Beer today, gone tomorrow: Asheville beer happenings Nov. 9-14

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

• On Thursday, Nov. 10, at 4 p.m. Highland Brewing Co. will release its 20th anniversary edition of Cold Mountain Winter Ale alongside the new Imperial Cold Mountain. The line will form early, and purchases are allocated per person, per day through the weekend. One-off casks and infusions will be available  in the taproom. Bottles will be available at local specialty retailers starting Monday, Nov. 14. Read more about Cold Mountain in Edwin Arnaudin’s most recent Beer Scout article.
• Asheville Brewing Co. will host a party to benefit Connect Buncombe and release the third batch of I9PA on Thursday, Nov. 10, from 7-11 p.m. at The Millroom. Created in partnership with Industry Nine Componentry, this year’s I9PA was hopped with Mosaic, Citra and Equinox Lupulin, a high oil-content hop dust, and was dry-hopped twice using 2 pounds of hops per barrel. The malt bill  for this 7.4 percent ABV fruit-forward IPA consists of Light German Pilsner and Carahell malts, plus wheat. Admission to the party is free with a suggested $5 donation to support Connect Buncombe.
• On Friday, Nov. 11, Nantahala Brewing Co. will release 22-ounce bottles of Pattons Run Porter at the brewery in Bryson City. This 4.5 percent ABV brown porter has long been a fall staple on draft at the brewery, but this will be the first time the beer has been packaged. Bottles will be available at specialty retailers in the following weeks.

Special events

• On Saturday, Nov. 12, Olde Hickory Brewing will release The Event Horizon Spectrum Series starting at 9 a.m. The Spectrum variants include coffee-cinnamon, orange-cocoa, vanilla-coconut and coffee-chocolate. The night before the release from 6-9 p.m., a bottle share will be held at the brewery. Bottles will go on sale at 9 a.m. the following morning for $20 each. The number of bottles will be limited to three of each variant per customer. Wristbands will be handed out to the first 240 people in line, and those who received wristbands are guaranteed the opportunity to purchase the full allotment. Should remaining bottles be available, customers will be allowed to go back through the line to purchase more. Each of the Spectrum series will be on tap the morning of the release for full pours or flights. Merchandise will also be available. This is a cash-only event.
• Hi-Wire Brewing will host its second Stout Bout on Saturday, Nov. 12, from 1-5 p.m. The festival will include a blind tasting featuring a variety of stouts from breweries around the Southeast. From 1-3 p.m. attendees will be able to taste as many beers as they wish and cast a vote for their top two favorite stouts. At 3 p.m., voting will close, and at 3:30 p.m. winners will be announced and all beers will be revealed to attendees. If there is beer left, full pours will be made available to customers for purchase. Stout Bout will also be the first opportunity for drinkers to buy Pulcinella Russian Imperial Stout, a traditional RIS aged for 10 months in  Napa Valley Zinfandel, Kentucky bourbon and St. Croix dark rum barrels. Bottles of Pulcinella will be available for sale at the event for $12 with a limit of six bottles per person.
• Goose Island Beer Co. Migration Week returns to Asheville from Wednesday, Nov. 9, through Saturday, Nov. 12. On Wednesday, Nov. 9, the Grit and Grain Bourbon County Stout Rare Share will take place at the Bier Garden from  7-9 p.m. Segments of the brewery’s Grit and Grain documentary will be screened along with a barrel aging Q&A session with a Goose Island brewer. Big John, Bourbon County Vanilla Rye and a mystery beer will be pouring, and opportunities to buy rare bottles will be raffled off. This event will be followed at 9 p.m by the Migration Week Kick-off Celebration at The Orange Peel featuring a live performance by the Chris Robinson Brotherhood. Then, on Thursday, Nov. 10, from 5;30-6:30 p.m. a free beer and cheese pairing will be held at the GreenLife Grocery on Merrimon Avenue (RSVP here). This will be followed by a five-course beer dinner at Smokey Park Supper Club from 7:30-10 p.m. featuring food pairings from chef Michael Troost of Chicago’s Three Aces and Charlatan alongside the chefs of Smokey’s. Tickets can be purchased here. Next, on Friday, Nov.11, a Celebration of Beers will be hosted from 8-11 p.m. at The Salvage Station featuring live music, Chicago-inspired meals by guest chef Michael Galen of Chicago’s The Bedford and Buck’s and beers, including 2014 Proprietor’s Reserve and 2015 Bourbon County Stout, Regal Rye and Coffee.The first 100 people to RSVP will receive a food ticket and beer tokens. Finally, on Saturday, Nov. 12, from 11 a.m.-2 p.m., a brunch will be held at an undisclosed location roughly 10 miles outside of Asheville, which will be revealed upon RSVP. The brunch will feature Sophie Belgian-style Farmhouse Ale as well as mystery beer tent. All tickets are donation-based with proceeds going to an Asheville charity.