of July Celebration on July 4

-76th Annual City of Asheville Open Tennis Championships Picnic on July 19-20

-GoomBay!Festival on August 25-27

-Lexington Avenue Arts and Fun Festival on September 9

-Fiesta Latina Festival on September 22

-11th Annual Brewgrass Festival on September 22

-Asheville Greek Festival on September 28-30

-The Asheville Grizzlies home games on various dates during the summer.

Samuel Adams Longshot Dortmunder Export

I was in my local Ingles on "Lee-chester" Highway and spied a pile of Longshot mixed sixers in the aisle near the beer cooler. These beers are the winners of the 2006 home brewing contest sponsored by the brewery. The whole thing has generated some controversy in the beer blog world since the recipes produced by Boston Beer Company are allegedly not completely true to the submitted entries. As the price was right at $6.99 I decided to see for myself.

The six-pack contained two bottles each of three brews: the Dort, an old ale and a boysenberry wheat. The winning brewer's picture was on each label along with his name and hometown.

The Dort poured a medium-yellow color with average head and good carbonation. The aroma was a bit like freshly-mown grass with a hint of malt. The taste was malty with a hoppy finish, well balanced, and a medium body that was heavier than I expected. The hops are readily apparent as the bitterness lingered on the tongue. Overall, it's not bad but not outstanding. I'm looking forward to trying the other two beers in this box.

50 Beers to Try Before You Die

Our friends over at The Brew Site have been busy compiling a list of beers that a true beer lover should try at least once. Now that the final installment has been posted we offer the list for your enjoyment.

American West Coast (Part 1)

1. Anchor Steam
2. Widmer Hefeweizen
3. Shakespeare Stout
4. Sierra Nevada Bigfoot
5. Alaskan Smoked Porter

European Icons (Part 2)

6. Celebrator Doppelbock
7. Paulaner Oktoberfest Märzen
8. Lindemans Framboise Lambic
9. Guinness Extra Stout
10. Pilsner Urquell

Extreme Beers (Part 3)

11. Samichlaus
12. Cave Creek Chili Beer
13. 90 Minute IPA
14. Midas Touch Golden Elixir
15. Samuel Adams Utopias

United Kingdom (Part 4)

16. Young's Bitter
17. Fuller's London Porter
18. Theakston Old Peculier
19. Samuel Smith's Nut Brown Ale
20. Orkney SkullSplitter

Belgian (Part 5)

21. Saison Dupont
22. Jenlain Original French Ale
23. St. Bernardus Witbier
24. Rodenbach Grand Cru
25. Trappistes Rochefort 8

American East Coast (Part 6)

26. Sam Adams Boston Lager
27. Brooklyn Black Chocolate Stout
28. Victory Prima Pils
29. Black Radish Dark Lager
30. Edmund Fitzgerald Porter

German (Part 7)

31. Weihenstephaner Hefeweissbier
32. Reissdorf Kölsch
33. Aecht Schlenkerla Rauchbier Märzen
34. Köstritzer Schwarzbier
35. Aventinus

"On the scene" picks (Part 8)

36. Düsseldorf, Germany: Altbier
37. Belgium: Lambic
38. Munich, Germany: Oktoberfest
39. Burton upon Trent, England: Bitter (and others)
40. Portland, Oregon: Varied

Around the World (Part 9)

41. Sapporo (Japan)
42. Sheaf Stout (Australia)
43. Flying Horse Royal Lager (India)
44. Singha (Thailand)
45. Baltika Porter (Russia)

The Final Five (Part 10)

46. Arrogant Bastard Ale
47. Style: Sahti (Finnish)
48. Style: Kvass (Russian)
49. Homebrew
50. Your local brewery's beer

All in all a fine list indeed. As there are a few brews we haven't yet tried (mostly from Parts 7, 8 and 10) we need to get busy tracking these untasted nectars down. After all, life is short and it looks like trips to Germany and the West Coast are in order.

Thanks to The Brew Site for putting the list together.

De Proef Knock Out (K-O)

I picked up this beauty at Bruisin' Ales a couple of weeks ago. It's a Belgian tripel weighing in at 10% ABV. The cork stopper was secured by the usual wire cage. The stopper was tight and after unsuccessfully trying to remove it by using a towel for friction I finally had to resort to a pair of pliers. A slight twist and the cork let go with a satisfying pop.

