Innovation Brewing Innovation Brewing is a new brewpub that is opening in downtown Sylva at the former location of Papou’s Wine Shop at 414 W. Main St. Owned by Nicole Dexter and Chip Owen, the two hope to have the new establishment open by Oct. 19. “It’s a brewpub. We’re not really going to do any distributing,” Dexter said. “We have a really small one barrel system.” Dexter and Owen said they had been planning on starting a brewpub for about a year, and when this location became available, they jumped at the opportunity to open in Sylva. “We’ve been brewing for eight or nine years,” Owen said. “We have 12 taps, and we hope to brew all 12 at that location. We may do growlers later.” “If we brew four days a week, two batches a day, we should be able to keep up,” Dexter said. Dexter and Hall said they will try to use some local ingredients when possible, but it’s difficult. “It’s hard to get everything local,” Hall said. “We’ll try to get some of the ingredients at the local farmer’s market.” You can find out more about Innova214238
tion Brewing at www.innovation-brewing. com or on their Facebook page. When asked if there’s concern about having too many breweries and brew pubs in smaller areas outside of Asheville, Dexter said, “Asheville is a little saturated, and there are still more popping up all over the place. I think the surrounding areas will definitely start to see more brew pubs. And that way, people don’t have to drive all the way to Asheville to visit a brew pub.”
The craft brew movement For years, the beer market has been dominated by big corporate powers like Budweiser, Miller Lite, Coors and Busch. But seemingly in the last 20 years, there has been a major shift in the market, with growth in the craft-brewed beer market. “Honestly, I didn’t drink beer,” said Joe Bill Mathews of the TBC. “I didn’t like it. But as it turns out, I just didn’t like pilsner light-style beers. I just didn’t drink at all. There’s more to it than what
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Leaf Season • 2013
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