…BREAKING NEWS…THIS JUST IN…

Things just keep getting better around Asheville! We’re getting more fun visitors this weekend at the shop!

This upcoming Saturday, December 10, we’ll be hosting a special afternoon tasting. Join us in welcoming Terrence Sullivan, Brewmaster of Sierra Nevada Brewing Co., to the humble storefront! He’ll be with us from 2:00-4:00 p.m. pouring all the Ovila Series, as well as Celebration, for the holidays.

What’s the Ovila Series, you say?

A collaboration between Sierra Nevada Brewing Co and the monks at the Abbey of New Clairvaux, Ovila brings the centuries-old monastery brewing tradition to America. A portion of the proceeds from this ale goes toward the restoration of the historic Santa Maria de Ovila chapter house on the grounds of the Abbey of New Clairvaux. This medieval building stood for nearly eight centuries in Spain. William Randolph Hearst purchased the monastery in 1931 and planned to use the stones for a castle even grander than his famous San Simeon. Although Hearst’s plans crumbled, these historic stones will rise again in a California Cistercian abbey.
Celebration Ale
“The long, cold nights of winter are a little brighter with Celebration^® Ale. Wonderfully robust and rich, Celebration^® Ale is dry-hopped for a lively, intense aroma. Brewed especially for the holidays, it is perfect for a festive gathering or for a quiet evening at home.” [6.8% abv]

Ovila Abbey Dubbel
“Ovila Abbey Dubbel is brewed in the abbey tradition, and perfect for the re-birth of spring. Clear and deep copper in color, this Abbey Dubbel has a complex and rich malty sweetness with hints of caramelized sugar. The aroma is a heady and layered mix of fruit and spice, with hints of clove, raisin, and black pepper from the use of an abbey style yeast.” [7.5% abv]

Ovila Saison
“A collaboration between Sierra Nevada Brewing Co and the monks at the Abbey of New Clairvaux, Ovila Abbey Saison brings the centuries-old monastery brewing tradition to America. Ovila Abbey Saison is complex and contemplative-but also refreshingly dry and drinkable. With earthy and spicy aromas, this rustic Saison has note of green grass and a faint citrus tang. The body is light and layered with fruit and spice accents and a dry, peppery finish. A portion of the proceedsfrom this ale go toward the restoration of the historic Santa Maria de Oliva chapter house on the grounds of the Abbey of New Clairvaux. This medieval building stood for nearly eight centuries in Spain. William Randolph Hearst purchased the monastery in 1931 and planned to use the stones for a castle even grander than his famous San Simeon. Although Hearst’s plan crumbled, these historic stones will rise again in a California Cistercian abbey.” [7.0% abv]

Ovila Quad
“Ovila Abbey Quad is rich and complex with layers of flavor including notes of intense dark fruits, and caramel-like maltiness. Rich and complex, this ale should be shared among friends in the true spirit of the season. ” [10.4% abv]

If you were following us on Twitter over the weekend, you probably noticed we weren’t at Bele Chere. In true Bruisin’ Ales last-minute fashion, Jason & I decided to hit the road across the state, chasing down some beers at breweries we’ve never visited (shamefully). Leaving the store in the able hands of Mike and Craig, the bosses took to the highway for a 4-day North Carolina beer adventure. We didn’t see everyone or everything we wanted to, but we did cram a bunch of sites into a whirlwind trip, met up with a lot of great people, and of course, drank many beers from our fine state and beyond.

And, we properly defaced to brewery beer coolers, too! That’s Jamie Bartholamus of Foothills Brewing throwing a little beerlanthropy® on his wall. All our pictures are below, followed by a little bit on each visit, if you’re the reading type.

FRIDAY
Olde Hickory Brewing Company (Hickory)
Hickory Taproom (Hickory)

First stop with Steve Lylerly, brewmaster at Olde Hickory Brewing. The brewery was much larger than we had imagined it to be, filled with tanks, barrels and a killer private bar with amazing woodwork. It was hot, so we started out with a Piedmont Pilsner, but then went straight to a new batch of Imperial Stout when offered.

