Beer today, gone tomorrow: Asheville beer happenings Feb. 14-20

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

• Zebulon Artisan Ales will release its newest beer, Experimental Forest No. 1 (for La Monte Young), starting at 1 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 18, at the brewery in Weaverville. Experimental Forest No. 1 is a 7.4 percent ABV winter saison brewed with acorn flour in the mash, “dry-hopped with Fraser fir branches and aged in oak barrels and stainless with maple wood. Bottle-conditioned, cork and caged 750-milliliter bottles will be available at the brewery Friday and Saturday and at bottle shops early next week for $13 each.
  

  Small-batch beers

• Burial Beer Co. will tap three small-batch beers this week. First up, on Tuesday, Feb. 14, Hawkbill IPA will return; then, on Friday, Feb. 17, Billows Hoppy Kolsch returns alongside Hawksaw Dunkel, a 5 percent ABV German-style dunkel brewed with Bonlander Munich, Melanoidin, Carafa II and dark chocolate malts, hopped with Tettnang and Willamette. Hawkbill and Billows are also available in six-packs of 12-ounce cans.
• Catawba Brewing Co. releases its New England Double IPA on Thursday, Feb. 16, at all Catawba locations. This hazy, intensely hopped 8 percent ABV IPA is brewed with a significant portion of flaked wheat hop resin.
• On Friday, Feb. 17, starting at 5 p.m. Asheville Brewing Co. will tap Good Helles German-style lager, which has spent more than two months lagering. This 6.2 percent ABV unfiltered golden lager has been lightly dry-hopped with whole cone Saaz, and the malt bill includes Riverbend Malt House’s Heritage malt plus Vienna and German pilsner malts. This beer will be released on draft only at Asheville Brewing’s brewpubs.
• On Friday, Feb. 17, Thirsty Monk will release Hazy Monk, a 6.6 percent ABV Northeast-style IPA. This three-yeast Belgian-American blend was triple dry-hopped with three different hop strains to enhance cloudiness while malted oats add a creaminess to the body.
• Blue Ghost Brewery and Mills River Brewery will release a collaboration brew, High Falls Amber Saison with Tart Cherries, at Mills River Brewery on Friday, Feb. 17, starting at 6 p.m.
  

  Special events

• On Tuesday, Feb. 14, from 4-8 p.m. Highland Brewing Co. will host a beer and dessert pairing with French Broad Chocolates at the Highland taproom. Suggested pairings include salted peanut brittle with Gaelic Ale, chocolate cake with strawberry cream cheese and Southern Sixer IPA, rose and honey eclairs with Highland Pilsner, and mini beerimisu with a special Black Watch and Raspberry Tart Valentine’s Day beer cocktail. Dessert flights are $7.50, and beer flights are $8.00 Also available on tap will be Yours Truli, a special Bavarian wheat ale brewed with triticale grain from Epiphany Malt House in Durham, N.C., honoring North Carolina’s first brewery owner, Uli Bennewitz of Weeping Radish Farm Brewery.
• The Bold Rock Mills River tapoom will host a Valentine’s Date Night from 5:30-9:30 p.m. featuring a three-course prime rib dinner that includes a pint of cider and custom ciders paired to the appetizer and dessert course. Tickets are $40 per person and are limited. Purchase tickets at the Mills River Tap Room or at boldrock-valentines-date-night-021417.eventbrite.com.
• Sierra Nevada will host a Valentine’s Day beer and chocolate pairing at the Mills River brewery on Tuesday, Feb. 14, from 6:30-7:30 p.m. This guided tasting will pair locally sourced chocolates with samples of limited-release Sierra Nevada beers included in the $30 ticket price.
• Catawba Brewing Co. will host a cheese, chocolate and beer pairing on Tuesday, Feb. 14, at its South Slope tasting room from 7-9 p.m. Four pairings of beer with cheese and chocolate will be guided by Crawford Rizor of French Broad Chocolates and Ashley Ioakimedes of Looking Glass Creamery. Tickets are $29.
• The February edition of Monk Beer Academy will be held at the downtown Thirsty Monk on Tuesday, Feb. 14, from 7-8 p.m. This month’s class will explore the unique qualities of barley, mashing, malting and more over a specially selected flight. Attendance is free with the cost of the flight, and those interesting in attending can RSVP for the February session here.
• The Asheville chapter of Girls’ Pint Out will host its Valentine’s Day celebration at Craft Room Growlers in South Asheville on Wednesday, Feb. 15, from 6-8 p.m.
• On Saturday, Feb. 18, at 4 p.m. Blue Ghost Brewery will host a release party for High Falls Amber Saison, its collaboration with Mills River Brewery, featuring food from Big Mikes BBQ and live bluegrass.
• The Asheville Brewers Alliance will host its second AVL Beer Expo On Saturday, Feb. 18, at The Venue in downtown Asheville. The event is divided into two sessions (1-4 p.m. and 5-8 p.m.) with industry professionals speaking on topics covering all elements of craft beer production (from raw ingredients to brewing to packaging and distribution) while providing tastes of some of Western North Carolina’s finest beers. Each session costs $30 and includes a variety of panel discussions, an 8-ounce tasting glass, and five beer tokens. Check here for more info.