Catawba Brewing Releases Small Batch Baltic Porter and Friki Tiki Blood Orange IPA

From Catawba:

SMALL BATCH RELEASE (THURSDAY, AUGUST 10):

Catawba Brewing taps a Small Batch Baltic Porter on Thursday, August 10. The historical style originated as the more familiar Plain Porter – a dark, roasty, top-fermented ale from 18^th century England. A stronger Export version was adapted to survive the long ocean journey to port cities on the Baltic Sea – a similar lineage to the Russian Imperial Stout. But the Baltic Porter is unique in that it evolved into a hybrid style all its own, borrowing from lager-brewing tradition of Eastern Europe. Today examples of the style can be found throughout the region from Poland to Estonia, Russia to Finland.

Catawba’s Baltic Porter represents the lower end of the ABV range for the style at 6.2 percent. This, combined with its smooth bottom-fermented lager character, makes it a dangerously drinkable dark beer. Deep mahogany in color, it showcases the full-flavored complexity of the style, leading with rich malt, toffee, and dark fruits (raisin, plum, fig).

Baltic Porter is Passport Beer #32 in Catawba’s 2017 Small Batch rewards program. Brewed in their Asheville South Slope brewhouse, the beer is available in Catawba’s four tasting rooms, and in limited distribution.

“FRIKI FRIDAY” (FRIDAY, AUGUST 11):

Catawba hosts a “Friki Friday” Release Party for their new Friki Tiki Blood Orange IPA (6.5 percent ABV) on Friday, August 11, at all locations. This is the second in a new monthly series of fruited IPAs. Brewed in 30-barrel batches at their Morganton production brewery, these specialty IPAs will see a draft-only roll-out throughout Catawba’s 5-state distribution area.