OCTOBER BEERCATION – ASHEVILLE – CELLAREST BEER PROJECT

OCTOBER BEERCATION – ASHEVILLE – CELLAREST BEER PROJECT

The second stop on the beercation was in Asheville, NC at Cellarest Beer Project, where I had the pleasure to attend their first annual Cellarfest. I drank three tasty beers, of which my favorite was the Hellion. The description of each are as follows:

Xanadu Oak Aged Festbier – Brewed with Zillicoah Beer Company, this fest style lager was made with German grown but NC malted Ursprung Grain and Crystal Malt from Epiphany malt house. Hopped with Northern Brewer hops and fermented in stainless steel before being lagered in our American oak puncheons with French oak heads for 16 weeks. Notes of baked rye bread, honey and woody spice. 6.5% ABV.

Etiolation IPA – Fermented in cherry wood with our house wild yeast caught on Haywood Road. Made using our custom single source NC malt and Streaker Oats from Riverbend Malt House and Idaho 7 and El Dorado hops. Notes of pineapple, grapefruit and papaya. 7% ABV.

Hellion Oak Aged Helles Lager – Brewed using Riverbend Southern Select and Mt. Hood hops and fermented with our choice lager yeast. It was then lagered in our M+ American oak puncheons with French oak heads for 19 weeks. Notes of wood vanillin and spice, soft dough with a noticeable tannin structure. 5.5% ABV.

Other trips to Asheville have included visits to these breweries: Sierra Nevada, New Belgium, Burial, Greenman and Wicked Weed.

The following are pictures from the 1st Annual Cellarfest:

Mural on Building
Ready for Cellarfest!
Otdoor Seating
Brewery
Cellarfest Draft List
Cellarfest Draft List Continued
Tap Area
Brewery
Brewery

Outdoor Seating

OCTOBER BEERCATION – KNOXVILLE – BALTER BEERWORKS

OCTOBER BEERCATION – KNOXVILLE – BALTER BEERWORKS

The first stop on the October Beercation was in Knoxville, where Hoppy visited Balter Beerworks. Here he imbibed a Falconer’s IPA hopped with Falconer’s Flight and Simcoe hops at 6.8% ABV and 50 IBU. For those of you that may not know, Falconer’s Flight hops were developed by Hopunion LLC in 2010, and are an exclusive proprietary hop blend created to honor and support the legacy of Northwest brewing legend, Glen Hay Falconer. There is also a Glen Hay Falconer Foundation which was created to celebrate his life, and which provides three scholarships annually. In 2021, the Foundation provided two educational scholarships to the World Academy of Brewing at the Siebel Institute and one to the American Brewer’s Guild. More information can be obtained here.

Hoppy also enjoyed a pint of the Bear Blend which is a coffee oatmeal porter brewed with local Three Bear’s Coffee. It clocks in at 5.6% ABV and 20 IBU.

Below are photos of the brewery and pub:

Outdoor Seating
Draft Board & Seating
Outdoor Guests
Brewery
Outside Table Seating
Brewery Tanks
Outside Seating
Indoor Seating
Taps
Draft List
Bear Blend Draft

BAD DAD BREWERY – FAIRMOUNT

BAD DAD BREWERY – FAIRMOUNT

Hoppy recently visited Bad Dad Brewery in Fairmount where he not only enjoyed their beers, but their names, as well. He tasted three IPAs that included Tapestry of Obscenity at 6.6%, Pull My Finger at 7.1% and an Imperial IPA, Kiss The Cook, at 8.8%. He settled on a pint of the Tapestry of Obscenity. Other clever named beers included Because I Said So (Weizenbock), You’re Grounded, Mister (Coffee Stout), and Schitzengiggels (Festbier).

Entrance
Brewery & Outdoor Seating
Bar Area
Taproom
Restaurant Seating
Tap Handles & Signage
Draft List
Lamp Looks Fra-gi-le!
Cooler Sticker Wall . Do You See Hoppy?
Here He Is!
Celebrity Patron In Attendance

BEERCATION – TACOMA – E9 BREWING

BEERCATION – TACOMA – E9 BREWING

Hoppy’s 2nd and last visit in Tacoma was at E9 Brewing. This new brewery and tap room opened in 2019 in the city’s Historic Brewing District. E9 was the first brewery in Tacoma, opening in 1995 They still operate this location as a restaurant and taproom. It was the last operating horse drawn firehouse in Tacoma and is now listed on the National Historic Registry. (E9 Brewing was originally known as Engine House No. 9 Brewery.) They are currently best known for their sours, hence their slogan, “Keep Tacoma Sour.” Hoppy enjoyed a Farmhouse Deux, a barrel aged farmhouse ale at 6.2% ABV, while here.

E9 Brewery & Tap Room
Entrance
Brewery
Brewery
Brewery
Barrels
Barrels
Outdoor Seating
Outdoor Seating
Seating
Awards & Medals
Bar Area
Draft List
Glass of Farmhouse Deux in Seating Area
Wall Decor with E9 Info.

BEERCATION – TACOMA – 7 SEAS BREWING

BEERCATION – TACOMA – 7 SEAS BREWING

Hoppy next had a short stop in Tacoma, Washington where he visited two breweries. The first of these was 7 Sea Brewing which opened in Tacoma in 2016. (Their original facility was in Gig Harbor, Washington, where they still have a location.) The Tacoma brewery and tap room is located in Tacoma’s historic brewery district in the former home of Heidelberg Brewery. They have food partners in the tap room which are 3uilt Tacoma and 3uilt Grind Espresso. 7 Seas is known for being the first brewery in Washington State to can their beers, beginning in 2009. While there, Hoppy enjoyed sampling some brews and quaffed a pint of their IPA, formerly known as Rude Parrot. It clocked in at 5.9% ABV and 75 IBU.

Entry to Brewery & Tap Room

Brewery & Tap Room
Bar & Seating Area
Seating Area
Brewery
Brewery
Historical Memorabilia from Pacific Northwest
Heidelberg Brewery Historical Memorabilia
Seating Area
Bar and seating
Seating Area
Seating Area
Bar
Draft List
Table

BEERCATION – ANCHORAGE – POSTSCRIPT (HISTORY & TRIVIA)

BEERCATION – ANCHORAGE – POSTSCRIPT (HISTORY & TRIVIA)

Anchorage’s first brewpub since prohibition, Midnight Sun opened in 1995, five years after the first brewpub in Indianapolis, Broad Ripple Brewpub. Bert Grant’s Yakima Brewing & Malting Co. in Yakima, Washington, better known as Grant’s Brewery Pub, was the first brewpub to open in the U.S., since prohibition, in 1982. (I consider this to be the seminal moment in the craft beer revolution.) It was followed the next day, by the opening of Red Hook Brewing’s Pub in Seattle. With the availability of these beers and those from other microbreweries, some bars in Anchorage began carrying them in the 1980s. One such place was Mr. Whitekeys’ Fly By Night Club which appeared to have a private airplane flying into its roof. They would often have Grant’s Scottish Ale available and their menu stated that there would be a fifty cent tax imposed on the purchase of any mega brewery beer, showing their support of the fledgling microbrew industry.

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