Catawba Brewing debuts CLT IPA around town this Saturday
Though Catawba Brewing hasn’t yet brewed a beer in Charlotte, this weekend they’ll debut a beer brewed for Charlotte.
“Our whole idea is basically to say, ‘Charlotte is open, please consider us to be a local Charlotte brewery now,'” said Jim Birch, the brewery’s director of wholesale operations.
“We’ve been brewing since 1999. Billy’s original homebrew kit that got him into beer in 1996 was from Charlotte too, so it’s sort of a neat story about coming back home.”
Though the brewery’s no stranger to the market, they’ll debut their new West Coast-style IPA with several stops around the city on Saturday, Feb. 4. Catawba Brewing’s owners, brewers and other employees will join a team from Adams Beverages and split into two groups that will visit the following spots:
– Carolina Beer Temple in Matthews from noon to 1:15 p.m.
– Growler USA in Ballantyne from 1:30 p.m. to 2:30 p.m.
– Brawley’s Beverage from 2:30 p.m. to 3:30 p.m.
– Kit’s Trackside Crafts in Pineville from 2:45 p.m. to 3:45 p.m.
– Good Bottle Co. from 3:45 p.m. to 4:45 p.m.
– Salud Beer Shop from 5 p.m. to 6 p.m.
After 6:30 p.m., you can find the groups throughout Plaza Midwood at The Peculiar Rabbit, Common Market, Moo and Brew and The Hop Shop.
Each of these locations will have CLT IPA available on draft as well as in four-packs of 16-ounce cans, which were packaged this week. A limited amount of the beer will be available in the Charlotte metro market for the next month or so.
In addition to its CLT IPA, Catawba is bringing down several beers brewed on the Asheville brewery’s seven-barrel system. Look for their ESB, Doppelbock, Blood Orange IPA, Coffee Porter, Chocolate Saison and barrel-aged versions of the brewery’s Black Dome Stout and Hooligan Scotch Ale.
Once the Charlotte brewery is up and running, Birch said we can expect to see more beers like this in the taproom and around town.
“A lot of the retailers want something that will come from our Charlotte brewery,” said Birch. “They’re willing to play with White Zombie or one of the better-known brands, but what they really want is something that’s going to be in and out, that you can’t get everywhere, and that you don’t see in the grocery, and that’s the exact strategy we’ll use with that brewery.”
For updates on the Charlotte location, you can follow the brewery on Facebook and Twitter.
Photos: Catawba Brewing
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This story was originally published February 2, 2017 at 8:42 PM with the headline "Catawba Brewing debuts CLT IPA around town this Saturday."