Beer today, gone tomorrow: Asheville beer happenings Dec. 8-14

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/can releases

• Hi-Wire Brewing releases Tropical Fruit Golden Strong Ale on Friday, Dec. 11 Friday, Dec. 18. This fruit-forward, 11 percent ABV American-style golden strong was brewed with fresh guava, papaya and mango. A one-time release, Tropical Fruit will be available in 22-ounce bottles in addition to a highly limited draft presence in North Carolina, South Carolina and Tennessee.
• Foothills Brewing will be offering its Jade IPA in six-packs of 12-ounce bottles, due to hit shelves in specialty retailers this week. First released in 2011 in 22-ounce packaging, Jade quickly became one of the brewery’s best sellers and is notable for the tropical fruit characteristics imparted by the brew’s titular Pacific Jade hops.
• Fonta Flora Brewery has 750 millimeter bottles of Beets, Rhymes and Life (a 5.2 percent ABV local beet saison) and Brine (a 5.2 percent ABV oyster saison) in its Morganton taproom starting Friday, Dec. 11 at 5 p.m. $12 per bottle and limit one case per person.
• On Saturday, Dec. 12, Burial Beer Co. releases Beaver Moon, the 11th release in its year long Moon Series. The beer is an Imperial Brown brewed with hickory bark syrup and aged on hickory wood. The 750-milliliter bottles cost $16 and there’s a purchase limit of two per person. The first 15 people who buy bottles will receive a free pint glass with the Moon Series owl logo on it.
• Bottle sales of Wicked Weed Brewing Angel of Darkness barrel-aged American sour ale will commence Saturday, Dec. 12 at 12 p.m. at The Funkatorium with a six bottle maximum per person. Due to the limited quantity of bottles, it is highly plausible that the stock will sell out, but those who attend will also have the opportunity to purchase a surprise Angel variety.

Small-batch beers

• Burial Beer Co. has four new releases this week in its taproom: Shadowclock, a 5.9 percent ABV Bohemian lager made with German barley and American corn, then dry-hopped with Sterling and Tettnanger hops (Tuesday, Dec. 8); Blade and Sheath Hoppy Farmhouse, a simple, 6.4 percent ABV country-side saison made with Riverbend Malthouse Rye malt and flaked oats, then dry hopped with Calypso, Nelson Sauvin and El Dorado (Thursday, Dec. 10); The Forge Tomatillo Mexican Lager, a 4.6 percent ABV beer brewed with corn, Riverbend Malthouse Pilsner malt and estate tomatillos, then aged on chili peppers from Burial’s gardens as well as key lime (Thursday, Dec. 10); and The Forge Kombucha Imperial Stout, an 8 percent ABV beer brewed with a decadent malt bill and milk sugars and aged on cranberries and vanilla bean, then blended with a tart batch of house-made kombucha in post-fermentation (Saturday, Dec. 12).
• All four Thirsty Monk bars will debut its brewery’s Woodstove Winter Warmer on Thursday, Dec. 10. The 7.1 percent ABV offering is brewed using freshly grated nutmeg, ginger and cinnamon, plus a hint of vanilla bean.
• As of Thursday, Dec. 10, Hi-Wire Brewing ‏is pouring a Smoked Habanero Porter (8 percent ABV).
• On Friday, Dec. 11, Green Man Brewery releases Teddy 2 Hops in its taproom. Brewed with Rahr pale ale malt and dry-hopped with two pounds per barrel of El Dorado and Simcoe hops, the tropical fruit forward IPA is bursting with notes of pineapple, peach and watermelon.

Special events

• Thirsty Monk hosts a Winter Brew Night at its downtown location at 4 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 10. Bartenders will be pouring Anchor Brewing Co. Christmas Ale, Foothills Brewing Sexual Chocolate, Prairie Artisan Ales Christmas Bomb! imperial stout, 21st Amendment Fireside Chat, Van Steenberge Gulden Draak Brewmaster’s Reserve, Chimay Chimay Grande Reserve, Brasserie de Silly Silly Noel, Brasserie Dubuisson Scaldis Noel, Highland Brewing Co. Cold Mountain Winter Ale, Pisgah Brewing Co. Chocolatized imperial stout, Great Divide Hibernation Ale, Grand Teton Pursuit of Hoppiness, Samuel Adams Merry Maker Gingerbread Stout, and Thirsty Monk Normtrooper Imperial Stout.
• Bruisin’ Ales‘ latest free tasting highlights the Ballast Point Brewing family with help from the brewery’s Rick Sprink. On Thursday, Dec. 10 from 5-7 p.m., samples of Grunion Pale Ale, Sculpin IPA (plus the Grapefruit and Habanero versions), The Commodore American Stout and Victory at Sea Imperial Porter will be poured.
• On Saturday, Dec. 12, at noon, Wicked Weed Brewing will be selling retired bourbon, gin, wine and tequila barrels from its sour program. Wicked Weed brewers will be present at the Funkatorium to give instructions regarding recouping and barrel preparation for aging beer as well as transforming whole barrels into planters, single staves, chips for smoking meats, home bars and more. Customers are asked to please bring the appropriate vehicle, straps, and blankets to get the wood goods home safely. Wicked Weed staff will help customers load up and lock down barrels.