ASHEVILLE – An Asheville distillery’s tasting room reopens after Tropical Storm Helene; a holiday tradition resumes benefitting a local brewery indefinitely closed by the storm; Lunar New Year traditions for adults and the whole family.
Eda Rhyne Distilling Co. reopens
On Dec. 31, Eda Rhyne Distilling Company’s tasting room reopened at 101 Fairview Road. The local small-batch spirits producer was closed due to severe damage from record-breaking flooding of the Swannanoa River in the historic Biltmore Village from Tropical Storm Helene in late September.
According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the Swannanoa River at Biltmore crested at 26.1 feet.
For updates and hours, visit edarhyne.com and follow @edarhynedistillingco on Instagram.
Zillicoah Beer Co.’s tree-burning tradition
Zillicoah Beer Co. has hosted an annual Christmas tree-burning event at the end of the holiday season. However, the Riverside Drive brewery is indefinitely closed due to significant taproom damage.
However, the tradition will be upheld in the brewery’s honor.
On Jan. 12, Fonta Flora Brewing will host its annual “X-Mas Tree Burning Ceremony” to benefit Zillicoah Beer at 6751 N.C. 126 in Nebo at its Whippoorwill Farm taproom.
In October, Johnathan Parks, Zillicoah’s co-founder and head brewer, told the Citizen Times he and his partners planned to revive the Woodfin brewery.
Guests may bring their live Christmas tree to contribute to the bonfire at Fonta Flora.
Zillicoah Beer Co. was destroyed by Tropical Storm Helene in late September.
At 2 p.m. is a beer-poking demo ― a centuries-old tradition where a heated poker is placed into beer to bring it to drinking temperature. The tree-burning ceremony will begin at 4 p.m.
Fonta Flora will release its Steinbock Collection, described as a “doppelbock-style lagerbier boiled with hot granite rocks inside our dainty open-top foeder.”
For more, visit fontaflora.com and follow @fontaflorabrew on Instagram.
A rearranged landscape containing sand and silt seen Sunday, Dec. 15, 2024, 11 weeks after Tropical Storm Helene’s landfalll.
Lunar New Year Celebration
Highland Brewing’s annual Lunar New Year Celebration, commemorating “The Year of the Wood Snake,” will run from Jan. 31-Feb. 1 at 12 Old Charlotte Highway.
Highland and Seattle-based Lucky Envelope Brewing have teamed up again to release a new brew for the occasion, a honey amber lager made with Western North Carolina honey from Hoopers Creek Bee Co.
On Jan. 31, Highland will host a Chinese Street Food and Night Market event from 5-8 p.m. in its event center with local artisan craft vendors, catered bites from Chef J Chong, and music from DJ Kipper. Guests may receive a four-beer flight including the specially brewed honey amber lager and yuzu pilsner. The cost is $40. The event is for ages 21 and up.
On Feb. 1, a family-friendly Lunar New Year Taproom Celebration will be hosted from 11 a.m.-9 p.m. with lucky envelope giveaways, K-Pop music, live dragon dancing and musical performances, festival cocktails, kids’ activities and food truck vendors. The all-ages event is free.
For more, visit highlandbrewing.com and follow @highlandbrewing on Instagram.
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Tiana Kennell is the food and dining reporter for the Asheville Citizen Times, part of the USA Today Network. Tips, comments, questions? Email tkennell@citizentimes.com or follow @PrincessOfPage on Instagram/Bluesky.
This article originally appeared on Asheville Citizen Times: Eda Rhyne Distilling Co. reopens, Christmas tree burning event, more
