Archive for the ‘Coolness’ Category

Cider fans, rejoice! Tomorrow, we’ll be sampling Foggy Ridge Cider from Virginia. About Foggy Ridge: “At Foggy Ridge Cider in the Virginia Blue Ridge Mountains, Cidermaker Diane Flynt grows heirloom apples and makes award winning hard cider. Located near the Blue Ridge Parkway, Foggy Ridge Cider hosts events spring through early winter celebrating apples, local food and music, growing trees and, of course, cider.” Join us Thursday, May 16, between 5:00-7:00 p.m. Let’s sip some fermented apples!

Foggy Ridge First Fruit Cider: “Foggy Ridge’s First Fruit cider blends early season American heirloom apples to create a rich fruity cider with lively acidity to drink, like Thomas Jefferson, on its own or with a meal.”

Foggy Ridge Serious Cider: “Serious Cider mixes traditional English cider apples like Tremlett’s Bitter and Dabinett with tart American favorites like Ashmead’s Kernel and Roxbury Russet. This crisp light food friendly cider is a refreshing aperitif paired with cheesy nibbles.”

Foggy Ridge Sweet Stayman Cider: “The famous Virgnia Stayman apples ripen late in mountain orchards but are worth the wait. Our Sweet Stayman Cider blends the original Stayman apple with heirloom varieties like Grimes Golden and Cox’s Orange Pippin to create a lightly sweet cider to sip on its own or with spicy food.”

Foggy Ridge Handmade Cider: “Our latest hard cider is Foggy Ridge Handmade, bottled in baby champagne bottles and for sale only at restaurants and retailers. This crisp cider made from Newtown Pippin apples has beautiful soft tannins and a delicate apple flavor with light pear notes.”

If you’ve been living under a rock (or a St. Paddy’s haze), then you should know that Green Man Brewing released their first round of bottles over the weekend with a big, fat party at the brewery. Did you miss it? Not to worry! We have you covered. Tomorrow, March 21, from 5:00-7:00 p.m., we’ll be sampling the new bottles as they hit the market for the first time.

Green Man ESB: “Brewed since 1997, Green Man ESB is one of our signature brews, with its toasted malt flavor and pleasant finishing sweetness. Its eminently drinkable style comes from a blend of British-grown malts balanced with the earthy spiciness of hand-selected premium U.S. hops. Boasting an ample, nutty aroma, and a broad, authoritative flavor, Green Man ESB combines the best of English tradition with American style.”

Green Man Porter: “Green Man Porter is a delicious, full-bodied ale rich in flavor, yet easy to drink, with a creamy, smooth mouth feel. The slight hop bitterness only enhances the distinctive chocolate and roasted finish to come. Ruddy brown in color, Green Man Porter offers a bittersweet balance of malt and hops with a light cream finish. It continues to reap accolades and medals from those who know best.”

Green Man IPA: “A legendary India Pale Ale, the Green Man IPA is very hoppy with a properly balanced malt body. Brewed with generous hop additions in our kettle to give it a wonderful bitterness, it’s then late-kettle hopped to create a pleasant, floral nose. The “maltiness” is derived from traditional British malt. Its rich flavor stands up to the hops that would otherwise dominate this beer. Green Man IPA is truly an authentic version of an Indian Pale Ale, with a twist that makes it uniquely our own.”

On Thursday evening, from 5:00-7:00 p.m., Anne Fitten Glenn, a.k.a Asheville beer blogger “Brewgasm,” will be at the humble storefront signing copies of her newly-published book, “Asheville Beer: An Intoxicating History of Mountain Brewing.”

Buy the book ($17.00), get a beer!

If you’re reading this, you’re likely one of the many who already believe that the history of beer and brewing is a worthwhile pursuit. If not, perhaps this book will make you a believer.

I tackled this project for a couple of reasons. First, because interesting stories rarely start with, “I was drinking some water, and then…” Also, I’ve been writing about beer and the beer business for a number of years, and I feel that I’ve been writing Asheville’s beer history as it happens. Some of the facts and stories in this book were first published in my “Brews News” column for Asheville’s newsweekly and elsewhere, though I’ve rewritten them for these pages.

I wanted to delve more deeply into what beer means (and has meant) to Asheville and Western North Carolina (WNC) culturally, economically and socially. (Western North Carolina refers to the seventeen westernmost counties of North Carolina, of which Asheville is the largest city). Thus, this story begins with the founding of Asheville in 1798, when the site of the town was changed at the last minute due to the cunning of a tavern keeper and his home-brewed “mountain dew.” As the Blue Ridge Mountains are famous for the distillation of moonshine (we even have a legal white lightning distillery now), it was not much of a stretch for WNC to become a brewing mecca, although it did take almost two hundred years. …

(PS: If you’re not in the area, but interested in reading the book, you can buy it on Amazon.)

Our tasting tomorrow benefits “Save The French Broad” campaign with Sweetwater Brewing. Pay $5 for a fish and drink beer. Easy! Hartwell Carson, the French Broad Riverkeeper, will be on hand to answer any questions you have about the program and his work in saving the river.

This is the fifth year of the French Broad Riverkeeper has worked with Sweetwater Brewing Company to help “Save the French Broad River,” and thanks to the support from the community last year was our most successful campaign to date, raising over $36,000 to help cleanup the French Broad River and build the paddle trail! A special thank you goes to REI, Parsec Financial, Sweetwater, and each and every volunteer that helped saw, dig, cut, and plant overgrown tangles of invasive species into a beautiful riverside campgrounds.

Waterkeeper Hefeweizen: Sweet, traditional German-style hefeweizen. [5.9% abv]

Exodus Porter: “First brewed on Bob Marley’s birthday, this Legend-ary porter initially delivers distinct irie hop notes which transcend into rich waves of chocolate, creating a multidimensional taste experience!” [6.2% abv]

Sweetwater IPA: “This mammouth India Pale Ale is loaded with intense hop character and subjected to an extensive dry-hopping process. Our IPA is unfiltered and as always, not pasteurized, leaving all the natural flavors intact.” [6.3% abv]