Tag Archives: downtown asheville

It's been a pleasantly exhausting ABW to this point. After the opening fest-focused weekend, the past few days have centered on many smaller tasting events and beer dinners, culminating in last night's Goose Island specialty beers tapping (2013 Lolita, 2014 Bourbon County Brand Barleywine, The Illinois) at Appalachian Vintner (745 S. Biltmore) and the Not So Big BIG Beer Fest at Thirsty Monk's future brewery location near Biltmore Village (92 Thompson St.), where that line-up even included the prized Westbrook Mexican Cake. But, with a few days left to go, I offer these few additional picks:

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Last year was my first Asheville Beer Week experience, and this year the only thing that would excite me more than the 9-day 2015 Asheville Beer Week (May 22-30) would be a 31-day Asheville Beer Month! While a full month of May filled with special beer events would put my stamina and “party grampa” (#partygrampa) status to the test, I believe I'd be up for the challenge. Alas, it is but an extended week...and here's what I'll be enjoying this first weekend:

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A local startup is gearing up to blast off May 20th, 2015. MobRocket, brainchild of David Bentley is launching out of the gate with one pursuit in mind: take down popular deals website Groupon. Since its inception in 2008,  Groupon has been helping businesses reach new customers by using their deals related online platform. The premise behind the popular website is that consumers purchase a product at a significantly reduced price. The vendors pay Groupon to promote the deal, and a portion of the profits for the sale in exchange for placing the product in front of customers. The sales giant reaches businesses in over 500 worldwide markets, and is currently valued at over $1 billion dollars.

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Hey Rosetta! is celebrating the release of their new record Second Sight (out now via Sonic Records) with a spring tour. The album is receiving critical acclaim—Vice’s Noisey states that it’s “music worth screaming about” andNOW Magazine adds, “Calling it their pinnacle might be premature, butSecond Sight is so damn invigorating that it may just be their best yet.”

Second Sight was recorded at Montreal’s MixArt studio and produced by Marcus Paquin (Arcade Fire, Stars, The National). Of the recording process Paquin explains, “I challenged the band to pull influence from new places and check out new sounds and let go of what they had accomplished in their demos. From those new sounds and inspirations, Tim’s lyrics just kept expanding. Musically and dynamically, this record has an extremely wide range compared to where we started. And Tim’s unmistakable voice is the glue that holds everything together.” 

The band was recently featured on NPR’s “Weekend Edition,” stream and read the piece here: http://n.pr/1vp2UBy. In addition, they recently performed live sessions for Relix and Daytrotter, and their video for “What Arrows” premiered at USA Today. Of the video, which is part of the final Fogo footage, USA Today says, “The presentation itself is simple—the group and their instruments, awash in projections of crashing waves as the song crescendos—but the song is equal parts anthemic, dreamy and meditative...” 

Hey Rosetta! is comprised of Baker, Adam Hogan (guitars, vocals), Josh Ward (bass, keyboards, vocals), Phil Maloney (drums, percussion, vocals), Romesh Thavanathan (keyboards, guitars, cello, vocals), Kinley Dowling (violin, vocals) and Mara Pellerin (vocals, French horn, trumpet). The band’s last two albums, Into Your Lungs and Seeds, were short-listed for the prestigious Polaris Music Prize. In 2012 they received a Juno nomination for New Group of the Year. 

For more information, please contact Kristina Headrick, Mary Moyer orCarla Sacks at Sacks & Co., 212.741.1000.

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Hi-Wire’s summer seasonal, Uprisin’ Hefeweizen, will hit shelves May 13th and will be available in stores and bars through July. A traditional German style Hefeweizen, Uprisin’ utilizes the availability of local malted wheat in Asheville to create a beer with a connection to place.

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The Folk Heritage Committee announces its summer 2015 dates for two celebrated mountain traditions in Asheville, North Carolina: the 49^th season of Shindig on the Green and the 88^th Annual Mountain Dance and Folk Festival. Each event features long-standing as well as the newest generation of traditional and mountain string bands, ballad singers, and big circle mountain dancers and cloggers, resulting in fun-filled and authentic evenings enjoyed by kith and kin of all ages.

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On Sundays, in an odd tradition for a beer purveyor, Asheville's Burial Brewery hosts brunches. I sampled their 'Cajun-inspired' offerings recently.

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Wicked Weed Brewing and Pints for Prostates’ annual Funk Asheville festival is scheduled for Saturday, July 18^th with VIP and general admission ticket sales available May 15^th via ETIX.

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Eliot Lipp + Late Night Radio will be rolling through Asheville this Saturday 4/25 and will be bringing the party with them.

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My fellow beer blogger, Mia Pedersen, began our series with her grand opening day assessment of the new Catawba Brewery on Asheville's “South Slope” (http://ashevilleblog.com/a-taste-of-catawbas-new-brewery/).  Our intent is to provide friendly beer banter, fully expecting that the weekly beer world perspectives of a female in her early twenties and this “ol' man” might not always mesh.  We'll provide insight to various beer-related fests and events, as well as reviewing the brews we sample.  We hope you enjoy our differences as we both report on Asheville's ever-exciting craft beer news, sometimes lauding great praise while at other times taking-to-task those who deserve it.

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