The Hickory Taproom is a stone’s throw from the brewery, too. Feels like a taproom should feel. Get the fish-n-chips or the fried oysters with buffalo plum sauce. No regret there!

Cool thing: The brewery was making its 500th batch when we visited. The beer will be a barleywine, likely aged two years.

Natty Greene’s (Greensboro)
In Greensboro, we met with Kayne Fischer, co-owner of Natty Greene’s. He gave us a little tour of the basement brewery and expansions that are going on. The sweet space on the corner of Hamburger Square (which used to be a grocery store, a brothel, and a hotel—not necessarily in that order), is a lovely taproom experience. Restaurant downstairs with plenty of outdoor seating with an upstairs taproom, similar to Barley’s here in town.

But upstairs, on the third floor is the mac daddy of all. A private, rentable suite, complete with leather couches, your own bar taps and pool table. Swanky stuff. I want one.

Cool thing: Natty Greene’s just celebrated their 7th Anniversary August 1 with a big, FREE outdoor concert outside the brewpub. Good stuff.

Foothills Brewery & Brewpub (Winston-Salem)
This stop was so overdue, it’s embarrassing. Yes, we had never been to Foothills. But we made it! Brewmaster Jamie Bartholamus greeted us with a *gasp* sip of this year’s Olde Rabbit’s Foot, which will be released at the brewery on August 13th. (In fact, they were going to bottle that evening.) From there, we got a quick tour of the facilities while sipping a Torch Pilsner filtered through Citra hops and whole peppercorns. What a treat.

What amazed us most about Foothills was how much beer they crank out of this space. It is mind boggling a little bit, although they do brew twice a day, every day. It seems they can never have enough Hoppyum since the bottles came out. Luckily, they’ll be starting production at their big facility in a short while, which means more Foothills for everyone!

Also, we had some killer onion rings with  house-made beer-based ketchup.

Cool thing: We were told that on the day of our visit, Foothills filled it’s first-ever grain silo at the new Mooresville production brewery.

SATURDAY
We got up and visited our comrades and City Beverage in Winston-Salem, a neat, family-owned and operated business just walking’s distance from Foothills. Sweet little spot, so hit them up on your travels and support another independent bottle shop.

We arrived in Raleigh to meet our friends Robin and Dave who offered to take us around, so we wouldn’t have to drive. Cheers to that! It turns out it’s also good they did, because we would have been lost. On top of that, it was three billion degrees in Raleigh on Saturday.

Busy Bee Cafe (Raleigh)
Before touring, we needed a little lunch, so we hit up this great little cafe with some great taps. A little open-faced turkey with bacon, fried egg and gruyere never hurt anyone. Neither did a Victory Headwater’s Pale Ale. We tried to get the Fullsteam Summer Basil cask, but it was gone. (No matter, since we head there tomorrow.)

Lonerider Beer Company (Raleigh)
With bellies full, we are ready for some beer. We head over to Lone Rider, located in a windy-road business park somewhere near the airport. Jason got a little brewery tour and Jackie, in the tasting room, took care of us with cold Shotgun Betty Hefeweizens. Did I mention it was three billion degrees? I don’t normally consider myself a frail flower, but the heat was unbearable, so we didn’t last long here before heading out to Roth Brewing just around the corner.

Cool thing: Their website says Asheville reigns supreme, just like Iron Chef!

Roth Brewing (Raleigh)
In the same business park more or less with LoneRider (but not in agreement with any GPS), is home to Roth Brewing. Many of you in WNC might not yet heard of Roth. We didn’t either. Roth is run by two brothers on a two-barrel system. These guys are the rowdy young guns. Word is, at festivals they and their fans run around in Viking helmets and sell foam axes with their logo on it. I know this to be true because Jason had to have one. The small little tasting room painted black with low lighting. A couple guys dropped by with homebrew, but otherwise it was just the four of us and the Roth guys. We tried the Amber, Hefeweizen and American Barleywine. I especially loved the Hefe, as it was made with plums and honey. Very interesting and very refreshing.

