Catawba Brewing to christen its new Asheville Tasting Room with Brewtal Double IPA on Feb. 22

Press Release

From Catawba Brewing Company:

ASHEVILLE, N.C. – Catawba Brewing Co. will officially christen its new Asheville Tasting Room with the release of a special beer for its Grand Opening Party on Saturday, Feb. 22 at the company’s new digs at 63 Brook St. on the edge of Biltmore Village.

Brewtal Double IPA is the first DIPA produced by the 15-year-old brewery and was made specially for Catawba’s Asheville Tasting Room, which opened its doors to the public on Feb. 7. Dubbed a “big beer for a big beer city” with impressive strength and assertive hop character, Brewtal weighs in at 8.8 percent ABV (alcohol by volume) and showcases the brilliant citrus notes of the Mandarina Bavaria hop variety from Germany.

“I wanted to commemorate the opening of the Tasting Room,” said Shelton Steele, Catawba’s Asheville operations manager, “and this beer just kind of naturally took on that commemorative role.”

Brewtal Double IPA is the creation of Catawba Head Brewer Kevin Sondey, whose resume includes a silver medal at the Great American Beer Festival and stints at such notable breweries as Highland, Dogfish Head and Stoudt’s. Sondey said the inspiration for Brewtal was the desire to “play” with new hop varieties including Mandarina Bavaria, a close relative of the famous Cascade hop.

“I wanted someone to be able to come to Catawba and have something different than what’s available everywhere else,” said Sondey, who joined Catawba in July 2013.

Brewtal Double IPA pours a deep golden color and explodes with aromas of citrus and tropical fruits. Notes of tangerine, mandarin orange and grapefruit continue with each sip, thanks to three hop additions in the brew kettle and three rounds of dry-hopping with the signature Mandarina Bavaria. The addition of crystal malt helps round out the brew, and the beer finishes dry and smooth with a moderately hoppy bitterness.

One 10-barrel batch of this “one-off” brew was produced, so Brewtal will be available while supplies last at Catawba’s Asheville and Catawba tasting rooms in addition to a few accounts around Asheville. Brewtal Double IPA is indicative of the wide variety of innovative beers the company plans to crank out from its new 7-barrel boutique brewery scheduled to open later this year. The new brewery and accompanying tasting room will be located at 2 Fairview Road, across the street from its current, temporary facility.

Saturday’s Grand Opening Party will also feature a free, live performance by grassroots “rock-grass” group Circus Mutt from 6 to 10 p.m. Special Grand Opening T-shirts sporting the Brewtal Double IPA logo on the front and commemorative date “2.22.14” on the back will be available for purchase.