E-Malt.com News article: USA, NC: Catawba Brewing to begin construction of its Asheville brewery

Catawba Brewing hopes to begin building its long-planned Asheville brewery next week on the busy South Slope, and looks to be open by spring, citizen-times.com reported on December, 16.

The 5,400-square-foot brewery will include a seven-barrel system, a bottling line, two bars and a courtyard, Catawba co-owner Billy Pyatt said. It looks to turn out 500-1,000 barrels of specialty beer each year. The main Catawba brewery will stay in Morganton.

Catawba also intends to keep its Biltmore Village tasting room open, even after debuting on the South Slope, Pyatt said. "We have picked up such a good following down there," he said.

Catawba is the latest beer player in Asheville's unofficial South Slope brewing district, which already is home to Green Man, Burial, Twin Leaf, the Wicked Weed Funkatorium, Hi-Wire and Asheville Brewing.

"We feel like we are part of the family already," Pyatt said. "It's all coming together on the South Slope."

Catawba's arrival was greeted warmly by Asheville Brewing president Mike Rangel. "Welcome to the party," he said. "We are glad to have them."

The bottling line is a new addition to the plan. In Morganton, Catawba cans its beers, but it has also owned an unused bottling system, which will be shipped to Asheville. It's unclear what size bottles Catawba will fill in Asheville, but they won't be 12-ounce, Pyatt said.

Catawba has been planning the Asheville brewery for two years and originally intended to build near Biltmore, but when those plans didn't work out, turned its focus to the South Slope.



26 December, 2014