This is like your garage bar. Off to the corner is a beat-up couch, an old PS2, a Nintendo, two Guitar Heroes, and just in case… a coffeepot.

Cool thing: Allegedly, Roth’s American Barleywine, Foehammer, is the strongest year-round beer made in North Carolina.

Big Boss Brewing (Raleigh)
We head off to Big Boss Brewing. The entrance welcomes you with stairs leading up between hop vines. Up the stairs, you go into another dark tasting room. It was busy while we were there, folks playing shuffleboard and pool. Another impressive space, much larger than we had imagined.

Here we tried the Lucky Bastard Porter, High Roller IPA, Monkey Bizzness farmhouse ale. The real treat, though, was Dave Rogers letting us sample a barrel concoction: Hell’s Belle blended with Monkey Bizzness on sour cherries on a wine barrel. Bejebus!

Cool thing: No food to be had here, but they don’t mind one bit if you bring something with you and hang out. In fact, we were told some people do pot lucks at the brewery. How cool!

[Here is where we got diverted. Plans to tour Aviator Brewing were changed due to a fundraiser.]

Foundation (Raleigh)
This has got to be the coolest cocktail bar we’ve been to in a long time. Concept: All NC-local or house-made cocktails. Ten taps of NC beer and drinks made with NC spirits, house-made syrups, etc. After a long day of sweating, a pear and Brut sparkling cocktail was just what the doctor ordered.

Cool thing: This place had to dig out its buried foundation to exist, so it’s dark and cool, which was especially welcome on a three-billion-degree day.

Raleigh Times (Raleigh)
“Seymour, feed me!” We were really hungry and our hosts told us to “linger” around tables because it’s first-come, first-served. Luckily, it wasn’t long until we scored a sweet little table in back. Six taps at all times. Although it seemed strange to have two taprooms, but the same beers on-tap at both. At any rate, cool menu like a newspaper with an impressive bottle list. Here we had a Bell’s Bourbon Barrel-aged Hell Hath No Fury, New Belgium Tripel and shared a bottle of Cascade Kriek. Not to mention totally badass burgers.

Cool thing: The building is actually the original location of the now-defunct Raleigh Times newspaper.

SUNDAY
The Duck-Rabbit Craft Brewery (Farmville)
After breakfast, we braved some pretty wicked storms to head out to Farmville for a visit with Paul Philippon at Duck-Rabbit. Turns out, there really isn’t a lot in Farmville! Located in a business park, this small production brewery is bursting at the seams. Luckily, there’s a lot of property around the brewery and Paul hopes to take advantage of that someday. There’s a new entrance and the three of us toured the brewery while it poured rain and Milk Stout. Ever the nice guy, Paul opened a 2010 Olde Rabbit’s Foot and we got to sample the upcoming Schwartzbier, which will be out soon.

Cool thing: More visitors are making the trek, so the brewery has new little tasting room that will open soon.

Fullsteam Brewery (Durham)
Back to Durham for the last evening. We headed down to Fullsteam. Things were quiet on a Sunday, but Sean Wilson came to give us a tour because he’s cool like that. (We also got to see brewer Chris, who popped in to say hello.) This is a sexy place. The entrance has a rolling front door with back backwards “F” on it. With its steampunk theme, there are all sorts of gadgets around. There’s a wicked turning door between the air-conditioned bar area and rest of the seated area that’s made out of an old brewing vat. Clear glass interior windows allow you to see right into the brewery’s workings. With the agricultural theme, we tried the Carver Sweet Potato and Summer Basil. The special treat was the Wanderlust Imperial Stout, with a hint of cherry.

Cool thing: Food trucks park right around the brewery almost every night. Street food + beer = Good.

Tyler’s Taproom (Durham)
Located in the old tobacco district, Tyler’s is a massive place with three different bars: one in the restaurant, one in the back game room, and one outside, which we’re sure is a blast during baseball games. (The Durham Bulls stadium is just around the corner.) Great location with good food, we started out with FREE fresh garlic fries just from checking in on Foursquare. Sierra Nevada Ovila Saison and a house-made, worth-the-wait chicken pot pie. J had the pork belly sandwich. For dessert, we had a 2003 Thomas Hardy’s Ale straight off the menu. Yowzers.

