Asheville Beer: Craggie Brewing's Anniversary Week - Nov 16th - 21st

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Beer City Fest in Asheville - because we have won!

Despite all of the wonder on how "Asheville" could win the Beer City USA title, we did win. How could a City the size of AVL beat other bigger cities with 10 times the amount of people? The Craft Beer subculture in the area is tremendous. We brew, home brew, drink, celebrate, enjoy, party and have fun. These are not your average beer drinkers either. Boutique brew puts a whole new light on the subject. With advocates such as Barley's Taproom, Bruisin Ales, Highland Brewing and so many others popping up on the scene; Asheville continues to grow as the Brew Mecca. Asheville??? Yes... Asheville!!!

Here are some video clips from the recent Beer City Fest at Pack Square Park in downtown AVL.



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Wine & Beer in North Asheville Woodfin at Vino Vino

 There are so many great wine shops in the Asheville area. Some are downtown and others run in every direction in the County. Vino Vino Wine Market is located at 178 Weaverville Rd Asheville NC 28804, and this is in the Woodfin area. They have wine tastings every Saturday and the have an awesome wine kiosk where you can get 1, 2, or 5 ounces of wine and hang out at the bar they have or sit outside at the tables.



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Hop Head Dream tonight in Asheville NC

Introducing 4 new India Pale Ale's - being released tonight from Green Man Brewing to the Asheville community starting at 4pm. These will be available until the kegs run out, which may not be too long with this Asheville neighborhood beer crowd.
These are the same beer, but each one brewed with a different variety of hop. These crafts brews are Dry-Hopped in Asheville, meaning hops are added after the fermentation process which produces a strong hop aroma.
Cascade Hops - The Original - Old School
Amarillo - Super Cascade - Secret Weapon
Columbus - Very Bitter - Zeus and Tomahawk
Simcoe - Most Intense Hop
Come by Green Man Brewing to sample all 4 for $4.50. Located on 23 Buxton Ave in downtown Asheville NC. 828-252-5502

Asheville Mustard - Made With Beer - by Crooked Condiments

Hello, I am Chelsea Madison, one of three owners of Crooked Condiments. We make and bottle gourmet condiments which feature local ingredients. Our office/ kitchen is in North Asheville. The 3 owners of the business area: Chelsea Madison, Nick Barr, Lee Madison.

The idea started when my boyfriend Nick and I started talking about opening a farm to table restaurant in Asheville. Having both worked in restaurants for years, we knew the risks. So we came up with the idea
of making gourmet condiments. This way we can still focus on our love of food and use local ingredients. My mom, Lee, is the business savvy one who knew the steps to take to start and maintain a successful venture.

We started production in January 2009. Lee, my mom is from Asheville and I was born and raised in Asheville. Nick moved here in 2001 and fell in love everything Asheville, including me! My favorite things about Asheville or WNC are the mountains and beauty of the landscape, and of course the vibrant culinary scene. And who doesn’t want to live in Beer City USA?

Asheville is blessed with a strong and loyal community. That is obvious with the constant push to buy local. I am proud my community shops a tailgate markets, visits local galleries, and participates in annual charity events like Dining out for Life and Dine to be Kind. We are deeply invested in the sustainability of Asheville. Not only is our business local, we use local ingredients. “Asheville” is front and centered on every label because Asheville was the real inspiration for the business.

Name 3 other businesses in Asheville or WNC that you regularly network with and why: First is Highland Brewery. When we started experimenting with recipes we knew we wanted to use local beer. Highland Gaelic Ale was our first winner. They are amazing to work with and are always willing to cross promote. Asheville Brewing Company approached us and asked us to design a product with their beer. Ninja Porter Mustard is what we created. Since then we have worked together on a number of fun projects. Greenlife Grocery has also been fantastic. We do regular tastings there, and we participate in their tailgate market.

Cucina 24 was the first restaurant in town to use our products on their menu. The chef, Brian Canipelli, is
supportive and we are always amazed to see the many creative ways he uses our products. Martha Dugger designed our labels and logo! We always get compliments on both.

The top 3 products we offer and sell are: Gaelic Ale Mustard. Ninja Porter Mustard and Apple Butter. We started with mustard because I am allergic to peppers and Nick and my mom were quite practiced in finding new ways to give me a spicy fix.

