Beer today, gone tomorrow: Asheville beer happenings Dec. 5-11

Beer Today, Gone Tomorrow is the one-stop home for Asheville-area beer news. Check back throughout the week for updates and send your own to wncbeertoday@gmail.com.

Bottle and can releases

• Oskar Blues Brewery releases a rum barrel-aged variant of its popular Death By Coconut porter exclusively at its Tasty Weasel Taproom in Brevard on Saturday, Dec. 9. Rum Barrel-Aged Death By Coconut is aged in barrels for nine months, then it is racked onto dessicated coconut, coconut cream and pure liquid cacao from Cholaca. Although the line may begin to form early, numbered wristbands will be handed out at 9:30 a.m. with draft and can sales starting at 10 a.m.

Small-batch beers

• Wedge Brewing Co. is currently pouring a new light American lager, Boudreaux Light (4.2 percent ABV), at its Foundation location.
• Ginger’s Revenge is currently pouring Appalachian Ginger, its first batch of hard ginger beer made entirely with locally grown ginger, at its tasting room and at select bars, restaurants, and breweries in Western North Carolina.
• **NEW** Hillman Beer is currently pouring Hi-Dee-Ho Holiday Ale (8.7 percent ABV), an Imperial Porter brewed with fresh blue ginger from Rayburn Farm along with lemon, raisins, molasses and cloves.
• Bhramari Brewing Co. releases five small-batch offerings this week. First up, on Tuesday, Dec. 5, the brewery taps Awkward 3 Way, a nut brown ale brewed with Pine State Coffee and vanilla. Friday, Dec. 8, sees the return of both Written in Blood, a port barrel-aged Belgian-style quadrupel with sangria fruit, and Bumblestick, a nut brown with toasted cinnamon. The same day will see the debut of And So it Gose, an imperial gose collaboration with New Sarum Brewing brewed with foraged prickly pear, Outer Banks sea salt, Rayburn Farm hibiscus and all NC Riverbend Malt. Finally, on Monday, Dec. 10, a Berlinnerweisse brewed with pineapple sage for Rayburn farm’s Plow to Pint Brew-off will be tapped.
• Catawba Brewing Co. releases two new small-batch brews this week, both available at all locations. On Thursday, Dec. 7, the brewery taps a Schwarzbier (5.2 percent ABV)  German-style black lager brewed with five specialty European malts and Bravo hops. Catawba will donate $1 from each Schwarzbier pint sold to a scholarship fund at a local Asheville school, which will be used to finance an educational trip for underprivileged eighth-graders. Then on Friday, Dec. 8, Catawba taps a new Imperial IPA (8.0 percent ABV) an 80 IBU West Coast-style DIPA hopped with Chinook, Citra, Amarillo and Cascade.
• Burial Beer Co. releases two new small-batch, draft-only beers this week. Pouring on Thursday, Dec. 7, Wandering in the Vast Emptiness is a 4 percent ABV Berliner weisse with cactus pear made with North Carolina wheat and barley, and aged on cactus pears and agave nectar. Then on Friday, Dec. 8, Enslaved by False Dreams, a 5 percent ABV mixed culture saison brewed with Rayburn Farm’s ginger and Chinese osmanthus flowers, makes its debut.
• Hi-Wire Brewing taps a new small-batch beer on Friday, Dec 8, at its South Slope sour and wild ale facility. PSA Pineapple Sage Abbey Ale, a 9 percent ABV dark Belgian-style malt-forward ale, was brewed by head of specialties Pete Batinksi for Rayburn Farm’s Plow To Pint Brew-off.
• Highland Brewing Co. releases a special small-batch collaboration brewed with Trappeze Pub in honor of the Athens, Ga., bar’s 10th anniversary. Oh Father Where Art Thou is a Belgian-style blonde brewed with caramelized grapefruit, cumin and pineapple sage, which will only be available in Highland’s tasting room and at the Trappeze Pub.

Special events

• Whistle Hop Brewing in Fairview hosts two special events this weekend. On Friday, Dec. 8, 4-10 p.m., the inaugural Festive Fairview Friday kicks off the holiday season with food from D.O.G.S., live music, a Howl-iday Blanket Drive for the wolfdogs of Full Moon Farm in Black Mountain, and the first ever Lighting of the Trains holiday light display.Then, on Saturday, Dec. 9, Whistle Hop celebrates its first anniversary with El Que Rubin food truck all day and live music from Pretty Little Goat string band 4-6 p.m.
• The Black Cloud in West Asheville has two events scheduled this week. The bar hosts its inaugural Krampusnacht festivities with drink specials and a costume contest on Tuesday, Dec. 5, starting at 8 p.m. Then Black Cloud celebrates its first anniversary on Saturday, Dec. 9, with a pre-party at the bar 6:30-10 p.m., followed by a free show at The Mothlight featuring Bask, Aether Realm and Daybreaker.
• Craft Centric Taproom & Bottle Shop holds its grand opening celebration on Saturday, Dec. 9, 11 a.m.-11 p.m. at 100 Julian Shoals Dr. Unit 40 in Arden.
• Rayburn Farm presents the first ever Plow To Pint Brew Off on Sunday, Dec. 10, starting at 11 a.m. Thirteen local breweries will compete to create the best tasting beer of any style brewed with pineapple sage from Rayburn Farm. The competition will be broken down into two parts. In the first round, members of the Asheville Brewers Alliance will pick the top eight brews that will move on to a ticketed public tasting round 11 a.m.-1 p.m. at Archetype Brewing in West Asheville. The winner will receive a prize from Rayburn Farm, River Bend Malt House and other sponsors. Tickets are available here.
• BREW-Ed owner Cliff Mori and Hi-Wire Brewing continue their free monthly beer education course with a lecture on kettle sours and American sour production on Monday, Dec. 11, 7-9 p.m. at Hi-Wire’s South Slope Specialty Brewery