Sharpen the blades

Posted on by Gina Smith

Burial Beer Co. may be on the edge of downtown, but it sees itself as a farmhouse brewery. Maybe that explains its affinity for saison, a traditional Belgian farmhouse-style ale. 

While the perfect plot has yet to materialize for Burial’s own farmhouse (the owners are looking), Burial is gathering a variety of North Carolina breweries to celebrate the farmhouse ale spirit on Friday, April 18. Sharpen the Blades, the first saison-centric beer festival in Asheville, will feature saisons from more than 15 North Carolina breweries. “People can expect this to grow every year and once we have the farmhouse brewery up and running, it will be a full-blown outdoor beer fest,” says Jess Reiser, one of the owners of Burial.

This year the event will be at Burial’s South Slope location on Collier Avenue. Starting at 4 p.m. on April 18, beer drinkers will be able to sample away. It will be a pay-as-you-go event, meaning you order the saisons you want rather than buying a wristband for unlimited drinking. Live music from the Hermit Kings and Octopus Jones will be playing 6-8 p.m. 

While there will certainly be some saisons from the usual suspects, such as Wicked Weed and Burial, there will also be rarities from other local and regional breweries. “I’m looking forward to Pisgah’s Ferme Saison, their first saison in over five years,” says Reiser, “and Green Man brewed a Grisette … a little-known relative of saisons originally brewed for workers in the mines.”

If you can’t make it on Friday, April 18, any saisons left from the fest will be served at Burial on Saturday, April 19, starting at 2 p.m. 

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