photo courtesy of Brewery Bhavana
It’s been quite a year for Brewery Bhavana, the Raleigh brewery, restaurant, flower shop, and bookstore that quickly captivated the taste buds of locals and gained national recognition as one of Forbes's top ten places to eat and Bon Appetit’s "Hot 10" restaurants. Starting tonight, the brewery is toasting its first birthday with a week of dinners, parties, and bottle-release and tap-takeover events.
Actually, the party started last night with a sold-out beer-pairing dinner at Herons at The Umstead. But don't worry if you missed that—you’ll have plenty of chances to sample new bottles and oldie-but-goodie Bhavana beers on tap at three Raleigh bottle shops tonight through Friday and a party at Bhavana on Sunday.
“We’ve been planning for the cellar to come to fruition around this time so that we’d have a ton of wood-aged beer to release,” says Roxanne Bellamy, Bhavana’s beer manager and storyteller. “It’s a celebration of our cellar and ourselves, but also the shops that have supported us, giving us free advice, helping us with pricing, branding, behind-the-scenes organization, and logistics.”
The tap takeovers start at Tasty Beverage at five p.m. this evening with the release of the oldest beer, Brett Saison, aged in white oak for eighteen months. The brewers describe it as a continuously changing beer, evolving from bright and tangy to funky and oaky, with a champagne-like effervescence.
At State of Beer at five on Thursday, you can sample Sylvan, which Bellamy describes as the most expressive beer they’ve ever made. It’s made from two barrels crafted exclusively with yeast blends that head brewer Patrick Woodson cultivated himself.
“It’s the perfect expression of fermentation flavors and what they can do,” Bellamy explains. “It’s an interesting wine-barrel aged beer from that perspective … This one just picked up woody and fruitiness, so you almost can’t tell it was aged in wine barrels, just that it spent time expressing yeast in those barrels.”
The barrel-aged beer releases cement Bhavana’s reputation as a wine-forward brewery. This started early with Roselle, their rosé beer, and Saison Blanc, a Sauvignon Blanc barrel-aged farmhouse ale that quickly sold out. Starting at five on Friday, it will be rereleased in bottles at Ridgewood Wine & Beer.
“It’s the first time we sold out of a beer at the restaurant. It was exceptionally popular and in the first couple months we blew through the batch and every night guests kept asking where it was. It’s the first time we’ve brewed it since then, so it’s been a full year—to have that back feels very special and commemorative,” Bellamy says.
The week culminates in a bash at Bhavana from noon to six on Sunday. All six of the barrel-aged beers will be available on tap and in cans and bottles, along with additional Bhavana and guest beers. Draft beers will be served in ten-ounce souvenir cups along with dim sum in takeout boxes and other swag.
“We get to celebrate with the guests and hang out,” Bellamy says. “There will be lots of hugs and we’ll probably be overly affectionate, but we are excited and very grateful for the support.”
