Beer today, gone tomorrow: Asheville beer happenings March 22-28

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

• Zebulon Artisan Ales has released Batch #3 (for J. G. Ballard), a traditional grisette brewed with pilsner malt and raw wheat and hopped with Styrian Goldings and Sterling hops. The 750-milliliter bottles are $8 each and there is a six-bottle per person limit at the brewery, where they’re available 1-6 p.m. Friday and Saturday, March 25-26. Batch #3 is also for sale at local bottle shops.

Small-batch beers

• Burial Beer Co. began pouring a new batch of Gandasa Double IPA (8 percent ABV, dry-hopped with plentiful amounts of Amarillo, Citra, Mosaic and Calypso) on Monday, March 21, and taps Massacre of the Innocents IPA (6 percent ABV, made with a wild strain of yeast and dry hopped with Galaxy and Citra hops) on Wednesday, March 23. The Prayer Biere d’ Cobbler (a 6.8 percent ABV Belgian-style blonde brewed using toasted oats, pilsner, torrified wheat, Vienna and honey malts, candi sugar and Rakau and Tettnanger hops then aged on plums and peaches) debuts Friday, March 25.
• On Monday, March 21, Asheville Brewing Co. tapped I9.0 IPA at its Merrimon Avenue and Coxe Avenue locations and debuts Hannibal Nectar on Thursday, March 24. Brewed in honor of the 25th anniversary of The Silence of the Lambs, the sour red ale is made with blood orange and guava. It will be available on draft at the Coxe Avenue brewery, South Asheville pizzeria and Merrimon Avenue location, the latter of which will host screenings of Jonathan Demme’s film on Thursday, March 24, at 7 and 10 p.m. accompanied by chianti specials and free Hannibal Lecter masks.
• Hi-Wire Brewing taps a new Small Batch IPA on Wednesday, March 23 at its Hilliard Ave. location. Brewers have been experimenting with different hop combinations on the pilot system and this Amarillo, Centennial and Simcoe offering is the first of that series. The 6.4 percent ABV beer will be available at Hi-Wire’s Big Top location by the end of the week.

Special events

• Appalachian Vintner hosts an evening featuring the beers of Dogfish Head Craft Brewery 5-7:45 p.m. Tuesday, March 22. The brand-new Beer to Drink Music To (a 9 percent ABV Belgian-style tripel brewed with sweet orange peel, green cardamom, peppercorns and vanilla) will be poured, and all Dogfish Head bottled beer will be on deep discount.
• Thirsty Monk celebrates Orval Day on Saturday, March 26 at its downtown bar. A portion of the proceeds from sales of Orval Trappist Ale bottles will be donated to MAP International.

New breweries and bars

• Basic Brewing is now open in downtown Hendersonville at 131 Third Ave. W. The taproom is currently pouring beers by Blind Squirrel Brewery, Boojum Brewing Co., Brevard Brewing Co., Foothills Brewing, French Broad Brewery, Innovation Brewing and Twin Leaf Brewery. Owners Linda and Rich Wenger expect to be brewing their own beer by late summer.

Extended hours

• The Funkatorium is currently operating under its expanded Spring hours; Monday through Thursday from 2 p.m.-10 p.m., Friday and Saturday from 12 p.m.-12 a.m., and Sunday from 12 p.m.-10 p.m.

Brewery expansion

• Fonta Flora Brewery has recently secured a a new home for its second production brewery, a historic farmhouse estate purchased in cooperation with Foothills Land Conservancy of North Carolina and Lake James State Park. See Scott’s article here, and read more about the project in the March 30 print edition of Mountain Xpress.
• Deschutes Brewery has announced the selection Roanoke, VA as the location for its East Coast production facility despite a long and costly campaign to bring the brewery to Asheville. Read Xpress’ coverage here.