Cool thing: All the bars have different draft lines, so if you don’t find what you like on one, you have two others to check out.

MONDAY
Triangle Brewing (Durham)
We started the morning with beer for breakfast with Rick Tufts, brewmaster at Triangle Brewing. We’re grateful he opened his doors to us, after brewing since 3 a.m. that morning. It’s a small open tasting room, but the building has loads of room for growth. The brewery has a canning line and also does some canning for other breweries. We sampled the IPA, the Abbey Dubbel, Bourbon barrel-aged Abbey Dubbel, a Flemish sour.

Cool thing: We also tried an experimental lambic in a can. Have you ever? Me neither.

Bull City Burger & Brewery (Durham)
Stopped for lunch here at Durham’s newest brewpub. Nifty little flight of beers. We especially liked the hsaWaknow Strong Ale and wet-hop ale. (The hops were grown locally next to a watermelon patch and so tasted very fruity.) The burgers were to die for “just a little pink.” Ask for fresh garlic on your burger, you get about ten cloves on top. And don’t miss out on the duck frites—string fries with rosemary, drizzled with duck fat. Goodness.

Cool thing: Even the bread is made in-house.

Dos Perros (Durham)
While we were at Bull City Burger, Charlie, owner of Dos Perros, popped in and invited us around the corner to his place. Wish we would have had time to eat here, too. We chatted beer and shared a Vrienden. Nothing wrong with that!

Cool thing: He’s got a pretty badass Stone event coming up, the Stone Brewing Cage Match.

A quick stop at Sam’s Quik Stop to grab some goodies that don’t make it our way, and away we went back to the mountains. (And a broken air conditioner.)

The weekend was great fun. We highly recommend making the trip to see the other fantastic beer folks in our state. Now get out there and drink some North Carolina beer!

Thanks for Brookston Beer Bulletin on this!

A few photos from the fast and furious trip to Chicago, including Goose Island Clybourn, Revolution Brewing, Piece Chicago, and Goose Island Fulton.

Sprecher Brewery from Wisconsin coming tomorrow
Yup, a classic from the original brewing city, Milwaukee, is hitting the shelves tomorrow. Welcome, Sprecher Brewing! We’re making our list and checking it twice today, including some of the Brewmasters Premium Reserve Series. Can I get a woot?

Tweet for beer at Bele Chere
The Mountain XPress is offering beer for tweets this weekend to help them cover Bele Chere. Basic rules are: Have five or more posts with the #belechere tag and/or upload pictures or videos and if they use either, show up at 3pm on Sunday at Asheville Brewing on Coxe and they will buy you a beer.

Foothills got label approval for more bottles
Beernews.org reports that Foothills Brewery got label approval for Hoppyum IPA, Torch Pilsner and Peoples Porter. While the post makes this seem imminent, beer spies tell us that bottles are at least a few months down the line. Look for them on our shelves later this year. *cross fingers*

The End of History
In the on-going-school-boys-on-the-playground-pissing-contest that is for “the world’s strongest beer,” Brewdog’s forthcoming The End of The World was leaked to the masses yesterday. The End of The World is the latest (possibly dumbest) incarnation by Scotland’s Brewdog. There are only 12 bottles being made at the cost of $800-$1,100 per bottle …with the actual bottle stuffed into road kill converted to a bottle vessel by a taxidermist. Wait, what? Yup, not joking. You can’t make this crap up. The best news, in my humble opinion, is that Brewdog states this is the last in their high ABV experiments, and thank god, already. We like the brewery, we love their marketing, but we’re 100% over the hype. Hopefully, they’ll return to brewing beer now instead of scouring the Scottish Highlands for dead squirrels.

Everyone’s an entrepreneur
A homeless man broke into a Northern California bar and reopened it, posing as the new owner. A+ for ingenuity, but ultimately, still a failing grade.

