USA, NC: Ecusta Brewery opens as taproom in downtown Brevard

A new brewery taproom has opened in downtown Brevard and will be serving its own beers at a grand opening next weekend, Asheville Citizen-Times reported.

Ecusta Brewery at 36 E. Main St. in Brevard opened as a taproom with guest beers on Memorial Day weekend, but has set June 25 as its grand opening, said owner Josh Chambers. He will also open a second Ecusta location known as the Drift Taproom in about three weeks at 49 Pisgah Highway in Pisgah Forest. The Ecusta locations will push the total to four breweries in Brevard, including Brevard Brewing and Oskar Blues Brewery.

Ecusta will have three house beers - a lemon rye, an IPA and a pale ale. Chambers is also doing a small batch porter, a summer ale, a double IPA and a red ale. Currently he is serving beers from Innovation Brewing in Sylva, Sanctuary Brewing and Southern Appalachian of Hendersonville and Boojum Brewing in Waynesville.

The downtown location has a three-barrel system and the Pisgah Forest brewery will have a seven-barrel brewing system, he said.

There are now more than 50 breweries open around Western North Carolina, about half of them in Buncombe County and Asheville, and at least a half dozen more on the way. Three big national brewers are also based in the mountains: Sierra Nevada in Mills River, New Belgium in Asheville and Oskar Blues in Brevard.

20 June, 2016