Crooked Condiments - Tastes and Tales of Asheville.
PO BOX 18002 Asheville, NC 28804
http://www.crookedcondiments.com/
CrookedCondiments@Gmail.com
828-645-7200

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Asheville Reps for Highland Brewing's 15th Anniversary Party

What a great time all of us had last night at Highland Brewing Company in Asheville North Carolina. Highland, along with Barley's Pizza, was celebrating 15 years in business in the WNC area. While Asheville is a beer city, they are part of the beer heritage in the community, having the first microbrewery in Asheville NC. Exciting times then, now, and so much more to come in the near future. Here are some clips of local people sending some shout-outs of support for Highland. In this video: See Julie from Bruisin Ales, Kevin from Asheville Independent Restaurants and the Grove Park Inn, Richard Lutovsky - President and CEO of the Asheville Chamber, Now You See Them - popular local Asheville musicians, Dan from Skyland Distributing, Jimi from Barley's Pizza and Taproom, Bill from PaleoSun Web Design, and Drea - a Broker with Candy Whitt & Associates. Fun fun for everyone. Beer beer was everywhere. Thank you Highland Brewing for being a pioneer craft beer company in Asheville and for making this 15th Anniversary Party night a landmark community event.

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The King of Beers, Ha... Asheville Has The Queen!

Jason & Julie Atallah, Owners, Managers, and Beerlanthropists (Beerlanthropy® is our registered trademark.)


Bruisin' Ales, a beer-only boutique store, in downtown Asheville. Over 800 different beers from around the world and around the corner. Rated #1 Beer Store “Best of WNC”, #3 Best Beer Retailer Worldwide by RateBeerBest 2009, and One of the Top Ten Bottle Shops in US by Imbibe Magazine.

We are the key people in our business (owner-operated) and we also have one single and extremely knowledge employee, Mike Guarracino.

A great beer town deserves a great beer store. The laws had changed in NC, we always loved Asheville, knew a lot about Belgian beer, and decided to uproot, quit corporate life and open a beer store. We opened in Dec. 2006. Asheville is THE hotspot for beer in the South. We hoped to bring the beer culture found in Denver, the Pacific Northwest, Northeast and California to our corner of the world. It's great to be a part of the changes going on the Southeast.

Our favorite things about Asheville WNC is the scenery, the lifestyle and the people, and of course, the BEER. So much beer and beer-knowledgeable people.

The greater WNC/Asheville area is extremely supportive of small business. I'm sure we're not alone in being extremely grateful and forever amazed at the amazing people in this community. We also find it remarkable and the number of beer people in this town. Sure a nice Red Zin or martini hits the spot sometimes, but beer is where it's at around these parts.

There is really nothing like our business model. There are other wine and beer stores, but that was never the aim of Bruisin' Ales. We're more than just a storefront. Beer has always been considered a lesser beverage and our store is about changing that perception, experimenting with styles and flavors (12oz are all sold in singles, “mix-a-six”), and education via tastings and dinners, often with representatives from the breweries or importers on-hand if anyone has questions. So, far we've had Lee Chase, formerly of Stone Brewing Co.; Sam Calagione, founder of Dogfish Head Brewery; Adam Avery, founder of Avery Brewing Co.; and Rob Tod, founder of Allagash Brewing, to name a few. As our trademark states, it's all about the beerlanthropy®!

Name 3 other businesses in Asheville or WNC that you regularly network with and why:

Ninemile: (@ninemile) This popular Asheville restaurant is active online in social media, particularly Twitter; it is another privately owned business like ours; and they have a kick-ass, ever-changing taplist.

Applied Solutions Group: (@ashevilleweb) These design folks help us transition into a new web redesign in 2009. We're now so much easier to communicate with via the Bruisin' Beer Blog, Facebook, Twitter and more. They're also helping us launch our new online store in early 2010! These guys rock.

The Thirsty Monk: (@monkpub) The place to go for craft beer right now in Asheville. We're proponents of our local craft beer, but sometimes you want something different or have an opportunity to try something rare. Ever-changing taps keep us there at least twice a week. We also have successfully matched up events when brewery people are in town, such as FREE tastings at Bruisin' Ales, followed by special cask events at The Thirsty Monk.