[NOTE: Press release from the Asheville Chamber of Commerce. Enter to win a trip to Asheville & Brewgrass Festival.]

WIN CRAFT BEER VACATION GIVEAWAY

~ Asheville celebrates craft beer title with beer-cation travel giveaway ~

ASHEVILLE, N.C. (May 27, 2010) – More than 19,000 votes and hundreds of heated comments and blog posts marked a neck-n-neck tie-breaker for the title of “BeerCity USA 2010” in an online poll celebrating American Craft Beer Week.  In the end, passion for the small, but mighty, brewing culture of Asheville, North Carolina surpassed brewing giant Portland, Oregon. Last year, the East Coast vs. West Coast battle ended in a tie between the two cities.

Quote

“Beers experienced from breweries in both cities, I can attest to, are worth the journey to these American beer Meccas.  In fact beer enjoyed in most American cities is worth the journey.  Beer drinkers are on notice: You can leave home now–better beer awaits,” said Examiner.com poll host and founder of the Association of Brewers Charlie Papazian.

Win a Craft Beer Vacation

In celebration of the city’s first outright title of BeerCity USA, Asheville has launched a beer-cation giveaway. Win a free night’s stay at the Asheville Renaissance and pair of coveted tickets to Asheville’s biggest annual beer festival, Brewgrass. Tickets are currently sold out for the popular event with a line-up of national and regional bluegrass acts. Enter to win the craft beer travel getaway at ExploreAsheville.com.

About Asheville: Brewtopian Society

Known for its scenic beauty, music culture and robust art scene, Asheville’s reputation as a haven for brewing and culinary arts is growing. With a population of just over 70,000, Asheville is giving bigger cities a beer-run for their money with nine diverse craft breweries–more per capita than any city in the nation.

On any given day, about 50 local beers can be enjoyed on draft and in bottles. Asheville is home to a world-renowned specialty beer store (Bruisin’ Ales, rated #3 retailer worldwide by RateBeer), five annual beer festivals, a regular “Beer Guy” column in the local paper, and a growing array of local beer-flavored food products. (Highland Black Mocha Stout ice cream, anyone?) Asheville Brews Cruise offers an insider’s look at Asheville’s rapidly evolving microbrewery scene complete with designated driver.

Beer Links

• BeerCity USA – Examiner.com poll results
• AmericanCraftBeerWeek.org
• BrewtopianSociety.com – guide to Asheville’s craft breweries via FoodtopianSociety.com

Follow @AshevilleTravel on Twitter.

Thanks for featuring Beer City, USA!

• The Asheville Brews Cruise has spots open all week long. If you haven’t done proper tours of our local breweries, the Brews Cruise is a great option to learn about the brewing craft, sample beers, and best of all, have someone drive you around safely.
• Check Barley’s Taproom this week for specials, especially the Bruisin’ Ales tap.
• The Thirsty Monk is having Rogue Week at the bar downtown with 8 taps of Rogue Ales on draft. This is your chance to become a member of Rogue Nation!
• The Universal Joint in West Asheville is running weekly pint specials. Check daily.

Wednesday, March 17

• Craggie Brewing Company releases its long-awaited Meet Your Maker Barleywine. If you came to the tasting at Bruisin’ Ales in February, you were lucky enough to get a sneak peak. Now the beer is ready, so head over to the Craggie Public Room tonight for the release. The Jig Is Up will also be playing traditional Irish Music from 8pm-midnight with no cover.
• Wedge Brewing Company‘s brewer Carl Melissas is doing a nifty experiment at the brewery tonight, checking the temperature of beer the old-fashioned way—which is where we get the old saying “rule of thumb.” And free corned beef and cabbage tonight from 5pm until they run out!
• French Broad Brewery has $1 off all growlers purchased at the brewery today.
• Green Man Ales, at Dirty Jack’s and Jack of the Wood, is unveiling a “new, dark, creamy, beefed-up, utterly blissful Irish Stout”! Starting at 12pm, live music all day.

