Thirsty Monk to ring in New Year’s in Biltmore Park with giant keg drop

This looks like a fun event. Press release:

Thirsty Monk, perennially ranked as one of the premier beer bars in America by such outlets as Garden & Gun Magazine and RateBeer.com, announces exciting New Year’s Eve celebrations to kick off 2014. “It’s going to be a really big year for us,” Chall Gray of the Thirsty Monk, said recently, “and what better way than to kick it off with a special Thirsty Monk beer release celebration at Gerber, a swinging downtown party, and a giant keg drop at Biltmore Park with some of Highland’s superb and very hard to find Cold Mountain Winter Ale.”

Thirsty Monk recently announced plans to substantially expand their brewery operation in Gerber Village, and the new equipment is due to arrive in January. “2014 is going to be the year that a lot more people become familiar with our beers,” said head brewer Norm Penn, “so for New Year’s Eve we’ll release one keg (and only one) of our Thirsty Monk Aged Imperial Amber.” Penn described the beer as having hints of vanilla and butterscotch and a subtle warmth which doesn’t betray it’s 8.8% abv. This beer will only be available at the Gerber Village Thirsty Monk.

A short jaunt away at the newly opened Thirsty Monk South in Biltmore Park the festivities will include a twenty foot outdoor keg drop at the stroke of midnight, as well as one of the last kegs of Highland Cold Mountain Winter Ale being tapped as the new year begins. Downtown, the Top of the Monk will be transformed into a swinging 1920’s Parisian soiree. Guests are encouraged to bob their hair, starch their collar and grab their gauloises for a night of belle époque decadence with cocktails and music and convivial partygoers above the fray of downtown Asheville. “We wanted to create an exciting New Year’s experience, whether you’re downtown, in south Asheville or want to bounce around the area,” Gray said. The brief on these events are as follows:

· Thirsty Monk Downtown hosts a 1920’s Parisian Soiree with belle époque décor and cocktails.

· Thirsty Monk Gerber Village features the release of an Aged Imperial Amber from Monk Brewery

· Thirsty Monk Biltmore Park has an astounding 20 foot keg drop and Cold Mountain Winter Ale and midnight brunch to celebrate the beginning of 2014.

Thirsty Monk, which also currently has a new location under construction in North Asheville, recently hosted Stone Brewing’s largest tap takeover ever outside of San Diego, an event which included a visit from the company’s famous head brewer Mitch Steele.

With events like these, and the expansion of their brewing operations there seems to be no doubt that Thirsty Monk has now established itself as South Asheville’s best place to find a great selection of beers, just as their flagship location on Patton Ave. has been and continues to be for the downtown Asheville beer scene. 2014 is already shaping up to be an exciting year for the Thirsty Monk, and that means Asheville’s already stellar beer scene will be that much better.