Asheville Pizza & Brewing
Dear Replicator,
Late last summer, my husband and I traveled with friends to Asheville, North Carolina for the brewery scene and other attractions. Early in our stay, we went to Asheville Pizza and Brewing Co. I ordered the Norwegian Forest Cat and was AMAZED at how good it was. The complexities of the beer with the subtle notes of the barrel were delightful. Sadly it was a limited release so I wasn’t able to get a growler to go. I sampled beers around Asheville but never found one I enjoyed as much as the Norwegian Forest Cat. As the end of our trip neared, we still had several breweries on the list to visit but I was able to convince my husband and our good friends to return to Asheville Pizza and Brewing Co. so that I could get one more glass of that Norwegian Forest Cat. And a very special glass as it was — I had the last glass from the last keg and I was ever so grateful!
Patricia Taylor
Brick Township, New Jersey
Asheville. The name itself conjures the notion of a beer mecca in the southeast United States that draws many a craft beer drinker. Ask any beer aficionado to name a brewery located there and you’ll probably get at least three different options. My guess is that Asheville Pizza and Brewing wouldn’t be among the three. Maybe it should.
Asheville Brewing opened their doors in 1998 as just the third brewery in Asheville (right behind Highland Brewing Co. and Green Man Brewery). At that time, they were called Two Moons Brew-N-View with inspiration drawn from the conceptualization of a pizza shop melded with a second-run movie theater. This crazy (in a good way) venture came from the mind of Mike Rangel, who brought on Doug Riley, a brewer that had already cut his chops brewing in Portland, Oregon. The initial lineup of brews for Two Moons was hop-forward with the traditional West Coast edginess although they had other offerings like their American Porter called Ninja Porter [World Beer Cup Gold (2014) and Bronze (2018)].
Two Moons was founded on the premise that families are more than welcome, and Asheville Brewing continues that theme . . . they keep their offerings approachable. Combined eclectic decorations, a relaxing atmosphere, and award-winning pizza, kids and the kids-at-heart could come grab a pint and/or food and de-stress during the week. Even dogs are welcome in their outdoor area in Asheville’s hip South Slope; this second location opened in 2006.
Since 1998, Asheville Pizza and Brewing has continued to grow at a sustainable pace. Because they were one of the first names in town, they’ve had the benefit of watching the town and the brewery scene mature around them. That’s also allowed them to stay true to themselves; they don’t need to chase fads but rather simply provide quality sustenance in a pleasing atmosphere. The whole operation now employs 180 staff across three locations, two pubs (South Slope/Downtown and South Asheville) and the movie theater (North Asheville). But the soul of the business comes from the movie theater, where you’re likely to see something starring David Bowie, Bill Murray, and occasionally select hit movies.
The brewery started out as a seven-barrel brewhouse at the North Asheville location. Four seven-barrel fermenters provided ample fermentation space in the beginning but that didn’t last. They had to add another two fermenters, each at fifteen barrels to accommodate the different batches. Eventually, wort production couldn’t keep pace so the brewhouse was upgraded to a complete fifteen-barrel operation. Fast-forward to today and all brewing operations are conducted on the South Slope. It contains the fifteen-barrel brewhouse and thirteen thirty-barrel fermenters for their flagships such as Shiva IPA, Ninja Porter, and locally distributed cans.
That original seven-barrel system is what they use for all of their experimental batches, which they shoot to make fifty of each year. When Pete Langheinrich joined the ranks thirteen years ago, he brought with him a crafty, experimental attitude that has stuck. One of those one-off brews is Norwegian Forest Cat (thanks to Mike Rangel who coined the name based on where the yeast originated).
Norwegian Forest Cat is a one-of-a-kind brew. Literally. Asheville Brewing made seven barrels of the base beer but only one, singular barrel was truly barrel-aged producing the title beverage. The initial concept was to use new-to-the-market yeast, Hornindal Kveik, to produce pineapple and other tropical fruit flavors through fermentation and marry that with a low-IBU beer featuring late additions of Vic Secret and Motueka, both of which have similar flavor profiles. But the fermentation was too clean despite reaching temperatures well into the 90s °F (mid-30s °C). So, Pete decided to use a Sauvignon Blanc barrel that he had lying around the brewery and as luck would have it, produced an amazing beer according to our requestor and her husband.
The end result that you’re shooting for is a low-IBU beer with a medium amount of base malt complexity (wheat, toast, lightly caramelized oats) and moderate tropical fruit (pineapple, papaya, melon, lime) that is fully supported by light oak, vanilla, and white grape. Also, the barrel that was used contained no Brett character and no secondary fermentation was noted during the six months it aged. You may also want to play with pitch rate and fermentation temperature (free rise versus starting it warm) to encourage more tropical fruit nature. Good luck!
