"christmas jam white ale" news and stories

For more than two decades, Allman Brothers and Gov't Mule guitarist Warren Haynes has hosted Asheville, N.C.'s Christmas Jam, a rootsy benefit concert for Habitat for Humanity. While the event is an annual present for area music lovers, the Jam has now given beer geeks a dose of holiday cheer too.

In February, Mike Rangel, owner of Asheville Brewing Company -- which concocts standouts such as the chocolaty Ninja porter and the snappy, intensely citrusy Shiva IPA -- contacted Haynes' management firm about crafting a beer in conjunction with the concert. Sold. It was a collaboration from the get-go.

"We asked Warren and his wife to choose the style of beer," Rangel says. "They like wheat beers but nothing overly spicy or heavy. Their concern was that we create a beer that was easy to drink, accessible to nontraditional craft-beer drinkers and that people could drink a few over an evening without getting out of control."