The beer poured into a tulip goblet a yellow-orange color with a rich, meringue-like head. The nose was of slightly sour yeast and mild apple. The taste is classic Belgian yeast with prominent bananas, mild citrus, and apple. Mouthfeel was creamy and smooth. The finish was moderately dry with an alcohol bite. It left a beautiful lace in my glass. Classic and recommended.

Weyerbacher Winter Ale

This beer poured a dark, reddish-amber color with a moderate head. The nose had plenty of malt with hints of chocolate and candied cherries. The initial impression was of vanilla and toffee with a malty finish and slight alcohol. Overall, a decent winter beer, and particularly appropriate for consuming with the current Asheville weather where high temps today didn't break freezing.

Beer for Dogs

We thought we'd seen it all, but the media is having a field day with the news that a Dutch company has released a beer for dogs. Brewed with malt and beef extract (!) the non-alcoholic beer is for Fido's enjoyment following a long hunt or game of fetch. No one in Asheville seems to have it yet but it's available in South Carolina and Georgia.

At left Bailey poses with a bottle of Shipyard and wonders when he'll have his own beer available here.

http://www.doggienews.com/2006/07/beer-for-dogs.htm

Big Beer Bash

We attended the annual Mountain Ale and Lager Tasters (MALT) Big Beer Bash in Tryon yesterday evening. About 35 or so club members and significant others sampled some outstanding beers (mostly brewed by club members) and gnoshed on some most excellent food. Carl Melissas of Green Man Brewing was there as was "Pisgah Dave" Quinn of Pisgah Brewing. Carl brought a party keg of his fine Dragon while Pisgah Dave brought some of his Baptista, a Belgian-style winter brew that weighs in at over 11% ABV. Only about 100 gallons were produced and this was among the last of it.

Gracious hosts Jay and Arlene deserve lots of thanks for again opening their beautiful home to us for this event.

Here are some pics:

Sampling some of BatDave's outstanding Scottish ale, cask-conditioned and poured from a genuine handpump.

I would love to have Jay's living room bar, not to mention his brewing room downstairs.

Rumors and happenings

Ashvegas scooped us on some rumors making the rounds about some possible new developments on the local scene. However, we can report that the stories about a new brewpub going into the former TS Morrison building are anything but "pure speculation." We know who the brewer will be and we have the facts direct from the source. We'll post further info as it develops but don't expect to see brewing here for at least a year. But plans call for a restaurant and brewing operation which will join Asheville Pizza and Brewing as Asheville's second brewpub (Jack of the Wood technically no longer qualifies for the label since the brewery is now a separate operation and is more of a "tied house")

We can't yet confirm or deny Ash's other rumors about the Wedge Gallery or possible developments on Buxton Avenue except to say that the fine folks at Green Man Brewing don't know anything about the latter. While we prefer to post facts we will report a fourth rumor we've heard about possible brewing activity on Haywood Road in West Asheville. We believe that this may be a skewed report of the new Root Bar that will be opening across from the Ingles on Haywood Road. While no on-site brewing is planned we do anticipate that the beer selections will rival the outstanding choices available at the original location in East Asheville.

In any event, if the rumored breweries do get up and running it's quite possible Asheville could become known for having the greatest number of breweries per capita. How about it? Does anyone know of another city of 65,000 with eight breweries? Or six? Or even four?

Finally, the new second location of Ruby's BBQ Shack has opened on Tunnel Road in the old IHOP building. We haven't visited yet but if their beer selection is anything like that at the Haw Creek site then it should be a winner. We know from the ads in the Mountain Xpress that it's smoke-free but that's it. If anyone has been there post a comment and tell us about it.

Blog Asheville Reunites

Cross-posted from BlogAsheville:

Blog Asheville will reconvene after too long a hiatus. Come one blogger, come all y'all bloggers to Joli Rouge, Saturday, January 20, 8pm until the last gasp is gasped. If everyone who's coming will please make comments on others' blogs about the gathering we'll get to meet a lot of these new bloggers who've emerged since the Extravablogiversapaloozathon.

Joli Rouge map is HERE.

We'll regrettably be missing this gathering as it coincides with the annual MALT Big Beer Bash. Hopefully the gathering will become a regular event. We were at Joli Rouge during last month's Drinking Liberally pub crawl and were impressed by the atmosphere and the beer selection.

Shipyard Blue Fin Stout

The final selection from this collection. The stout poured with an excellent head, in fact slightly overflowing my glass. It had a malty nose and a wonderful roasted coffee taste with undercurrents of dark chocolate and a hint of citrus. The head lasted to the end. The mouthfeel was a bit watery but that didn't detract from the experience. An excellent beer. I'd buy this one again.