Beer today, gone tomorrow: Asheville beer happenings March 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

• Fonta Flora Brewery delivers a very limited supply of Bloody Butcher Appalachian Grisette to local bottle shops on Wednesday, March 9. Bloody Butcher is a 5.2 percent ABV grisette brewed with North Carolina barley, rye, wheat and native Bloody Butcher corn grown at Fox Farms of Burnsville, North Carolina.
• Green Man Brewery has released its first canned offering, Wayfarer IPA. The popular seasonal, previously available in 12 ounce bottles, is now on shelves in 12-packs of 12 ounce cans.
• Pisgah Brewing Co. rolls out its 2016 version of Hellbender, a barley wine ale brewed with organic grains and malts and whole cone hops, on Thursday, March 10. The release starts at 4 p.m. with 22-ounce bottles available as well as draft pours.
• Wicked Weed Brewing‘s Red Angel, an American sour with raspberries, is scheduled for pre-sale at noon Saturday, March 12, via Brown Paper Tickets. (The link will be posted on all Wicked Weed social media platforms at 10 a.m. the day of the sale.) Bottles of Red Angel (500 milliliters) are $20 each plus processing fees and North Carolina sales tax. There will be an option for the purchase of a case (12 bottles) or a half case (six bottles), which will include a Red Angel glass. Limit is one purchase per person. Pick-up days are Saturday, March 26, and Sunday, March 27, from noon to close at The Funkatorium.

Small-batch beers

• On Thursday, March 10, Burial Beer Co. adds Keeper’s Veil Honey Saison (5.3 percent ABV) to a week of new releases that also currently includes the revamped Surf Wax IPA (6.8 percent ABV) and The Forge Dry Hopped Sour Ale (4 percent ABV, kettle soured then dry hopped with three pounds of Galaxy, Amarillo and Citra hops per barrel), plus the return of Skillet Donut Stout (8 percent ABV) on Saturday, March 12.

Rare kegs

• Appalachian Vintner is pouring a cask of Fonta Flora Brewery Sal De Gusano Imperial Stout aged in mezcal barrels and with Outer Banks sea salt and cacao.
• Wicked Weed Brewing is currently pouring The Parking Lot Grisette, the first in a multi-part collaboration with Austin, TX-based Jester King Brewery. This 5.2 percent ABV tart farmhouse ale is currently available at the Funkatorium only, with bottles also on offer and limited distribution possible in the future.

Special events

• Sour Fest runs Monday, March 7, through Friday, March 11, at Thirsty Monk‘s downtown bar, featuring four new offerings each day. On Thursday, March 10, the Biltmore Park bar will have eight sours on draft (including The Unknown Brewing Co. Awkward in Auckland kiwi sour), and the Woodfin bar will showcase five (among them D9 Brewing Co. Whiskers on Kittens sour blonde).
• Bruisin’ Ales will host Catawba Brewing Co. on Thursday, March 10 at 5 p.m. for a tasting featuring the brewery’s newly released Peanut Butter Jelly Time brown ale, White Zombie, Le Sexxxy Saison, Astral Bootie IPA, and Rediculous Red IPA.
• On Thursday, March 10, at 5:30 p.m., Tasty Beverage Co. will put Left Hand Brewing Milk Stout through a Randall infuser with cocoa nibs, cinnamon and a touch of vanilla. The goal is to mimic the flavors of milk left over from a bowl of chocolaty cereal.
• Local Provisions holds a beer pairing dinner with New Belgium Brewing on Thursday, March 10 at 6:30 p.m. The five-course menu by executive chef Justin Burdett will be matched with 2016 La Folie sour brown ale, 2016 Transatlantique Kriek lambic ale, 2015 Le Terroir American Wild Ale, Citradelic Tangerine IPA and Blue Paddle Pilsner. Tickets are $65 per person and reservations may be made by calling 424-7815.
• Wicked Weed Brewing is expanding their sour production to a new facility this July. Read Scott Douglas’ article for details.