Asheville, NC — Asheville Brewing Company will release a new twist on the brewery’s seasonal Love Ninja Porter on January 1, giving Ninjas plenty of time to taste and share the love leading up to and on Valentine’s Day.
This year’s Love Ninja is brewed with lactose, giving it a silky smoothness. Then fresh vanilla beans, cacao powder from local chocolatier French Broad Chocolate Lounge, and pureed strawberries are added to the beer. The result is a rich Milk Porter with an explosive, but not-too-sweet, berry chocolate flavor and aroma. It’s liquid Neopolitan-style ice cream–for adults only.
“The aroma is fantastic,” says Scott Stuhr, lead cellar man at Asheville Brewing Company. “This beer smells like strawberry-chocolate cake. The aroma will knock your head off.”
However, unlike other Ninjas of love you may meet at the bar, you’ll actually want these numbers–5.2 percent ABV, 26 IBUs, and 25 SRM. The alcohol by volume gives this version of Ninja a stealthy kick, but not so hard that it affects your Ninja performance. What could be a better Valentine’s Day gift for the beer lovers in your life?
Love Ninja is the second release in Asheville Brewing’s series of Ninja-inspired specialty brews. The Ninjabread Man Porter was released in early November and will be available through the holidays, although it’s disappearing fast. Catch 22-ouncers and growlers of Ninjabread Man while you can! Luckily, Asheville Brewing’s flagship Ninja Porter is available year-round, in newly-designed 12-ounce cans and on draft.
The 22-ounce bottles of Love Ninja will be for sale at all Asheville Brewing Company locations and at Asheville bottle shops, as well as at some regional grocery and convenience stores. Look for this special brew on draft at Asheville watering holes, bars and restaurants, and, of course, at all Asheville Brewing Company locations.
Asheville Brewing Company will host a Love Ninja Gala celebration throughout the weekend of February 12-13 at The Mill Room, to get you in the mood for Valentine’s Day. Members of comedy troupe Feral Chihuahuas will lead a round of The Dating Game for those looking for love. There will be a Love Ninja costume contest with prizes, plus, of course the opportunity to imbibe this special brew and head for home at the end of the party with bottles in hand. Stay tuned for more details on the Love Ninja Gala weekend.
About Asheville Brewing Company
Asheville’s third craft brewery opened in 1998 as a mash-up pizza joint, second-run movie theater, and brewpub, all wrapped up in a bright, happy, family-friendly space. The brewpub’s popularity with both locals and visitors enabled a second location, including a 15-barrel brewhouse, to open in downtown Asheville in 2006. Asheville Brewing installed Western North Carolina’s first in-house canning line in 2011. The Merrimon Avenue mothership’s original 7-barrel system recently joined the Coxe Avenue brewery, consolidating all brewing operations under one roof. The brew crew is on track to produce 8,000 barrels of beer in 2015, up from 1,200 barrels in 2011. Asheville Brewing Company’s flagship and one-off brews are distributed in 12-ounce cans, on draft, and in special release 22-ounce bottles throughout Western North Carolina, Charlotte, and a few other NC cities.