Zebulon Artisan Ales, a new brewery underway in Weaverville just north of Asheville, is planning to start brewing beer by the end of November and be open by December, says owner/brewer Mike Karnowski.

Karnowski doesn’t plan to open a tasting room and plans to only sell his beer in bottles. He plans to focus on farmhouse-style beers, as well as English and American styles. From Karnowski:

Things are moving along for Zebulon Artisan Ales in Weaverville, having cleared the federal licensing process we are working on local permits and waiting on our equipment from Practical Fusion in Portland and acquiring barrels. Walt at Wicked Weed and Doug at Burial have been super helpful. In fact, I don’t think there is a better group of people than brewers, we are, in some sense, competitors but yet we go out of our way to help fellow brewers. We will have 10 massive barrels known as “puncheons” that will store most of the beers. There will be various funky blends of Brettanomyces and other “bugs” in the barrels. Right now I am focusing on choosing the various strains of yeasts and trying to perfect our first 20-30 beers. We will focus on rustic, farmhouse style beers but not exclusively. Historical English and American styles as well as different takes on traditional styles will be in the line up. Everyting will be in 750 ml Champagne style bottles with a cork and cage and bottle conditioned. We hope to be brewing by the end of November with beer available by the middle of December. Beer will be available for purchase at the brewery on select days and available at quality bottle shops throughout Asheville and, hopefully, the rest of North Carolina.

Karnowski was a well-known, well-respected brewery at Green Man Brewing on Asheville’s South Slope, where he brewed flagship beers there and started that brewery’s sour beer program. Earlier this year he announced he was going out on his own to open Zebulon Artisan Ales with his wife in Weaverville at 8 Merchant Alley. The 1,500-square-foot space is an old fire station off Main Street.