Echoview Farm hops will be featured in Lusus Naturae, Wicked Weed's newest limited release with only 2,000 bottles available.

This Friday, August 29th, Wicked Weed will release Lusus Naturae, a double IPA brewed with 30 pounds of fresh off-the-vine Cascade hops from Echoview Farm in Weaverville, North Carolina. This is the fourth beer to be released in Wicked Weed's Terra Locale summer harvest bottle series.

Echoview Farm is a working farm just outside of Asheville with a focus on sustainable agriculture. For the past five years, Echoview Farm has been growing and processing hops, and they hosted the inaugural Annual Hops Festival in 2010. Owner Julie Jensen began growing hops as an alternative crop to tobacco, and to provide a local harvest for the brewers of "Beer City USA," as Asheville has become known in recent years.

“Due to weather challenges our yield was smaller this year, but we couldn’t have picked a better brewery to use our hops, and we’re really excited to be a part of Wicked Weed’s Lusus Naturae release,” said Jensen.

Lusus Naturae is dry hopped with over three pounds of Echoview Farm’s Cascade hops per barrel, making it a hop-forward, impactful tasting experience.

“Echoview Farm’s hops were fantastic: amazingly green, grassy, and full of grapefruit peel character,” said Luke Dickinson, Head Brewer of Wicked Weed Brewing.

“This is our fourth Terra Locale release and my favorite so far. I love double IPAs and it’s definitely the hoppiest beer we have put in a bottle yet,” he added.

The seasonal release will be on draft at the Wicked Weed brewpub and available in limited quantity in 500 ml bottles. Only 2,000 bottles will be released in total and will be available for purchase at Wicked Weed, and at a handful of select retailers in Raleigh for Raleigh Beer Week.

Wicked Weed's Terra Locale is a series of beers that focuses on the procurement and use of local ingredients in farmhouse style ales. The beers in the series are young, fresh beers that are less rigid and developed than beers that are barrel-aged for an extended amount of time. Each of the beers in the series utilizes a large amount of grist from Riverbend Malt House and seasonal fruit or vegetables, spices and herbs.

“For the Terra Locale series we wanted to take a style (saison) that is super important to who we are as a brewery and take it back to its agrarian roots. We used grains that are less modified and more controlled because they are grown in our area, and local produce because it’s in season and readily available just down the road. In keeping with tradition we untallied wild yeast and only brewed small batches,” said Walt Dickinson, Head of Brewing Operations and creator of the Terra Locale series.

"Riverbend is excited to be a part of this release, as it features some of the freshest hops and malt available in the Southeast. Those ingredients combined with the complexity of the brettanomyces yeast strain have created a truly unique DIPA," said Brent Manning of Riverbend Malt House.

Local beer enthusiasts can be the first to try Lusus Naturae at Wicked Weed on Friday, August 29th.

About Echoview Farm

Echoview Farm is located in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Weaverville, North Carolina, with a mission to demonstrate that sustainable agriculture can work in Western North Carolina and beyond. In addition to growing hops, the farm raises fiber animals, and hosts a popular summer camp for girls. Half a mile down the road is Echoview Fiber Mill, the sister company of the farm, where raw animals fibers are processed into yarn and textiles. Echoview Fiber Mill is committed to leaving a light footprint on the environment and won the first Gold LEED Certification for a manufacturing mill in the US. The facility uses innovative design elements like solar energy, geo-thermal wells, and sustainable materials, to help achieve efficient, eco-friendly processing of fiber. For more information on the educational opportunities and farm tours open to the public at Echoview Farm, visithttp://farm.echoviewnc.com/. To learn more about Echoview Fiber Mill, visithttp://mill.echoviewnc.com andhttps://www.facebook.com/EchoviewFiberMill.

About Wicked Weed Brewing

Wicked Weed Brewing is an Asheville, North Carolina based brewpub that consistently hosts 20+ beers on tap including hop forward, West Coast style ales, open fermented Belgians, and barrel aged sour beers. Opened in December 2012, Wicked Weed strives towards becoming the largest producer of barrel aged beers in the Southeastern US. Wicked Weed Brewing was awarded a Gold Medal at the Great American Beer Festival for 100% Brettanomyces Serenity Farmhouse Ale in 2013. Most recently, Wicked Weed began small scale statewide distribution of kegs as well as bottles of barrel aged sour beers to major metropolitans in North Carolina. Learn more atwww.wickedweedbrewing.com and on Facebook athttps://www.facebook.com/WickedWeedBrewing.