it’s no secret that i love beer. my love + i both love it. and we live in a place that is known for its beer… and it’s breweries. asheville is a hub for beer lovers, boasting somewhere between 14 + 17 local microbreweries. restaurants all over the city serve local beer on tap. to say that i am spoiled, and a beer snob, would be an understatement. when i find myself away from asheville, i find myself not quite so excited about the beer that i find. it’s just that good here.
let me share with you how good it is. and what a big deal it is…
last thursday was a huge day in the asheville beer community. asheville’s oldest local brewery, highland brewing, which started 20 years ago, released its winter ale with a huge weekend-long celebration. now, this winter ale is no simple winter ale… it’s name is cold mountain – named after a famous mountain about 30 minutes from asheville. a historical mountain with roots all the way back to the revolutionary war of independence. highland gives a shout out to the history of these mountains, the beauty of the area, + the fresh, clean waters with this beer. and let me tell you folks, it is a huge fan favorite.
it’s so huge that highland planned 4 days of releases. thursday was the first day, the biggest. the release party started at 4:00pm, and when i arrived at 3:30, there was already a line out the door waiting to buy cases, bombers, and as much cold mountain beer as one could take home. of course, there were limits and we could only take home a certain amount.
i stood in line in the freeeeeezing cold winter weather for about 45 minutes before i made it to the front of the line. once i made it inside, i was able to step out of the line, letting the people behind me hold my place, and buy my first pint of cold mountain for the season. survey says: it is deeelicious this year! i sipped and chatted with my neighbors in line. it was packed. people were so excited about the release of the winter brew. it was truly a party. and the wait was, of course, totally worth it.
after i finally got my stash, i ran to the car, turned up the heat as high as possible – i could not feel my fingers by now – and raced to pick up lina at school. then, we high-tailed it back to the brewery to join in the rest of the night’s festivities. of course, by then, there were so many people there, we had to park in a shopping center nearby + take a free shuttle to the brewery. that’s right. they needed to shuttle people! we met a friend and my brother. stood + drank cold mountain. ate food truck snacks. and then went to jam inside to the bluegrass group on stage.
all in all, for my first cold mountain release event, it was freaking amazing. so much fun. and, once again, my love for the asheville beer community grew even more. and, now that i have some cold mountain at home… i’m gonna enjoy my winter.
Sounds amazing! And you are having cold weather! C.C. is in Kansas City for the football game — he was expecting warmer climes. 🙂 Had to buy a toque and gloves to stay warm. But he’s had fun too — and I think may have consumed some cold ones! 🙂
Yes, it has gotten surprisingly cold already! We even had snow a week or so ago… Of course it sisnt hang around. But, I’m definitely ready for the cozy nesting season. Hope you are keeping warm + toasty in your body and soul. Love and peace to you. xx
Loved the video you sent! Y’all have turned us on to that beer!
Woo hoo! Wish we could send you some of this winter ale. Guess you’ll just have to come up! 🙂