Hi-Wire Brewing To Release New Single Barrel Series

As Hi-Wire Brewing transitions their original Downtown Asheville brewery into a sour and wild ale facility to officially launch later this summer, they announce the release of a new, different line of limited specialty beers which they are calling the Single Barrel Series. All Single Barrel Series releases are small batches fermented 100% in oak barrels, bottle conditioned, and sold in cork and caged 750 ml bottles.

“Before we officially announced we were going to start making sour and wild ales, we started experimenting on a very small scale with Brettanomyces and souring bacteria like Lactobacillus,” says Hi-Wire’s Head Brewer Luke Holgate. “We didn’t want cross-contamination from these bugs in our pilot system tanks, so we decided to ferment these beers in barrels. What started as an experiment turned out be some really fun beers, so we decided to share them with everyone.”

The first two Single Barrel releases will be a 7.8% ABV Oak Fermented Dark Saison with Brettanomyces and a 4.8% ABV Oak Fermented Wild Ale Aged on Cherries and Raspberries. “The main purpose of the new series is experimentation,” says Head Specialty Brewer, Johnathan Parks. “These beers are very different from what you are going to see from our larger upcoming wild and sour program. Even though all of these beers will at a minimum contain Brett like our sour program, this series lets us experiment with new styles, ingredients, and techniques we wouldn’t normally use on a one-off basis. I’m excited about learning from these beers.”

Hi-Wire will release the first two beers in this new, limited series at their South Slope Specialty Brewery in Downtown Asheville on April 1st starting at 2pm. Production of these beers are limited to 120 bottles each and will not see distribution . Look for the official launch of their Sour Program later this summer.