By Jessica Isaacs
Downtown Boone’s own Lost Province Brewing Company recently traveled to Asheville to participate in the annual Brewgrass Festival, which features many of North Carolina’s breweries. Although it was their first competition in a festival setting, Lost Province earned the coveted top spot in the People’s Choice Voting.
“The People’s Choice Award is selected by popular vote. They put a bucket on every booth at the festival and they give everybody a certain number of tickets when they come in,” said Andy Mason, co-owner and head brewer at LP. “They’re asked to vote for their favorite brewery and at the end of the festival they grab all of the buckets and count them. Fortunately for us, we came out on top.”
The Lost Province team was one of 50 participating breweries at the festival, and they took with them four beers: the Alpine Meadows Saison, the Compass Rose Amber Ale, the Kraut Creek Kolsch and the Honey Brown Ale.
After taking home such an impressive title, it’s safe to say that the team’s hard work preparing for the festival has certainly paid off.
“I think it’s like a ‘best brewery’ award. You have to impress enough people with enough of your beers to get them to plunk their tickets in your bucket,” Mason said. “I’ve got two great brewers working with me, Seth Hewitt and Aaron Maas, and the three of us make a great team. This is both validating and very gratifying. It’s nice to get a little pat on the back once in a while.”
If you haven’t checked it out for yourself yet, Mason describes Lost Province as a classic American brewpub. It’s home to a 10-barrel in-house brewery that produces beer both for distribution and for it’s full-service on-site restaurant, which is open for lunch and dinner seven days a week.
“The restaurant focuses on wood-fired fare from our wood-fired oven. The brewery focuses on a combination of both really classic and innovative beers,” Mason said. “We do classic beers, but we also start with classic base beers and give them a little twist. It’s a matter of being true to the art and true to the form while adding whimsy and having a little fun.”
So what’s next for LP? You’ll have to stop by and see for yourself.
“We’ve got some great seasonals coming out. We’re working on a number of different things for the fall that are going to both surprise and delight people,” Mason said. “The days are getting longer, the beers are getting darker and we’re gearing up for fall and winter seasonals.”
Want to keep up with Mason and the LP crew? Visit the brewery online at lostprovince.com or check them out on Facebook for the latest updates.
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