Celebrate the season and traditions with pints of beer and ice cream.
A South Slope brewery is bringing something new to the city to add more variety to tasting room guests. Burial Beer’s Collier Avenue expansion will include a rooftop wine bar and spacious restrooms.
Highland Brewing Co. is revamping an old recipe and serving several new variations of its classic Cold Mountain beer. Raise a glass or a bottle to Asheville’s pioneer brewery during its silver anniversary year.
Another decades-long tradition returns to Asheville. Ice cream Yule logs ordering begins at The Hop Ice Cream Café on Nov. 15.
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Bigger, better Burial
Burial Beer is amid an expansion and renovation project at its South Slope location, 40 Collier Ave.
The current building has a 10-barrel system that includes stouts, sours and lagers, said Chris McClure, director of brand. Burial bought the neighboring building off Buxton Avenue, formerly Asheville Hardware, where it will have a “stout-focused” brewery and a stout-aging barrel program.
“We’re going to extend that brewery footprint, essentially, and have another brewing system over there. … That’s going to be focused almost entirely on stouts,” McClure said.
The new addition will include a new retail space and Visuals wine bar and eatery. The soon-to-come rooftop bar will serve Burial brews and be accessible from the existing outdoor patio. Visuals line of Provisions natural wine, cider and vermouth will be offered, too.
“It should be pretty awesome,” McClure said.
Burial is aiming for a 2022 debut of the new space.
Burial is coming closer to opening its new “house of relics” taproom, bottle shop and rooftop bar inside a former thrift store in Charlotte. The projected debut is early spring 2022.
The Asheville taproom and kitchen are open during the revamp from noon-11 p.m. daily. For more about Burial, visit burialbeer.com.
25 years of Cold Mountain
Highland Brewing Co. has released its 2021 blend collections of its flagship Cold Mountain to commemorate the brewery’s 25th anniversary.
Highland was founded by retired engineer Oscar Wong in 1996. It became Asheville’s first legal brewery since the Prohibition.
The Highland team kicked off its extended weekend of celebration from Nov. 11-15, beginning with a sold-out beer pairing dinner. However, there is plenty of Cold Mountain to go around.
Cold Mountain is available on draft at Highland’s taprooms, and packaged beers are available for purchase at Southeast retailers beginning Nov. 15.
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“The recipe is traditional winter ale; we’ve evolved the recipe over time,” Nikki Mitchell, hospitality director told the Citizen Times. “It’s always got a few different nuances to the recipe including the spice blends that are going to be used in that annual batch.”
Selections available are Cold Mountain, Imperial Cold Mountain, Barrel-aged Cold Mountain, Coconut Cold Mountain and Super Spice Cold Mountain.
Highland’s is at 12 Old Charlotte Highway, and its downtown taproom is at 56 Patton Ave.
Use Highland’s beer finder for other locations selling Cold Mountain and other craft brews. For more information, visit highlandbrewing.com/coldmountain.
Ice cream ‘Yule’ love
The Hop Ice Cream Café is continuing a more than 20-year holiday tradition with the offering of Ice Cream Yule Logs.
The seasonal treat will be available for ordering from Nov. 15-Dec. 20 via the online store, hopicecreamnc.com. Custom orders must be made at least seven days in advance. The Hop is offering curbside pickup through the holiday season at The Creamery, 167 Haywood Road. The last time for pickups is 2 p.m. Dec. 24
Nearly 500 Yule logs were sold last year, said co-owner Greg Garrison.
The Hop’s Yule logs differ from traditional Yule logs in content, taste and looks, which has made them popular with customers, he said.
“They are smooth and creamy without being overly sweet. We take the concept but replace the mousse or filling with ice cream,” Garrison said. “Typically you would roll a sponge cake with a mousse or a filling and roll it really tight and coat it all with either icing or a chocolate glaze … to give it the log look. Then people would decorate it with candy mushrooms and other woodland-themed candies.”
The Hop uses simple designs in holiday and winter themes.
Ice Cream Yule Log may be made as dairy or nondairy in traditional or mini-sized.
The dairy Yule log is made with a “new and improved” homemade chocolate cake recipe and the customer’s choice of salted caramel, peppermint stick or vanilla bean ice cream. It is then covered with The Hop’s signature chocolate ice cream with custom festive decorations on top. Dairy Yule logs are available as gluten-free.
Ask The Hop’s associations about vegan other dietary options at [email protected].
Mini ice cream Yule logs serve 4-5 people and are about $25. The traditional size serves 10-12 people and is about $45.
For other handcrafted ice cream creations, visit any of The Hop’s several locations, including in north, west, and downtown Asheville.
Tiana Kennell is the food and dining reporter for the Asheville Citizen Times, part of the USA Today Network. Email her at [email protected] or follow her on Twitter/Instagram @PrincessOfPage.
