Say Hello to our newest Brewmaster!!!

This is Elijah Paul (Eli). He's the newest member of Natsmile Ales. We've hired him based on his merits and well, let's just say it, his stunning good looks. Cheers!

Happy New Beer! (Er, Year!)

Happy New Year to everyone from the folks at Natsmile Ales!

Helping us celebrate the new year and our first-ever Maple Porter is the Porter Elementary School's Porter Panther. Looks like a great bottle label to us!

At 9.2%, this porter packs a wallop but the big Maple flavor is very deceptive. This is definitely a one-and-done pint. It's got over 3 gallons of the sweet stuff per barrel, which was added during every stage of fermentation to really weave the maple into the beer.

There's a wee amount of the last of our fall beers on tap with Pumpkin Pie Wheat and the inaugural hard cider is sticking around too.

Juniper Red will be back on tap very shortly. We've split the batch and kept half as a regular Irish Red in case Berries N' Beer isn't your thing.

Coming up in just a little while is another split batch. This time it's an American Stout brewed with Simcoe and Centennial hops. Half is going to be left alone, but the other half is getting infused with dark Espresso Roast coffee to create a Java Stout. (You're welcome, Dusty.) Look for our stouts in mid January.

Up next is a super hoppy and spicy Rye IPA. Rye adds a big spicy, black pepper kick to the beer and when you hop it with a variety of hop known as Magnum, well, say goodbye to your taste buds for a few weeks.

Ben's going to be a daddy real soon, so updates may not be as frequent for a little while (not that they are right now) but it shouldn't affect the output of beer, especially with Kevin coming into his own as Assistant Head Brewer at Natsmile. We'll see what kind of beers he comes up with throughout the year. Cheers to the New Year's!

More flavorful fall beers

Well, Fall is beginning to turn into winter and soon we'll be focused on making some stronger imbibments to keep the chill away, but right now we're rolling in Pumpkin Wheat, Maple Porter, and cider.

Kevin's back in the mix after the whole wedding/honeymoon/I need to pass my grad school classes excuses and we're going to roll out some more UBU soon, some nice IPA's, Juniper Red Ale, and maybe something oaky; we don't know.

We're looking for some things to keep us going when Ben's up and coming baby starts taking up all his time, so there may be lots of uber-strong, long-lasting one time releases in the near future. Cellar 'em if you got 'em!!

Since Ben started roasting his own coffee, we are looking at making another Java Stout soon as well. Nothing like staying awake so you can drink some more, we say.

All the froth for your Fall!

Well, we've been brewing a lot here at Natsmile Ales and since it's the fall season, we're rolling out some fuller and more off-the-wall beers that make you want to curl up with a pint when the cold hits.

First off we have a Maple Pumpkin Wheat, a spin off of our usual Black and Blue Wheat that's great with a meal or on it's own.

I CAn Has IPA? has made its triumphant return to the pub just in time for the chill. It's got 5 malts and three hop varieties making it complex and full of both malt and hop flavor. This one just has to be tried.

Our first Wee Heavy, a Scottish Ale called Jamil's Wee, is also on tap, and at 8.5% it's sure to turn your cheeks red this season.

Coming up is a big maple brown ale and the return of Juniper Red Ale.

So stop by and have a pint with us, play some Japanese pool, and maybe a hot game of dice, you never know.

One last thing--it's not really beer, but Natsmile will soon be rolling out our first-ever cider, which is lower in alcohol but fun to make and a different pint that's worth a try. What's Autumn without cider, after all?

Kevin Got Married! Natsmile Ales was there!

Our award-winning UBU Strong Ale clone was brewed for Kevin and Ashyn's wedding on September 6 and met with great success. We brewed it five times total over the summer with Kevin on quality control.

The beer was fun to practice and the atmosphere that the final product was served in was fun as well.

Check this out: When you think wedding beer, you usually think Bud/Miller/Coors and mixed drinks. This wedding served Natsmile Ales beer, mead made by the preacher that officiated (with honey from his own bee hives), a keg of Highland Brewery's beer (a brewery in the town of said wedding) and the wine that was served was made just up the road at a winery (with its own vineyard) along the Blue Ridge Parkway. You talk about supporting local, man... it didn't get any better than this.

Add scenic views, four days in a great big cabin with a mish-mash of people, ping pong 'round the clock, and stops at some of Ashville, NC's great breweries, and it makes for a hell of a weekend.

Ninkasi had her way with the UBU that was left over upon returning to the brewery. A C02 hose got loose and sprayed a fine mist of beer all over the brewery over the course of a few days. We would have liked to bottle some up for competition, but so it goes. The wedding UBU was excellent and enjoyed by all. It is so written.

This beer is really good and we can brew it at either 6% or 7.5% as we see fit, so it will without a doubt be a regular at the pub.

ps- Kevin, who we've mentioned many times before as the best intern Natsmile Ales has ever had, is the guy in the suit walking alongside the pretty girl in white. I'm the guy in the wicked bright blue shirt at the edge of the picture.