Straight From The Kiln

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NC Pale Wedge

CIRCLE ‘ROUND THE SUN…

Wow!  Hard to believe we’ve been malting for over a year at this point.  Over the past 12 months we’ve encountered all of the typical “start up” problems, cost overruns, permitting headaches, inefficient supply chain issues, etc. all…
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Todd Gose Holding an Appalchian White Wheat Malt Bag

WHO GOSE THERE?

Catawba Valley Brewing!  Todd and his staff took our malt in a new direction last week by developing a German Gose recipe with 100% Riverbend products.  This style dates back to the 1700’s and is a classic summer sipper for Germans.  While…
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Craig Weitzel of Riverbend Holding a Malt Rake

THERE’S A NEW MALTSTER IN TOWN…

In order to handle the recent influx of orders, we’ve recently hired Craig Weitzel as assistant maltster.  Some of you may already know this gentlemen as a member of the Bruisin Ales team here in Asheville.  His interview and subsequent…
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Brian Discusses Germination with the Guys from NBB

NEW BELGIUM VISITS RIVERBEND!

So this is pretty special…a few weeks before AVL Beer Week we got an email from Matt at New Belgium requesting a tour of our humble establishment during their stay.  Naturally, we obliged.  On paper, our two businesses are a great fit…both…
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Duct Work & Fan Assembly

GETTING OUR DUCTS IN A ROW…

Over the past few weeks we’ve been hard at work making some much needed improvements at the malt house. The main focus (as always) has been the kiln. This little room has caused many a sleepless night for us, as there is no “textbook”…
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CFSA OCC 2012

BEER RELEASE UPDATE – MARCH 2012

As any musician will tell you, there is a sweet spot where you are “in the pocket” and things just start to click……I think we are getting there!  We’ve been actively producing malt just about everyday this year and the orders are…
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WWC Class Tour

WARREN WILSON TOUR

Last week we gave a tour to a group of students from Warren Wilson College.  The students were part of an ethnobotany class taught by Jay Bost.  This was a new audience for us, but it gave us a great opportunity to focus on some of the sustainability…
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Malt Rake

MALT RAKE 2.0 – GETTING MEDIEVAL!

As with most things in life, everyday brings a new set of challenges in the malt house.  One of the major issues we’ve been dealing with is grain raking.  Specifically, how to accomplish this task without breaking our backs.  As the batch…
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CFSA OCC 2012

ROAD TRIP: ORGANIC COMMODITY CONFERENCE

A few weeks ago, I headed down to the Organic Commodity Conference held in Rocky Mount, NC, that was arranged by our friends at the Carolina Farm Stewardship Association (CFSA).  This event offers a chance for farmers, scientists, policy makers,…
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