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Great beer. Great cause. Press release here:
ASHEVILLE— On November 15th, Wicked Weed Brewing and New Belgium Brewing are releasing Tributary Imperial Brett Saison, a beer that pays homage to North Carolina, Colorado and clean water.
Tributary, a collaboration beer brewed at the Wicked Weed brewpub in Asheville, NC includes malt from Colorado Malting and Riverbend Malt in Asheville. It is fermented with New Belgium house brettanomyces and Wicked Weed’s mixed strain of Saison yeast and brettanomyces. The beer also includes sugar beets, mosaic hops and an experimental, yet-to-be named hop.
“We wanted to create an ale that truly represented both locations,” said Luke Dickinson, Head Brewer of Wicked Weed. “We used malt and water from both North Carolina and Colorado. We mixed yeasts from both breweries. We used sugar beets because the New Belgium facility in Fort Collins is located on a retired sugar beet farm. New Belgium is making a home in Asheville, and we wanted to welcome them here by brewing a beer that brought a little bit of Colorado to Asheville.”
“The local brewery scene in Asheville is so vibrant,” added Alex Dwoinen, New Belgium’s Asheville Brewing Manager, about the partnership. “We’re excited to be involved with Luke, Walt and their team with this collaboration. The experimentation they do never ceases to amaze me.”
WATER’S ROLE IN THE BREW
In addition to malt, yeast and beets, a few barrels of water were shipped from Colorado to Asheville to signify the coming together of two places, much like two tributaries feeding into one larger water source.
“Two smaller tributaries coming together make a stronger, larger, more beautiful river,“ said Abby Dickinson, Marketing and PR at Wicked Weed. “The same goes for craft beer. We are all a part of a larger community and when we can come together and support each other, we are a part of something more beautiful.”
A portion of proceeds from bottles sales will benefit the work of Western North Carolina Alliance’s French Broad Riverkeeper program.
“We’re very honored and excited to be the beneficiary of this amazing collaboration,” said French Broad Riverkeeper Hartwell Carson. “It means a lot for us to work with businesses that care as much as we do about the protection and preservation of our rivers.”
Tributary will be released at Wicked Weed’s Funkatorium, located at 147 Coxe Avenue, on November 15th at 2pm. Bottles will be available for sale across North Carolina the following week. For more information about the release: http://www.facebook.com/WickedWeedBrewing.
For more information about the Western North Carolina Alliance and the French Broad Riverkeeper please go to: www.wnca.org.