Beer today, gone tomorrow: Asheville beer happenings Sept. 27- Oct. 3

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.

Small-batch beers

• Burial Beer Co. will tap three new beers this week, starting Wednesday, Sept. 27, with Seekers Who Are Lovers Cucumber Wheat Pale Ale. This 5.6 percent ABV pale is brewed with a rustic malt bill of Golden Promise, red wheat, flaked barley and honey malt and hopped with Huell Melon, Summer, Calypso and El Dorado with cucumber from Burial’s urban garden and sweet orange peel. On Friday, Sept. 29, the brewery debuts the Black Phoenix Black Rye Double IPA, brewed in collaboration with Revelry Brewing of Charleston, SC. Black Phoenix features Seashore Black Rye, a nearly extinct heirloom variety found in the Carolina low country, malted by Asheville’s Riverbend Malt House. This 8.9 percent ABV black IPA is hopped with Amarillo, El Dorado, Chinook and Cascade. Finally, the latest iteration The Forge small-batch staff series starts pouring Saturday, Sept. 30. The Forge: Fresh Hop Honey Ale (6.7 percent ABV), crafted by Burial’s head of packaging, Zach Hillyer, is brewed with pilsner, flaked barley and honey malt; fresh Chinook and Nugget hops from Lucky Duck Farm in Hendersonville and wildflower honey.
• On Thursday, Sept. 29, Catawba Brewing Co. releases a small-batch traditional German kolsch honoring Thomas Wolfe and the 40th anniversary of the Thomas Wolfe 8K race. Wolfeman Kolsch was brewed with native Western North Carolina hops that had roots in the ground at the time famed author Thomas Wolfe
  called Asheville home. The hops were long believed to be English in origin, but after a series of dry-hopping trials, Catawba brewers determined they were more closely related to Noble hop varieties like Hallertau or Tettnang.
• Twin Leaf Brewery will tap two new IPAs on Friday, Sept. 30. The first, Mango’s and Cream Double IPA (8.8 percent ABV), was brewed with citrusy hops and lactose sugar, then conditioned on 8 pounds per barrel of fresh mango and vanilla bean. The second, Spring of Arda Tropical IPA, is an oat-heavy 6.4 percent ABV tropical IPA hopped extensively with Mosaic, Idaho No. 7 and Belma.

Special events

• **NEW** Throughout the month of October, several local and regional breweries will be donating proceeds from specific draft sales to the Jason William Hunt Foundation, a non-profit dedicated to helping at-risk teens through therapeutic wilderness awareness training. Donations based on October sales of One World Brewing’s Mountain High Rye, Oyster House Brewing’s Moonstone Oyster Stout, Wicked Weed Brewing’s Dirndl Bock, Oskar Blues Beerito and Blue Mountain Pizza and Brewpub’s Aji Porter will go to fund 40-80 day wilderness expedition programs for teens, with donations from Blind Squirrel Brewery not tied to a specific beer.
• Bruisin’ Ales‘ free weekly tasting on Thursday, Sept. 29, will feature beers from Hi-Wire Brewing from 5-7 p.m. Free samples of the brewery’s newest beers and fall seasonal will be available, including Pumpkin Lager, Pink Drink, Lion Tamer Rye IPA, Zirkusfest Marzen, and Good Vibes Fresh Hop IPA.
• The downtown Thirsty Monk will host a Brewing for Greenways fundraiser benefiting Friends of Connect Buncombe on Thursday, Sept. 29. Urban Trail Hoppy Pale Ale, a collaboration between Sierra Nevada Brewing Co. and Highland Brewing Co., will be tapped, with a portion of sales going to FCB to help in efforts to establish greenways and trails throughout Buncombe County. You can read more about this event as well as local breweries’ ongoing efforts to support FCB and other environmental organizations in Scott Douglas’ most recent Beer Scout article.
• On Thursday, Sept. 29, Highland Brewing Co. will donate $1 from each pint sold at the brewery’s tasting room to MANNA Food Bank and will be accepting canned food donations for the organization. Highland will also collect donations of canned goods following brewery tours throughout September.
• On Saturday, Oct. 1, from noon-7 p.m., Wicked Weed Brewing will host its annual Oktoberfest celebration downstairs at the Biltmore Avenue brewpub. The brewery’s German-style beers will be pouring, and traditional German food will be available along with live music from a polka band.