E-Malt.com News article: USA, NC: Catawba Brewing Company plans to open tasting room, brewery near Biltmore

Asheville’s lively craft brewing community is soon to get another player, as Catawba Brewing plans to open a tasting room, followed by a small brewery, both near Biltmore Village, Asheville Citizen-Times reported on January 2.

Catawba looks to open the temporary tasting room in February as it begins construction on a boutique brewery, brewery founder Scott Pyatt said.

Catawba announced it would open the Asheville brewery last year but ran into permitting issues involving the use of an existing building at the site, he said.

“We will build a brand new facility,” he said. The company “is in the process of finalizing the blueprint” but hopes to have the new brewery going by summer, he said.

Rather than wait for its completion, Catawba will open a temporary tasting facility nearby. That venue will only operate until the full Asheville brewery is ready and will also be used to store brewing equipment.

The new plans will give Catawba “just what we want” said Scott Pyatt’s brother and business partner, Billy Pyatt, who has been greatly involved in the expansion process. “We have done so much in expanding our roots and our reach, and Asheville is a huge part of that,” Billy Pyatt said. “It’s not happening as quickly as we wanted, but we have not lost our commitment at all.”

The brewery site has a big parking lot that can also be used for the tasting room, he said. The tasting room will not have food or entertainment but will serve a complete line of Catawba beers, and its canned six-packs will also be sold there, Scott Pyatt said.

In 2013, Catawba signed a distribution deal with Budweiser of Asheville, which has placed its cans around the mountains. “The tasting room will really showcase their specialty beers,” said Chad Wood, of Budweiser of Asheville.

Asheville’s nationally known craft brewing scene is already home to 15 craft breweries with about a dozen more around Western North Carolina.

Sierra Nevada Brewing is soon to open a big brewery near Asheville Regional Airport which will produce beer for the eastern U.S. and Europe. New Belgium Brewing is in early construction of its own big East Coast expansion brewery in Asheville’s River Arts District. Also in Asheville, the Twin Leaf brewery looks to open this year on the south slope, which has become the city’s unofficial brewing district.


08 January, 2014