Preview #2: Foraged and Indigenous Category of the Beers Made By Walking Festival


In a previous post, we filled people in on the Foraged and Indigenous Category of our festival in Denver. In addition to inviting over 20 breweries from around Colorado to make beer inpsired by nature hikes, we have invited a handful of breweries around the country who already are in the practice of making place-based, or Indigenous-style, beer. The five breweries in this category will be: Fullsteam, Fonta Flora, Ladyface, Scratch, and Wicked Weed. Three of these innovative companies call North Carolina their home, and we will preview their beers in this post.

According to the World Beer Cup style guidelines, an Indigenous Beer has these qualities:

This beer style is unusual in that its impetus is to commemorate combinations of ingredients and/or techniques adopted by or unique to a particular region. At least one regional combination of ingredients and/or techniques must be unique and differentiated from ingredients and/or techniques commonly used by brewers throughout the world...These grain-based beers are brewed reflecting local beer culture (process, ingredients, climate, etc.) It may represent a historical tradition or it may be an innovative creation representing contemporary ingredients or process. This category recognizes uniquely local or regional beer types and beers distinctively not defined in any recognized style in these guidelines.

Beers Made By Walking /// Denver 2014
Friday, October 3rd /// 12 - 4pm /// $40
Wynkoop Brewing /// 1634 18th St. Denver
Buy tickets here



As it's guiding mission statement, Fullsteam Brewery has developed the question of "what is Southern beer?" With an eye toward incorporating as much NC barley as is feasible into the Durham brewhouse, Fullsteam has garnered national attention for their passion in using foraged ingredients. As an example, they are known for incorporating community foraged persimmons into an annual ale. Fullsteam founder, Sean Lilly Wilson, remarked that "North Carolina has such a strong agricultural tradition and that's where beer culture is so big... In the South, there's an emerging crop of breweries that get that, that want to do something different." Fullsteam's efforts to create unique beers are also striving towards the idea that foraging can truly help communities develop a sense of place, reflecting their local land. This labor of love is to inspire the casual beer drinker to notice more of what's around them. This vision is very similar to the goals of Beers Made By Walking, and we're honored to have Fullsteam be a part of our event.

Here is a list of the beers that Fullsteam will be pouring on October 3rd.


  • Stinging Nettle Saison - An earthy and spicy saison brewed with foraged stinging nettle from the NC mountains, Santiam hops and wheat from Riverbend Malt House of Asheville, North Carolina. 5% ABV. 
  • Paw Paw - Hoppy Belgian-Style Ale brewed with Belma and Jarrylo hops and North Carolina paw paw fruit. 7% ABV. 
  • 2014 First Frost - Our first foraged beer and a Fullsteam tradition, we brew this Belgian Winter Warmer with foraged native persimmon (Diospyros Virginiana) and farmed Fuyu and Hachiya persimmons. First Frost won a Good Food Award in 2013. 10% ABV. 
  • Tree-to-Sea Gose - A food-friendly, balanced Gose with six indigenous ingredients from the mountains to the sea: North Carolina spruce pine, hops, wheat, barley, coriander, and Outer Banks sea salt. 4% ABV.

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Wicked Weed Brewing, from Asheville, recently announced that they will be expanding due to the popularity of its beers. This brewery also launched its Terra Locale Series this summer, a project through which they explore creating distinctive, North Carolina-inspired beer. While this brewery frequently attends farmers markets for local inspiration, it also internalizes the idea of terroir and aims to collaborate with similarly-minded people in the state. The first beer in this series is called "Hipster Nouveau," a collaboration between Wicked Weed and Fonta Flora, featuring locally grown rhubarb and North Carolina malt in a Brett Saison. The label itself has coordinates of the location where the fruit was grown (McConnell Farms). Wicked Weed is bringing bottles of this beer to share in Denver.



Photo courtesy of: Fonta Flora Brewery

Speaking of Fonta Flora... this emerging brewery is always out and about on trails looking for inspiration. Todd Steven Boera, head brewer and owner, couldn't be more excited to be a part of our festival and is actually making a beer specifically for Denver! Fonta Flora hosted a like-minded festival in its first year of business, called "State of Origin," showcasing NC breweries that incorporate local flora into their beers. In focusing on making beers that reflect the Appalachian region of Morganton, Fonta Flora has brewed everything from a Beet Saison to a Carrot IPA to a beer with local sweet potatoes and NC malt. 

At Beers Made By Walking, Fonta Flora will pour a Salted Sunflower Saison in Denver, inspired by a trip to Bluebird Farm in Morganton. On the experience of being on-site at a farm, Boera remarked: "As we strolled through rows and rows of Bluebird’s fall vegetable patch consisting of swiss chard, kale, collards and many more, the 'banging' of the pig feeding trough in the distance helped keep my mind very focused on the farm. When spending time on a farm, all of the senses really get a total workout. This day was no different. Pig snorts, rooster crows, dog barks. The smell of sweet compost filled the air and the morning dew on the grass made me wish I wore boots and not my old school Vans... All in all, Bluebird Farm is an asset to the Morganton, North Carolina community and what they do for the local agriculture scene is truly inspiring. Fonta Flora Brewery makes a number of beers with special guests grown right on their farm. After all, no farms, no beer. Know farms, know beer."


We are excited to include these three breweries in this year's Beers Made By Walking Festival, in Denver. We will feature over 30 breweries and 40 unique, place-based beers.

Beers Made By Walking /// Denver 2014
Friday, October 3rd /// 12 - 4pm /// $40
Wynkoop Brewing /// 1634 18th St. Denver
Buy tickets here
The full beer list is available here.