Beer Guy: New brews this week

Now and then, the stars all line up to make for a remarkable beer day. So it is on March 14, when four local breweries all have special beer releases. Plus Green Man is bringing out two brews on St. Patrick’s Day.

Asheville Brewing will release Beer Guy Rye on March 14, named in honor of yours truly, on draft and in 22-ounce bottles. You may remember the brewery previously brewed Beer Guy Brown, but this is a new rye pale ale recipe that’s 5.6 percent alcohol. Hopped with Azacca in the kettle and as a dry hop, it has peach-like notes. Look for it on draft and in 22-ounce bottles.

Highland Brewing celebrates the Asheville Symphony with Wolfgang 1756, a delightful amber Vienna lager made for the orchestra’s Amadeus festival. This very drinkable 4.7 percent sessions beer gets a coming out party at 7 p.m. March 14 at the brewery’s tasting room, 12 Old Charlotte Highway. The band Sirius B plays. It’s packaged in 22-ounce bottles and will also be on draft in local markets, with select distribution in Highland’s nine-state sales area.

Catawba Brewing taps into Cherry Pi Wheat Beer at 2 p.m. March 14 at the Asheville tasting room, 63 Brook St., and the main brewery in downtown Morganton. There’s a 5 p.m. party in Asheville. Only six barrels of this 4.5 percent cherry hefe were brewed and it’s draft only. Math geeks will know that March 14 is pi day, marking the mathematical constant pi.

Burial Beer brings out bottles of its ultra-popular Skillet Donut Stout from noon-2 p.m. March 14 at the brewery, 40 Collier Ave. in the South Slope brewing district. Only 30 cases are available, and there’s a limit of one case per person. Get there early because the beer will likely not last long.

Hi-Wire Brewing will release its Bird on a Wire Peated Wee Heavy on March 13. It’s a collaboration made with Birdsong Brewing of Charlotte.

Man Brewery has a Willie Wonka style St. Patrick’s Day party on March 17 party with two beers: Snozzberry sour and Green Man and the Chocolate Factory, a chocolate stout collaboration with French Broad Chocolate.

Celebrate stout

St. Patrick’s Day is March 17 and we’ve rounded up some of the celebrations in this week’s Hot Picks column in Scene. Many of Asheville’s breweries have some great stouts and you can find bottles and cans of imported stouts in specialty beer stores.

You can never go wrong with a Guinness — look for the draft cans and bottles that reproduce the nitro draft pour. Look in many grocery stores and in restaurants and pubs.

We are very fond of Moonstone Oyster Stout made by West Asheville’s Oyster House Brewing. Yes, it’s made with oysters, which impart a slightly salty taste in this great brew.

For something special in bottles, the Bruisin’ Ales beer store on Broadway Street has an amazing lineup of stouts. Some possibilities: Samuel Smith’s Imperial Stout, Boulevard Imperial Stout, Anderson Valley Bourbon Barrel Stout Emelisse Imperial Russian Stout and Bell’s Double Cream Stout.

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