What are the top 3 products you offer and/or sell at your business?
Every day topsellers: Pisgah Pale Ale/Pisgah Brewing Co, Black Mountain, NC; Two Hearted Ale/Bell's Brewing Co., Kalamazoo, MI; Green Flash West Coast IPA/Green Flash Brewing Company, Vista, CA.
By sales: Pisgah Pale Ale/Pisgah Brewing Co., Black Mountain, NC; Pisgah Vortex II/Pisgah Brewing Co., Black Mountain, NC; Highland Cold Mountain/Highland Brewing Co., Asheville, NC

You'd think differently, but we actually get only a handful of people per year that come through our doors asking for watery domestics. This makes us happy. The revolution is happening!

Bruisin' Ales
“A High-Gravity World of Brews”
66 Broadway Street, Asheville, NC 28801
Email: General: beer@bruisin-ales.com Online Orders: orders@bruisin-ales.com
Phone #: 828-252-8999
 

*Beer Queen Photo Courtesy of Jason Sanford of Ashvegas!

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Miller Lite Rock Girls in Asheville NC, Beer City USA

The Casting Call was made, and here are the winners! Miller Lite has always been pretty big when it comes to marketing. Even in many movies, when actors were seen picking up a beer, it was a Miller Lite. Recently, a friend of ours (in this photo) invited us to a party and calendar signing at The Asheville Ale House which is located right across from Wild Wing Cafe. Local Asheville women getting it on with Miller Lite. 2010 looks like a great year already!

Although Asheville North Carolina is filled with breweries such as Highland Brewing Company and many more; commercial brands still find a good place in our society. Some love Craft Beer, while others love the traditional brands. Someone was joking on Twitter recently that Asheville is the only place they go to that sells local craft brews out of Budweiser carts at festivals such as Bele Chere. Julie from Bruisin Ales in Asheville is our local infamous Beer Queen and beerlanthropist. She Rocks!!

Asheville is big on local music and local beer. We have strong supporters of our local brews but we are not so closed minded that we do not welcome outside brands such as Miller Lite, PBR and others to come, join us, and be a part of the AVL brew drinking community.

Visit the Asheville Radio Station 105.9 The Mountain for more information about the Miller Lite Rock Girl Calendar and some desktop wallpapers for your computer. MR Motorcycle in AVL also sponsored this project. Photography by Rebecca D'Angelo. To attend future signing parties at Elaine's, Broadways, and the Bier Garden with the Miller Lite crew, click HERE.

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Asheville Beer by Bruisin' Ales

Bruisin' Ales, Asheville's renowned beer-only store, boasts over 700 brews from around the world (and around the corner). The small, colorful boutique shop in the heart of downtown is a treasure trove for beer lovers—specializing in Belgians, Belgian-style, American craft brews, and the very best from around the world. The unique bottle shop set-up allows customers to "Mix-a-Six."

Choose from the shelves or two coolers chocked full with a constantly rotating stock. A large selection of glassware, books, t-shirts, hats and other breweriana await. Visit the website for an up-to-date listing of available selections, as well as a beer blog and event calendar. Join the mailing list and get the early scoop of Bruisin' events.

Free in-store tastings every other Thursday, 5-7pm!!

Owned and operated by Jason and Julie Atallah since 2006, Bruisin' Ales has quickly become known in the beer world and was recently rated the #3 Best Beer Retailer Worldwide by RateBeer Best 2009. The store has been featured in All About Beer, BeerAdvocate magazine, Ale Street News, and Southern Brew News.

66 Broadway Street in Asheville NC
www.bruisinales.com

Asheville's Thirsty Monk Bar is growing

Passed by and saw that Thirsty Monk has some seating out front like College Street and Jack of the Wood, both of which are right across the street. So add Athena's, which is about 300 feet up the street, and The Yacht Club, and you have 5 really cool bars and places to chill within 2 minutes of each other. Lots of action going on in Downtown Asheville. Come check it out! 828-254-5470

Asheville Yacht Club (not boat team) under construction

Downtown Asheville is home to many bars and nightlife choices. Here is the Asheville Yacht Club on the corner of Coxe Avenue and Downtown Patton. I just saw people hanging out in this window a few days ago. Remodel or accident?

Vino Vino Wine of North Asheville North Carolina

They used to be up on the hill next to Nick's Subs in North Asheville, but have now moved a little North. Heading North on Merrimon, it is on the left about 1/4 of a mile past the Woodfin/North Asheville ABC Store.

When we went in previously, John (one of the owners) was serving wine samples, cheese, and chocolates to several clients. You can visit them online at www.vinovinowines.com