Asheville Pizza & Brewing’s Norwegian Forest Cat clone
(5 gallons/19 L, all-grain)
OG = 1.070 FG = 1.012
IBU = 10 SRM = 9 ABV = 7.6%
Ingredients
9 lbs. (4.1 kg) pale malt
3 lbs. (1.36 kg) Simpsons Golden Naked Oats™ malt
1.5 lbs. (0.68 kg) Munich malt
1.5 lbs. (0.68 kg) flaked wheat
7.5 AAU Vic Secret hops (10 min.) (0.5 oz./14 g at 15% alpha acids)
22.5 AAU Vic Secret hops (hopstand) (1.5 oz./42 g at 15% alpha acids)
11.25 AAU Motueka hops (hopstand) (1.5 oz./42 g at 7.5% alpha acids)
0.75 oz. (21 g) Vic Secret hops (dry hop)
0.75 oz. (21 g) Motueka (dry hop)
White Labs WLP521 (Hornindal Kveik Ale), or Imperial Yeast A46 (Bartleby), or Omega Yeast OYL-091 (Hornindal Kveik) yeast
2⁄3 cup corn sugar (if priming)
Step by Step
Mill the grains, then mix with 4.7 gallons (17.7 L) of 167 °F (75 °C) strike water to achieve a single infusion rest temperature of 152 °F (67 °C). Hold the mash at this temperature for 60 minutes. Adjust mash pH to 5.2 to 5.4 using phosphoric or lactic acid if your pH is too high. Mashout to 170 °F (77 °C) if desired.
Vorlauf until your runnings are clear before directing them to your boil kettle. Batch- or fly-sparge the mash to obtain 6.5 gallons (25 L) of wort. Boil the wort for 60 minutes. At 10 minutes left in the boil, add the Vic Secret hops along with Whirlfloc or Irish moss.
After the boil, cool the wort to approximately 190 °F (88 °C), and add the hopstand hops. Whirlpool for 15 minutes before further chilling the wort to 76 °F (24 °C). Pitch yeast. Allow the fermentation to free rise even up to 94 °F (34 °C) by the end of primary for this beer.
Once primary fermentation is complete, you have a decision to make centered around the barrel-aging character of this beer. See ‘Tips for Success’ for more information. Eventually, carbonate the aged beer to approximately 2.3–2.4 volumes.
Asheville Pizza & Brewing’s Norwegian Forest Cat clone
(5 gallons/19 L, partial mash)
OG = 1.070 FG = 1.012
IBU = 10 SRM = 9 ABV = 7.6%
Ingredients
5.25 lbs. (2.42 kg) extra light dried malt extract
2 lbs. (0.91 kg) Simpsons Golden Naked Oats™ malt
1.5 lbs. (0.68 kg) Munich malt
1.5 lbs. (0.68 kg) flaked wheat
7.5 AAU Vic Secret hops (10 min.) (0.5 oz./14 g at 15% alpha acids)
22.5 AAU Vic Secret hops (hopstand) (1.5 oz./42 g at 15% alpha acids)
11.25 AAU Motueka hops (hopstand) (1.5 oz./42 g at 7.5% alpha acids)
0.75 oz. (21 g) Vic Secret hops (dry hop)
0.75 oz. (21 g) Motueka (dry hop)
White Labs WLP521 (Hornindal Kveik Ale), or Imperial Yeast A46 (Bartleby), or Omega Yeast OYL-091 (Hornindal Kveik) yeast
2⁄3 cup corn sugar (if priming)
Step by Step
Bring 6.5 qts. (5.9 L) of water to roughly 167 °F (75 °C). Place the crushed grains in a muslin bag and steep the three grains for 45 minutes before removing and rinsing with 1 gallon (4 L) of hot water. Add water to make 5.5 gallons (21 L) of wort, then mix in the dried malt extract, with stirring, before heating to a boil. Boil for 30 minutes. At 10 minutes left in the boil, add the Vic Secret hops along with Whirlfloc or Irish moss.
After the boil, cool the wort to approximately 190 °F (88 °C), and add the hopstand hops. Whirlpool for 15 minutes before further chilling the wort to 76 °F (24 °C). Pitch yeast. Allow the fermentation to free rise even up to 94 °F (34 °C) by the end of primary fermentation for this beer.
Once primary fermentation is complete, you have a decision to make centered around the barrel aging character of this beer. See “Tips for Success” for more information. Eventually, carbonate the aged beer to approximately 2.3–2.4 volumes.
Tips for Success:
These tips are in chronological order regarding your batch of brew. First off, unless you have a low amount of residual alkalinity in your brewing liquor, you’ll probably have to adjust your mash pH downward. For this beer, I’d recommend using phosphoric acid or lactic acid to achieve a mash pH between 5.2 and 5.4. Next, as mentioned in the recipes, you’ll have to decide how you want to achieve the barrel-aged character in the beer. If you happen to have a clean Sauvignon Blanc barrel laying around your place or access to one, now is the time to use it. For the 99.99% of us that don’t (hint: Sauvignon Blanc is almost never barrel-aged so good luck trying to find one if you go trying to track one down), you can mimic the effect by soaking a few medium-toasted French oak cubes in your favorite bottle of Sauvignon Blanc for several days before adding to the beer. Be careful though as a Sauvignon Blanc would be aged in a fairly neutral barrel, so don’t go overboard with the duration of the beer on the cubes.