Thursday, March 18

• Asheville Singer-songwriter Utah Green plays the French Broad Tasting Room with no cover charge.
• Sol-Roots with guests Woody Wood and Galen Kipar are playing the LAB venue. Also, with receipt, get $10 off the new Buzzed Home service!
• It’s infusion night at Asheville Brewing on Coxe Avenue! Go check out what beer their filtering thru which wacky flavors.

Friday, March 19

• Highland Brewing Company’s Tasting Room will be open Friday, March 19 from 4-8pm with music from East Coast Dirt and food available from Kyte’s Catering. All beers are $3.
• The Screaming J’s are playing at Pisgah Brewing Company in Black Mountain at 8pm.
• “Ring in The Spring” Party at Oyster House Brewery (inside the Lobster Trap). Kick the winter blues with beer specials, live music, free food, a spring costume contest and giveaways.

Saturday, March 20

• Alt-country/Americana performer Dave Desmelik will perform at the French Broad Tasting Room. No cover.
• Garry Segal & The To Dye For Band play at Jack of the Wood at 9:30pm. A blend of traditional and original country, bluegrass and blues. Garry’s soulful voice and expert harmonica playing is matched by peddle steel, guitar and an infectious rhythm section.

Sunday, March 21

• Catch a movie at Asheville Pizza & Brewing on Merrimon for just $3/pp. Beer, pizza & movies? Yes, please.
  

Monday, March 22

• Monk(day) Monkfest at The Thirsty Monk downtown. $6 gets you three 6 oz. samples of the craft beer of your choice!
• Join Quizzo at Jack of the Wood tonight. Voted Asheville’s #1 trivia game in the Mountain XPress “Best of 2009.”

The Brewers Association announced the 2009 craft beer sales numbers and other statistics yesterday in its annual report, released just before the Craft Brewers Conference in Chicago next month. (Click the graphics for larger version.) From the Brewers Association:

“Beer lovers continue to find great value and enjoyment in fuller flavored craft beers,” said Paul Gatza, director of the Brewers Association. “Americans have an increasing appreciation of craft beers, and the growing number of brewers behind them. They’re eager to try the latest seasonal release and to sample a variety of beers from different breweries.”

In 2009, craft brewers represented 4.3 percent of volume and 6.9 percent of retail dollars for the total U.S. beer category. With the total U.S. beer industry representing an estimated retail dollar value of $101 billion, the Brewers Association estimates the actual dollar sales figure from craft brewers in 2009 was $7 billion, up from $6.3 billion in 2008.

The total number of U.S. craft brewers grew from 1,485 to 1,542 in 2009, and they produced 9,115,635 barrels, up from 8,501,713 barrels in 2008. Overall U.S. beer sales fell from approximately 210.4 million barrels to 205.8 million barrels.”

Let me tell you something. When you’re tired and freaking out over more snow coming this weekend, you know what helps? Waking up to RateBeer’s annual RateBeerBest 2010 to find that your store is holding tight at the #3 spot for Best Beer Retailer Worldwide. Yeah, that helps! Wow, we’ve been busting it out again in 2009, but I’d be lying if I didn’t think we might slip a spot or two with all the new openings of stores that (kinda) follow our business model. We are so incredibly honored and thank you immensely for supporting your local, INDEPENDENT craft beer retailer.

And let’s not forget all the other NC winners! North Carolina is a GREAT state for craft beer! Cheers to craft beer! Beerlanthropy®, y’all.

–The Thirsty Monk (Asheville) #41 Beer Bar
–Barley’s Taproom & Pizzeria (Asheville) #27 Beer Restaurant
–Tyler’s Taproom (Raleigh) #36 Beer Restaurant
–Mellow Mushroom (Asheville) #41 Beer Restaurant
–Highland Brewing (Asheville) #26 Brewery to Visit
–Wedge Brewery (Asheville) #43 Brewpub (confusing, but we’ll take it)
–Duck Rabbit (Farmville) #43 Best Brewery
–Duck Rabbit (Farmville) #2 Best Beer/Dark Lager (Schwartzbier)
–Brawley’s Beverage (Charlotte) #35 Retailer
–Sam’s Quik Shop (Durham) #49 Retailer