Hi-Wire Brewing - Double Hi-Pitch IPA

This double IPA is one of Hi-Wire’s year-round flagships, and after sampling it, it’s easy to see why it’s so popular. It presents a golden-copper color in the glass, capped by a good deal of off-white foam that drops lots of sticky lace as we drink it down. On the nose, we get bold citrus notes evoking a composite of candied orange, grapefruit, and lime, backed by impressions of honeydew, mild tropical fruits, herbal spice, and a perfumed floral quality. Like all good double IPAs, a very hefty malt structure appears on the palate; we get lots of caramel character coming through in this interpretation. Look for the hop bitterness to come across plenty firm but not stratospheric for the style, leaving room for the sneaky alcohol to contribute quite stealthily to the beer’s bite. The juicy, citric, herbal hops find a delicious counterbalance in the malts – all amidst a super smooth, almost silky body. While many folks will choose to enjoy this with nothing more than a clean tulip glass, pairing options are possible as long as you choose dishes that won’t be overwhelmed by this brew. Fattier and saltier dishes are usually a good call with double IPAs, and some of our favorites include glazed ham, barbecued pork ribs, and grilled chicken thighs with a fruity and spicy sauce. Cheers!

Hi-Wire Brewing got its start in the summer of 2013, founded by Adam Charnack and Chris Frosaker, and it quickly became one of the fastest growing craft breweries in North Carolina. Their bread and butter has been in creating well-balanced core beers like the Hi-Wire Lager, Bed of Nails Brown, and Hi-Pitch IPA, and their main production facility—affectionately known as The Big Top—opened up in 2015. Based out of Asheville, the brewery currently has two locations there, including the production facility as well as the South Slope Specialty Brewery & Taproom, which focuses more on their wild and sour ale offerings. As of today, Hi-Wire also operates spots in Durham, Charlotte, Wilmington, Knoxville, Birmingham, and Louisville, with Cincinnati and Nashville coming soon.

The creation of the Big Top Production Brewery & Taproom has allowed their South Slope location to become more of an experimental hub for their barrel-aged beers and sour ales (we’ve been grateful to feature more than one in our Rare Beer Club, as exclusive club offerings available nowhere else). Hi-Wire’s ability to successfully brew both traditional styles as well as out-there new concoctions has kept us coming back for more. This circus-themed brewery does a lot of charitable outreach, hires local artists for their artwork, and sources as many local ingredients as possible for their operations. They’ve also picked up a number of key awards over the years, including being named the Best New North Carolina Brewery of 2013 by the folks at RateBeer, as well as winning gold at the Great American Beer Festival in 2016 for a German-style märzen, in 2019 for a sour brown ale aged on Palo Santo wood, and in 2021 for a Japanese Dry Rice Lager with Ben’s American Sake Koji. For the latest info, head over to hiwirebrewing.com.